Berlin Longitudinal Reading Study (LESEN 3 – 6)

Project Description

The skill of reading is relevant not only in school contexts, but it is a central condition to participation in social, political, cultural and economic life in modern society. Findings from international comparative assessments such as PISA are all the more dramatic as they demonstrate that parts of the student body in Germany show considerable deficiencies in their reading competence (see Baumert et al., 2001; Bos et al., 2003). The Berlin Longitudinal Reading Study (LESEN 3-6) investigated individual and social influence factors on the development of reading competence, reading motivation and reading behaviour, tracking students from grades 3 to 6.
33 primary school classes in Berlin participated in the study. The first assessment was at the end of the third year. At this stage, pupils have generally developed their basic reading skills and complex reading and comprehension processes gain in importance. Students were monitored until the end of the sixth year at three further measurement points, to monitor reading competences, reading attitudes and beliefs. Parents and teachers were also interviewed.
The study was conducted at the Max-Planck Institute for Human Development in Berlin in the Center for Educational Research (Prof. Dr. J. Baumert). Further data analyses are presently being conducted, subject to a co-operation with the Institute for School Development Research (IFS) at the University of Dortmund, Prof. Dr. Nele McElvany.

Cooperations

The study was a co-operation project of DIPF (Prof. Kai Maaz, Dr. Michael Becker) and Prof. Dr. Nele McElvany (Institute for School Development Research, IFS, University of Dortmund).

Publications

Project Management

Project Team

• Prof. Dr. Annabell Daniel
• Elena-Christin Haas
• Michaela Kropf
• Dr. Josefine Lühe
• Dr. Jan Scharf
• Nicky Zunker

Project Details