In 2001, the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA) conducted the Progress in Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS), designed to assess the reading literacy achievement of students in two age cohorts within and across 35 countries. This present volume explores the impacts that participation in and the findings of the study have had within 13 of those countries.Reading literacy is a key determinant not only of students' ability to progress in the educational system but also (arguably) of their life chances and future out of school. Research on the outcomes of reading as undertaken by IEA is one of the principal means by which countries can come to understand the efficacy of their educational and instructional practices as well as the ways in which antecedent background factors (school, teacher, student and home) are implicated in the learning process.While IEA's core business is to conduct research-based comparative large-scale studies that focus on the outcomes of schooling in key Subject-matter areas at important educational transition points, it is also fundamentally concerned with how studies like PIRLS influence other research initiatives, policy development, and national capacity-building. This publication is therefore an attempt to begin to address the question of what impact projects like PIRLS can have within countries. In addition to the 13 country chapters, each of which is written by an author or authors from those countries, the book provides a brief overview of PIRLS 2001 and its international findings. The final chapter of the book presents a synthesis of the findings of the country chapters.