American 4th Graders Among Top Readers in Global Study

The United States has gained ground against countries that are top performers in 4th grade reading, outscoring all but four in a widely watched international assessment, according to results released Tuesday.

Scores on the 2011 PIRLS, or Progress in International Reading Literacy Study , show that since 2006, the last time the exam was given, American 4th graders increased their average score by 16 points, from 540 to 556 on a 0-to-1,000-point scale, far above the PIRLS average of 500. Of the 57 participating countries and education systems, only students in Finland—taking part in PIRLS for the first time—and in Hong Kong, Russia, and Singapore scored higher than those in the United States.

For the first time, a U.S. state, Florida, took part in PIRLS, and it outperformed every country and all but one other jurisdiction that took the exam, by producing an average reading score that was 13 points higher than that of...