Purpose

Reading skills are crucial for students to acquire knowledge. The excellent reading and learning environment created by teachers can enhance student reading competency and reading performance. This study explored how three elements of reading education, namely the volume of reading activities conducted by teachers, the classroom management, and teachers’ reading autonomy supports, affected student reading competency and reading performance. In the educational tracking system of Taiwan, students undergo general or vocational education after junior high school, and they receive different curricula. Therefore, understanding the reading performance of general high school students and vocational school students and the factors affecting their reading performance is crucial. Accordingly, this study investigated the effects of the three aforesaid elements on the reading performance of students in different curricula and reviewed the mediating role of student reading competency in these effects.

Design/methodology/approach

This study analyzed data collected from 142 Taiwanese general high schools and vocational schools that participated in the 2018 Programme for International Student Assessment, which assessed the reading performance of 4,901 students and collected the questionnaire responses of these students and 1,103 Chinese language teachers. A multilevel mediation model was used to analyze the effects of various variables pertaining to the teacher level and student level.

Findings/results

First, reading activity volume conducted by teachers and classroom management affected the reading performance of the surveyed general high school students, and classroom management had a positive effect on the reading performance of the surveyed vocational school students. Second, reading activity volume conducted by teachers and classroom management had a positive effect on the reading competency of the general high school students, and classroom management had a positive effect on the reading competency of the vocational school students. Third, the reading competency of the general high school students and vocational school students had a positive effect on their reading performance. Finally, for reading performance, the general high school students outperformed the vocational school students. Reading activity volume conducted by teachers and classroom management had positive effects on the reading competency and reading performance of the general high school students, and reading competency partially mediated the effects of reading activity volume conducted by teachers and classroom management on student reading performance. The classroom management of vocational school teachers had a positive effect on the reading competency and reading performance of the vocational school students, and reading competency partially mediated the effect of classroom management on student reading performance.

Originality/value

This study revealed that the classroom management conducted by teachers had the most substantial effects on the reading competency and reading performance of both general high school students and vocational school students, highlighting the essential role of teachers in fostering student attention and participation in class reading activities and enhancing student reading skills. This study also explored the reading performance of students who underwent distinct curricula in general education or vocational education, how their reading performance was affected by the three elements of reading education, and the mediating effects of student reading competency.

Implications for policy/practice

The findings of this study suggest that teachers should improve their classroom management through in-service training or the learning communities to increase student engagement in reading activities. Furthermore, general high school teachers and vocational school teachers should implement theme-based interdisciplinary reading activities and reading comprehension strategies in their Chinese language classes to improve the reading performance of their students.