Predicting reading comprehension performance based on student characteristics and item properties

Although learner characteristics and item properties are known to affect students’ reading comprehension performance, little research has focused on the interactions between these two types of features. This study investigated the effects of learner factors (i.e., gender, the main language spoken at home, multilingualism, and instruction on reading strategies) and item factors (i.e., item format and cognitive process), as well as their interactions, on Canadian students’ performance (n = 16,688) in the reading test of PISA 2018. The results indicated that all learner and item factors significantly predicted reading comprehension. Open-response items were more difficult for male students compared to their female peers. Receiving instruction on reading strategies was most helpful in answering the understanding type of items. Students who mainly spoke the test language at home were specifically better at answering items focused on locating information, while multilingualism appeared to compensate for not speaking the test language at home.