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Project duration 01.02.2013 - 08.02.2018

Internationale Grundschul-Lese-Untersuchung 2016/ Progress in International Reading Literacy Study 2016

IGLU/PIRLS is an international comparative study that has examined the reading comprehension of students at the end of fourth grade every five years since 2001. In 2016, Germany participated for the fourth time.

Project description

The Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) is an international comparative school performance study managed by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA). The focus of the study is the assessment of reading comprehension of school students at the end of the fourth grade, taking into account the core conditions of the school learning environment.

Iglu mit sitzenden Kind und grauen Buch, sowie roten Schriftzug des Projektnamens IGLU 2016

With all 16 states participating, the random sample includes approximately 4,000 fourth grade children from 210 primary and special schools. In the context of PIRLS reading literacy is understood as the ability to understand and use different types of texts, and examines the comprehension abilities (text-based and knowledge-based) and intentions with which a text is read. The reading test used in PIRLS consists of literary and informational texts. Each child works in a booklet containing of one of these type of texts followed by questions pertaining to the text. Some questions are multiple choice, while others are free-response questions.  

As in past cycles, PIRLS 2016 uses questionnaires for the participating children, parents, German teachers, and school administrators. The questionnaires are used to collect relevant information about the school and family background of the students in order to appropriately interpret performance in accordance with the diverse set of social and school environments. 
A key objective of the study is to document long-term trends in the participating education systems. Germany's participation takes place as part the overall strategy for educational monitoring in Germany as agreed upon by the KMK and BMBF.

Lead researcher at IFS

Project management

  • Dr. Heike Wendt
  • Dr. phil. Anke Hußmann (geb. Walzebug)

Project team

  • Martin Goy
  • Dan Chen

External project partners

Publication of the results

Forerunner projects at IFS

Cafeteria menus

Location & approach

The most convenient highway exits are on the B 1/A 40 (Dortmund-Barop) (closer to the North Campus) and on the A45 (Dortmund-Eichlinghofen). The university is signposted at both exits. In the local road network you will find signs to Campus Nord, where the Campus Treff is also located. From Emil-Figge-Strasse, entrance no. 18 and from Vogelspothsweg entrance no. 23 lead to parking spaces near the venue.

From Dortmund main station, take the S-Bahn "S1" in the direction of Solingen on track 7 to the stop "Dortmund-Universität" (price level A). The S-Bahn runs every 15 minutes during peak hours on weekdays and takes about 6 minutes. From Düsseldorf, the S-Bahn runs every 30 minutes. Directly at the S-Bahn station you will find the CDI building, which houses the Center for Research on Education and School Development.

One of the university's landmarks is the H-Bahn, which has two terminuses on the North Campus. One is located directly above the S-Bahn station and is easily accessible from it by elevators. The other is located in the center of Campus North at the bridge between the University Library and the Mensa, right next to the Audimax. The H-Bahn runs from here to the South Campus and the Eichlinghofen district.

Dortmund has an airport connected with some destinations in Central Europe. There are regular flights, for example, to Amsterdam, Berlin, Dresden, Katowice, Krakow, Leipzig-Halle, London, Munich, Nuremberg, Paris, Poznan, Stuttgart, Vienna and Zurich. For the approximately 20 kilometers from the Dortmund airport to the campus, you can take the bus to the main train station and from there the S-Bahn. Faster is usually the use of a cab. Far more international flight connections are offered by the Rhine-Ruhr Airport in Düsseldorf, about 60 kilometers away, which can be reached directly by S-Bahn from the university station.