Critical literacy in the PISA 2018 reading literacy assessment

Abstract

This study examined which aspects of critical literacy are focused on in the reading literacy assessment for the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2018 and what kinds of texts are related to the critical literacy items in the test. Based on theory-oriented qualitative content analysis, critical literacy items in PISA represented, for example, determining the purpose of a text or separating fact and opinion. Most of the items were related to genre approaches to critical literacy, yet they ignored social justice aspects. Furthermore, the test consisted mostly of informational texts and only a few fictional texts. The findings indicate a need to develop a more comprehensive critical literacy assessment tool.