Reading Literacy in Relation to Patterns of Academic Achievement.

A study explored how reading literacy is related to academic achievement among 14-year-old students in Kenya. The International Evaluation and Educational Assessment Association (IEA) Reading Literacy Test was used for measuring reading literacy, and the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) was used for measuring academic achievement. It was hypothesized that there are degrees of variation in correlation between reading literacy and each subject area a student opts for at KCPE. It was also hypothesized that there is a variation in performance on reading literacy due to influences caused by background factors (literacy interaction) and voluntary reading processes. Reading literacy was assumed to be decomposable into latent variables including: a general reading ability factor, a document reading factor, and specific passage factors. However, such a measurement model was not successful. General reasoning ability proved to be the main factor across most of the subjects at KCPE while verbal ability was connected to the subjects loaded mainly with connected texts to be comprehended. When voluntary reading was explored, a good measurement model was obtained. The measurement model for voluntary reading encompassed seven different types of voluntary reading. Significant relationships between voluntary reading and both reading literacy and academic achievement were observed. An examination of the background factors in the study indicated that they have an impact on students' performance on reading literacy and academic achievement. (Contains a table of data, two figures, and 32 references.) (Author/NKA)

an: ED428320; docTypes: Reports - Research; pubTypes: Report;