Evaluation of achievement change in Egypt using PIRLS data

Harry Anthony Patrinos, Maciej Jakubowski and Tomasz Gajderowicz

International Journal of Educational Development, 2025, vol. 117, issue C

Abstract: This study analyzes Egypt’s exceptional reading achievement gains during the COVID-19 school closures, a period when most countries experienced declines. Drawing on data from the 2016 and 2021 Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS), we find a 48-point improvement—equivalent to two years of learning—with notable gains among boys. Using Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) and projected trend models, we confirm the significance of this rise. Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition attributes only one-third of the improvement to observed factors. The study finds that Egypt’s progress likely reflects systemic reforms, but more research is needed to confirm that.

Keywords: Education; Test scores; Egypt; PIRLS (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I20 J15 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0738059325001695
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:injoed:v:117:y:2025:i:c:s0738059325001695

DOI: 10.1016/j.ijedudev.2025.103371

Access Statistics for this article

International Journal of Educational Development is currently edited by Stephen P Heyneman

More articles in International Journal of Educational Development from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().