Newspaper readership shows up in Finnish teens’ PISA results

The gap in reading skills of teens with diverse reading habits is almost 1.5 academic years

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Active reading of newspapers also shows up in the results of the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), which measures the reading skills of 15-year-olds, along with their mathematics and science literacy.
      Those Finnish teenagers who were in the habit of reading newspapers several times a week got better scores in the 2009 PISA survey in all fields of the evaluation than did those teens who read newspapers less frequently or not at all.
      When it comes to reading skills, the difference between the scores of active readers and those of the most passive pupils was so high that it equals the progress made at school in almost a year and a half of full-time education.
     
Compared with the previous PISA study from 2006, the correlation between newspaper readership and reading skills had nevertheless declined to some extent.
      More significant explanations than newspaper readership for the greater disparity in reading skills are for example the gender of a given pupil, general interest in reading, and the pupil’s socio-economic background.
      ”Newspaper readership is increasingly often linked with the readers’ general prosperity. One also has to notice that the survey studied only the readership of the printed press in relation to reading skills, without taking into account the fact that young people are largely transferring from newspapers to the web”, says lecturer Sari Sulkunen from the University of Jyväskylä.
     
The transfer to the web is also confirmed by Nina Karinoja, 16, and Iiris Pärssinen, 16, who go to the Alppila Upper Secondary School.
      On Wednesday, they came after school to the City Library located in the former Main Post Office in downtown Helsinki. The girls had to study for their physics exam, and in passing, they also skimmed through some newspapers.
      Both girls’ families subscribe to Helsingin Sanomat.
      ”Nevertheless, I read news mostly on the web, as it is more convenient. If I had to read newspapers in the morning, it would take a lot of time”, Karinoja comments.
      ”Besides, the size of newspapers is so uncomfortable. If there is an interesting headline and article, I will read it”, she adds.
      Pärssinen for her part says that when it comes to paper editions, she mostly reads only advertisements.
      ”Sports, mainly ice-hockey, and entertainment I also read even in the newspaper”, Pärssinen notes. She also reads the TV-schedules in the printed edition.
     
Even though regular newspaper readership among Finnish teens has declined, it is still above the OECD average.
      In geographical terms, the most active newspaper readers could be found in the eastern and western parts of Finland, while in the province of Uusimaa, newspaper readership was lower than elsewhere in the country.
      The survey on newspaper readership and reading skills was commissioned by the Finnish Newspapers Association and conducted by the University of Jyväskylä.
      The study was based on the PISA results from 2009.
     
     
FACTFILE: The OECD programme assesses skills and knowledge
     
The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) is a joint study programme of the OECD countries.
     
The programme aims to evaluate education systems worldwide in 3-year cycles by testing the skills and knowledge of 15-year-old students in participating countries in reading and mathemathical and scientific literacy.
     
Every time, Finland has gained excellent results particularly in reading skills. In the most recent PISA study, the skills of Finnish 15-year-olds were the third highest among the 65 participating countries.
     
In the spring of 2012, the major focus will be on mathematics.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Newspaper readership figures continue to decline (31.5.2011)
  Finland will not be measuring its teenagers´ economic skills in the next PISA test (23.2.2011)
  New PISA study puts schoolchildren in Shanghai and South Korea ahead of Finnish kids in reading skills (8.12.2010)

See also:
  PISA study results bring thousands of foreign visitors to Finnish schools (25.2.2008)

Links:
  OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA)
  Finnish Newspapers Association

Helsingin Sanomat