Adult Literacy in America - National Center for Education Statistics ...

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Response Rates screener was conducted, the interviewer returned to administer the background questionnaire and exercise booklet, which were administered on the same visit. The background questionnaire took approximately 20 minutes to administer and could be conducted in English or Spanish (using the Spanish printed version) only. In the introduction to the background questionnaire, the respondent was told that he or she would be given a check for $20 in appreciation of the time and effort involved in completing the interview, questionnaires, and assessment. The background questionnaire was divided into six sections and collected demographic data as well as data on literacy-related behaviors. Respondents from each of the 11 participating states were asked five state-specific questions, which appeared at the end of the questionnaire. When the background questionnaire was completed, the interviewer administered the exercise booklet, which took approximately 45 minutes. There were 26 different versions of the exercise booklet, and each version had a corresponding interview guide, which the interviewer used to facilitate the respondent’s completion of tasks in the booklet. For the prison population, the interviewer informed the selected inmate about the study using an introduction printed in the background questionnaire since there was no screener. As part of the introduction, the interviewer indicated that the inmate would receive a certificate of participation if he or she completed the survey. Because of varying prison regulations, it was not possible to pay inmates $20 for their participation and so they received the certificate. The background questionnaire and exercise booklet were administered using the same procedures as for the household population. Since there were three instruments — screener, background questionnaire, and exercise booklet — required for the administration of the survey, it was possible for a household or respondent to refuse to participate at the time of the administration of any one of these instruments. Thus, response rates were calculated for each of the three instruments. For the prison sample there were only two points at which a respondent could refuse — at the administration of either the background questionnaire or exercise booklet. The response rates presented below reflect the percentage of those who had the opportunity to participate at each stage of the survey. The response rates for the national household and prison samples are as follows. Appendix A ......123
124 ......Appendix A Response Rates Instrument National Prison Screener 89.1% N/A Background Questionnaire 81.0% 85.7% Exercise Booklet 95.8% 96.1% Data Collection Quality Control Several quality control procedures relating to data collection were used. These included the interviewer field edit, a complete edit of all documents by a trained field editor, validation of 10 percent of each interviewer’s close-out work, and field observation of both supervisors and interviewers. At the interviewer training session, interviewers were instructed on procedures for performing a field edit of all data collection documents. The main purpose of this edit was to catch and correct or explain any errors or omissions in recording, to learn from mistakes so they were not repeated, and to remove stray marks and completely fill in bubbles on the documents that were to be optically scanned. Additionally, a complete edit was performed on all documents by a trained field editor. An item-by-item review was performed on each document, and each error was fully documented on an edit form. The supervisor reviewed the results of the edit with the interviewer during his or her weekly telephone conference. Validation is the quality control procedure used to verify that an interview was conducted and it took place at the correct address and according to specified procedures, or that nonresponse statuses (e.g., refusals, vacancies, language problems) were accurately reported by the interviewers. Interviewers knew that their work would be validated but did not know to what extent or which cases. A 10 percent subsample of dwelling units were selected and flagged in the supervisor’s log and in the automated survey control system (ASCS). The supervisors performed validation interviews by telephone if a phone number was available. Otherwise, validation was performed in person by the supervisor or by another interviewer. Field observations of both supervisors and interviewers were performed by Westat field management staff. One purpose of the interviewer observation was to provide home office staff with an opportunity to observe effectively both performance of field procedures and respondents’ reactions to the survey. Another purpose was to provide feedback to weak interviewers when there was concern about their skills and/or performance. In addition to in-person observations, interviewers were required to tape record one complete interview
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ADULT LITERACY in America A First L
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U.S. Department of Education Richar
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iv ......Contents Section II: The C
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vi ......Contents Figures and Table
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viii ......Contents Table 3.1: Perc
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Our thanks go to all those who carr
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xii ......Preface the last decade
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xiv ......Preface During the first
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adults received proficiency scores
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• The literacy proficiencies of y
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• Adults in the lowest level on e
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Historians remind us that during th
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xxii ......Executive Summary
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2 ......Introduction The plan for d
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4 ......Introduction embedded in pr
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6 ......Introduction oversampled to
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8 ......Introduction Further inform
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0 225 275 325 375 500 Source: U.S.
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About This Report This report is wr
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14 ......Introduction
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16 ......Section I are more challen
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NALS Percentages of Adults with Sel
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NALS Percentages of Adults Who Repo
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22 ......Section I Twelve percent o
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NALS Average Literacy Proficiencies
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Percentage in Level Percentage in L
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Results by Parents’ Level of Educ
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Results by Age 30 ......Section I T
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NALS Average Years of Schooling, by
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34 ......Section I When one compare
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NALS PROSE Average Proficiency Aver
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Age and Racial/Ethnic Differences 3
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Country of Birth and Racial/Ethnic
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42 ......Section I appears among Bl
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Percentage in Level Percentage in L
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Results by Region Results by Sex 46
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NALS Percentages of Adults Born in
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Summary 50 ......Section I overrepr
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52 ......Section I A strong relatio
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NALS Percentages of Adults Who Vote
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Aspects of Newspaper Reading 56 ...
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NALS Among Adults Who Read the News
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60 ......Section II Individuals in
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NALS Level 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5 3 1
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NALS Average Literacy Proficiencies
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NALS Median Weekly Wages, by Litera
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Summary 68 ......Section II The gre
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70 ......Section III the content an
Page 97 and 98: NALS 72 ......Section III The respo
Page 99 and 100: 74 ......Section III and the use of
Page 101 and 102: 76 ......Section III Prose Level 2
Page 107 and 108: 82 ......Section III Two other task
Page 109 and 110: Document Literacy 84 ......Section
Page 111 and 112: 86 ...... Section III Here is a Soc
Page 113 and 114: 88 ......Section III A second quest
Page 115 and 116: 90 ......Section III 12345678901234
Page 117 and 118: 92 ......Section III Other tasks in
Page 119 and 120: 94 ......Section III The NALS quant
Page 121 and 122: THEATER TRIP 96 ......Section III 1
Page 123 and 124: 98 ......Section III 12345678901234
Page 125 and 126: 100 ......Section III Quantitative
Page 127 and 128: NALS Average Probabilities of Succe
Page 129 and 130: 104 ......Section III classified as
Page 131 and 132: 106 ......Section III The failure t
Page 133 and 134: Table 3.4: Percentages and average
Page 135 and 136: 110 ......Section III Table 3.5D: P
Page 137 and 138: 112 ......Section III Relatively hi
Page 139 and 140: The sample designs for all 12 house
Page 141 and 142: for 60 strategically constructed su
Page 143 and 144: Finally, the survey collected infor
Page 145 and 146: made to include as broad a range as
Page 147: Administering the Data Collection I
Page 151 and 152: Data Entry 126 ......Appendix A The
Page 153 and 154: NALS 128 ......Appendix A common it
Page 155 and 156: A30endix 130 ......Appendix A .....
Page 157 and 158: 132 ......Appendix B College: 2 or
Page 159 and 160: 134......Appendix B Region Census d
Page 161 and 162: Employment Status Respondents were
Page 163 and 164: 138 ......Appendix B Table 1.12A Av
Page 165 and 166: 140 ......Appendix B
Page 169 and 170: 144......Appendix B
Page 181 and 182: 156 ......Appendix B Census Region
Page 183 and 184: RACE/ETHNICITY TABLE 1.10 Average P
Page 185 and 186: CENSUS REGION TABLE 1.11 Average Pr
Page 187 and 188: DISABILITIES Physical, Mental, Heal
Page 193 and 194: 168......Appendix B
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174 ......Participants Mr. David Ne
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176 ......Participants Test Develop
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