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Background Computer‐based assessment allows for the monitoring of reader behaviour. The identification of patterns in this behaviour can provide insights that may be useful in informing educational interventions. Objectives Our study aims to explore what different patterns of reading activity exist, and investigates their interpretation and consistency across different task sets (units), countries, and languages. Three patterns were expected: on‐task, exploring and disengaged. Methods Using log data from the PISA 2012 digital reading assessment (9226 students from seven countries), we conducted hierarchical cluster analyses with typical process indicators of digital reading assessments. We identified different patterns and explored whether they remained consistent across different units. To validate the interpretation of the identified patterns, we examined their relationship to performance and student characteristics (gender, socio‐economic status, print reading skills). Results and Conclusions The results indicate a small number of transnational clusters, with unit‐specific differences. Cluster interpretation is supported by associations with student characteristics—for example, students with low print reading skills were more likely to show a disengaged pattern than proficient readers. Exploring behaviour tended to be exhibited only once across the three units: It occurred in the first unit for proficient readers and in later units for less skilled readers. Major Takeaways Behavioural patterns can be identified in digital reading tasks that may prove useful for educational monitoring and intervention. Although task situations are designed to evoke certain behaviours, the interpretation of observed behavioural patterns requires validation based on task requirements, assessment context and relationships to other available information.

Collaboration is a complex skill, comprised of multiple subskills, that is of growing interest to policy makers, educators and researchers. Several definitions and frameworks have been described in the literature to support assessment of collaboration; however, the inherent structure of the construct still needs better definition. In 2015, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, in their Programme for International Student Assessment assessed 15-year-old students’ collaborative problem solving achievement, with the use of computer-simulated agents, aiming to address the lack of internationally comparable data in this field. This paper explores what the data from this assessment tell us about the skill, and how these data compare with data from two other assessments of collaboration. Analyses enable comment on the extent to which the three assessments are measuring the same construct, and the extent to which the construct can be covered using computer-based assessments. These investigations generate better understanding of this complex and innovative domain.

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The ability to read and understand text is fundamental to full participation in modern adult life (Olson, 1977; Elwert, 2001). It is essential to educational progress across domains, but increased literacy levels are also linked to positive outcomes in terms of employment and health. Given its critical role both in the facilitation of learning in all domains, and in many aspects of life beyond school, it is imperative that we give students the best possible chance to develop their reading skills. This paper uses early reading as a case study for examining how the identification and explication of essential skills and concepts might assist all students to make excellent progress.