A cross-country comparison of student and school level variables in online reading achievement

No research has yet comparatively examined student- and school-level variables related to online reading achievement. This study investigated the student- and school-level variables associated with online reading achievement in a cross-country comparison of fourteen countries based on data from the latest ePIRLS (e-reading component of the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study). Based on a correlational research design, this study employed hierarchical linear modeling to gauge the associations hierarchically for each country in the sample independently. The full model including both student- and school-level variables was statistically significant for ten countries but not for Denmark, Georgia, Italy, or Slovenia. The student-level variables accounted for 10%-33% of online reading achievement. When the student-level variables were controlled for, the school-level variables explained 8%-32% of the variance. The study offers specific findings for each country that could be used to better understand the nature of online reading achievement and design education policies and points to further research on cultural differences.