Strong and weak sides of reading skills of Russian elementary school graduates: Evidence of PIRLS 52006 scores

The article presents the results of a qualitative analysis of Russian elementary school graduates performance on the international test of reading comprehension skills PIRLS-2006. The relevance of this analysis is due to the need to determine the advantages and shortcomings of teaching techniques being used in this country. This should provide the information necessary to develop ways of improving teaching techniques of reading comprehension of literary and information texts in elementary school. The study uses a combination of statistical and qualitative analysis, which ensures the objectiveness of the conclusions regarding achievements and shortcomings in the reading skills of Russian elementary school students. Russian elementary school graduates showed a good level of reading comprehension both of literary and information texts. However, the performance on information text comprehension was somewhat lower. Therefore, in order to ensure the viability of Russian elementary school education, more attention should be given to reading information texts of various structures.