PIRLS 2011 Contextual Questionnaires
There are numerous contextual factors that affect students’ learning, for example, type of school, school resources, instructional approaches, teacher characteristics, student attitudes, and home support for learning contribute heavily to student learning and achievement. For a fuller appreciation of what the PIRLS and prePIRLS achievement results mean and how they may be used to improve students learning in reading, it is important to understand the contexts in which students learn. PIRLS in every cycle collects a range of information about these contexts for learning by administering background questionnaires to students, parents, teachers, school principals, and curriculum experts, which, together with assessing students’ performance in reading, provide a rich source of data on student achievement. Each of the questionnaires used in both PIRLS and prePIRLS is described below.
Student Questionnaire
Each student in the selected class completed a Student Questionnaire. The questionnaire asked about aspects of students’ home and school lives, including basic demographic information, their home environment, school climate for learning, and self-perception and attitudes toward learning to read.
Home Questionnaire (Learning to Read Survey)
The parents or guardians of each student completed a Home Questionnaire. The questionnaire asked about preparations for primary schooling, including attendance in preschool and literacy- and numeracy-centered activities in the home before the child began school, such as reading books, singing songs, or playing with number toys. Parents answered questions about home resources in addition to information about their highest level of education and employment situations.
Teacher Questionnaire
Teachers of the assessed classes responded to the Teacher Questionnaire. The questionnaire asked students’ teachers about their education, professional development, and experience in teaching. It also asks about coverage of the language/reading curriculum and about the instructional activities and materials used in the class of students selected for the PIRLS assessment.
School Questionnaire
The principal of each school sampled for PIRLS 2011 completed a School Questionnaire. Principals answered questions about student demographic characteristics, the availability of resources, types of programs, and environments for learning in their schools.
Curriculum Questionnaire
The PIRLS 2011 National Research Coordinator within each country was responsible for completing the Curriculum Questionnaire. Questions primarily centered on the organization and content of the curriculum in language/reading.
Download Questionnaires
Each of the PIRLS 2011 Contextual Questionnaires can be downloaded free of charge below.
The PIRLS 2011 Released Items are available in Portable Document Format (PDF). If needed, click here to download Adobe Reader® to read and print these materials.
Download all questionnaires (709KB)
Download the questionnaires separately:
- Student Questionnaire (269KB)
- Home Questionnaire (Learning to Read Survey) (203KB)
- Teacher Questionnaire (233KB)
- School Questionnaire (225KB)
- Curriculum Questionnaire (105KB)
