Results from the 2006 Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) showed that 4th grade students in the U.S. had reading comprehension scores that were above the international average but fell well short of the top spot.
Ten jurisdictions had reading scores that were higher than the United States. Twelve jurisdictions (including Latvia and Lithuania) had scores that were not significantly different than the U.S., while 22 jurisdictions had lower scores.
Despite enormous increases in funding for literacy programs (and education generally), scores between 2001 and 2006 were not measurably different.
