Qatar family, school, and child effects on reading

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to test an ecological model of family, school and child links to reading outcomes in an extremely rich but developing country. Design/methodology/approach This study uses a multi-level, plausible value analysis of item response model-estimated test scores and survey responses from 4,120 children and their parents’ survey responses in 166 schools in Qatar. Findings The results show that family attributes (socio-economic status (SES), books at home, parent reading attitude and reading activities) are linked to children’s superior reading attitudes, reading self-concept and reading test scores. In contrast, teacher attributes and teaching methods show no significant link to reading test scores. Also, Qatari children report a poor school climate linked to lower reading self-concept and lower reading test scores. Research limitations/implications Limitations include parent reports rather than pre-tests, testing in only one domain, and cross-sectional data rather than longitudinal data. Practical implications As family support is strongly linked to children’s reading performance, the Qatari Government can explore early childhood interventions at home (e.g. more books at home, support parent-child reading activities, etc.), especially for families with lower SES. As teacher attributes and lesson activities were not linked to children’s reading outcomes, the Qatari Government can study this issue more closely to understand this surprising result. Originality/value This is the first study to test an ecological model of Qatar’s fourth-grade children’s reading scores with a representative sample.