The present study examined gender gap in Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) Reading and mediators of the gender gap in a Finnish sample (n = 1,309). We examined whether the gender gap in PISA Reading performance can be understood via the effects of reading fluency, achievement behaviour (mastery orientation and task-avoidant behaviour) or the amount of time spent with leisure reading and homework. Girls outperformed boys in all measures except for achievement behaviour. The models explaining PISA Reading were not different: For boys and girls, reading fluency, mastery orientation, leisure book reading and homework explained the variance in PISA Reading scores. The gender effect on PISA Reading was, however, for the most part mediated by differences in reading fluency. These findings suggest that while mastery orientation, homework activity and leisure book reading are concurrent predictors of PISA Reading over and above reading fluency, they do not explain gender difference.Gender differences in favour of girls in reading have raised concern over the last few decades. Girls' advantages in reading, spelling and writing have been reported in many

Findings from an international reading assessment reconfirm that girls are more engaged and better readers than boys. The authors offer several guidelines for addressing the reading gender achievement gap.

This paper examined if difficulty in reading comprehension (PISA) is distinct from difficulty in reading fluency and if the distinct types of reading difficulties are differently associated with learning motivation, school burnout, and school enjoyment. The participants were 1,324 Finnish ninth graders. Findings suggested that difficulties in reading comprehension are often distinct from difficulties in reading fluency. Three reading difficulty groups were identified: (1) poor readers with both fluency and reading comprehension difficulties (n = 46, 3.5 %), (2) slow readers with only fluency difficulties (n = 70, 5.3%), and (3) poor comprehenders with only reading comprehension difficulties (n = 88, 6.5%). The slow readers had low scores only in reading-related motivation. Poor comprehenders and poor readers reported low motivation also in math and science, as well as higher level of burnout and lower school enjoyment than typical readers. The findings were similar for boys and girls.

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This article focuses on the literacy of the adolescents who, in most European countries, are about to leave or have recently left basic education with the assumption that they have the command of functional literacy as required in and for further studies, citizenship, work life and a fulfilling life as individuals. First, the overall performance level in the EU member countries with a special focus on poor literacy is examined. Also, the most persistent inequities in adolescent literacy are reviewed, including the gender gap, the socio‐economic gap, the migrant gap and the digital gap. Secondly, the focus turns to developing adolescent literacy and reading education in Europe in a constantly changing global context with increasing literacy demands calling for a lifelong and a life‐wide development of literacy. The article outlines elements of effective literacy education for adolescents in Europe.

The purpose of the present study was to examine the relationship between reading literacy and age in an adult population aged 25 to 65 in Nordic countries using PIAAC 2012 data. More specifically, the study examined to what extent variations in the literacy proficiency of adults are explained by age and the recentness of qualifications when variables related to education, occupation, and skill use are controlled. The statistical method was regression analysis. The recentness of education explained only a part of the performance gap between the oldest adults and others. The significance of the length and scope of initial education in developing literacy proficiency overall, is difficult to compensate. There were insignificant differences between the Nordic countries. Literacy is seen as an essential key competence in every person's day-to-day life, including situations related to learning, work, and citizenship. The European reference framework for the key competences for lifelong learning (European Commission, 2007), as well as subsequent work defining twenty-first century skills (e.g., Binkley et al., 2012, p. 22), see reading literacy as one of the basic skills relevant to communication, information literacy, and digital competence.While literacy has always been defined and transformed by the changes and technologies in the surrounding society, during the last two decades, technology has undergone many changes within an extremely short period of time. Particularly, global economic competition, based on the effective use of information and communication and the Internet quickly becoming ubiquitous in people's professional and personal lives, is reflected in, and has been affected by, today's literacy practices (Leu, Kinzer, Coiro, Castek, & Henry, 2013, pp. 1151-1153 Learning how to master the new literacy strategies, practices, and dispositions is now more challenging than before, since new technologies create and demand new literacies that are multifaceted and constantly changing, while emphasizing new forms of strategic knowledge about information use and communication (Leu et al., 2013(Leu et al., , pp. 1158(Leu et al., -1162. This is a literacy challenge with which everyone, including adults of different ages, has to deal. Since both technologies and numerous texts encountered in life change continuously, reading skills also need to be defined broadly and developed continuously (Binkley et al., 2012, p. 22). Thus, literacy is not only a tool for, or a key to, lifelong learning, but is also an object of lifelong learning (e.g., Sulkunen, 2013)-now more than ever before.Solid foundational skills provide a basis for the lifelong development of literacy. International assessments have been established and implemented to determine how well adults of different ages and in various countries are equipped for the current literacy demands and for lifelong and life-wide development of literacy. The most recent and most relevant assessment for adults is the © 2017 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Lim...

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