Use and Impact of PIRLS
Taiwan first participated in PIRLS in 2006. Following the release of the PIRLS 2006 results in 2007, a national report and a pamphlet summary of PIRLS 2006 were distributed among teachers and parents. A consensus was then reached that no true reading instruction was being provided in classrooms. The Ministry of Education has realized that most Chinese language teachers are not familiar with reading instruction. As a result, national reading centers have been established in universities across Taiwan to develop reading instruction models and instructional materials. In 2015, junior high school teachers were included in this reading instruction training program.15
The regional government has sponsored many reading instruction workshops for teachers, focusing on topics such as the international definitions and criteria of reading literacy. Some teachers have become aware that reading is more than decoding, and that students need more comprehension strategies to help them integrate and synthesize what they read. Some teachers have begun to model the question types used in PIRLS and to ask questions about multiple perspectives in their Chinese language classes.