Veränderung der Lesekompetenz von der 9. zur 10. Klasse: Differenzielle Entwicklungen in Abhängigkeit der Schulform, des Geschlechts und des soziodemografischen Hintergrunds?

This paper examines the development of proficiency in reading from grades 9 to 10. In addition to the proficiency development in the overall population, relationships of proficiency gains with institutional (school type), familial (immigration background and socioeconomic family status) and individual characteristics (gender) were examined. In accordance with current results according to which the development of reading proficiency slows down in later stages of schooling, we found no meaningful proficiency increase in the overall sample. Furthermore, the explanatory variables showed no reliable relationships with proficiency growth. However, the analyses provided strong evidence that students’ persistence of working thoroughly on the test indicated by position effects changed across measurement occasions. Furthermore, we found changes in position effects to be related to the explanatory variables considered in this paper. Stronger decreases in persistence were detected in male students, students with less favorable socio-economic background, and in students from nonacademic tracks. Non-consideration of test persistence led to biased estimates of effects of the explanatory variables school type and gender, which upon closer inspection were not related to real proficiency growth.