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

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example, home, work, or community; and the nature of the task — that is, what the individual is asked to do with the material, or his or her purpose for using it. 3 The literacy tasks administered in NALS varied widely in terms of materials, content, and task requirements, and thus in terms of difficulty. This range is captured in Figure 1, which describes some of the literacy tasks and indicates their scale values. Even a cursory review of this display reveals that tasks at the lower end of each scale differ from those at the high end. A more careful analysis of the range of tasks along each scale provides clear evidence of an ordered set of information-processing skills and strategies. On the prose scale, for example, tasks with low scale values ask readers to locate or identify information in brief, familiar, or uncomplicated materials, while those at the high end ask them to perform more demanding activities using materials that tend to be lengthy, unfamiliar, or complex. Similarly, on the document and quantitative scales, the tasks at the low end of the scale differ from those at the high end in terms of the structure of the material, the content and context of the material, and the nature of the directive. In an attempt to capture this progression of information-processing skills and strategies, each scale was divided into five levels: Level 1 (0 to 225), Level 2 (226 to 275), Level 3 (276 to 325), Level 4 (326 to 375), and Level 5 (376 to 500). The points and score ranges that separate these levels on each scale reflect shifts in the literacy skills and strategies required to perform increasingly complex tasks. The survey tasks were assigned to the appropriate point on the appropriate scale based on their difficulty as reflected in the performance of the nationally representative sample of adults surveyed. Analyses of the types of materials and demands that characterize each level reveal the progression of literacy demands along each scale (FIGURE 2). While the literacy levels on each scale can be used to explore the range of literacy demands, these data do not reveal the types of literacy demands that are associated with particular contexts in this pluralistic society. That is, they do not enable us to say what specific level of prose, document, or quantitative skill is required to obtain, hold, or advance in a particular occupation, to manage a household, or to obtain legal or community services, for example. Nevertheless, the relationships among performance on the three scales and various social or economic indicators can provide valuable insights, and that is the goal of this report. 3 I.S. Kirsch and P.B. Mosenthal. (1990). “Exploring Document Literacy: Variables Underlying the Performance of Young Adults,” Reading Research Quarterly, 25. pp. 5-30. P.B. Mosenthal and I.S. Kirsch. (1992). “Defining the Constructs of Adult Literacy,” paper presented at the National Reading Conference, San Antonio, Texas. Introduction ......9
0 225 275 325 375 500 Source: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, National Adult Literacy Survey, 1992. 10 ......Introduction Prose Document Quantitative Figure 1 NALS Difficulty Values of Selected Tasks Along the Prose, Document, and Quantitative Literacy Scales 149 Identify country in short article 210 Locate one piece of information in sports article 224 Underline sentence explaining action stated in short article 226 Underline meaning of a term given in government brochure on supplemental security income 250 Locate two features of information in sports article 275 Interpret instructions from an appliance warranty 280 Write a brief letter explaining error made on a credit card bill 304 Read a news article and identify a sentence that provides interpretation of a situation 316 Read lengthy article to identify two behaviors that meet a stated condition 328 State in writing an argument made in lengthy newspaper article 347 Explain difference between two types of employee benefits 359 Contrast views expressed in two editorials on technologies available to make fuel-efficient cars 362 Generate unfamiliar theme from short poems 374 Compare two metaphors used in poem 382 Compare approaches stated in narrative on growing up 410 Summarize two ways lawyers may challenge prospective jurors 423 Interpret a brief phrase from a lengthy news article 69 Sign your name 151 Locate expiration date on driver's license 180 Locate time of meeting on a form 214 Using pie graph, locate type of vehicle having specific sales 232 Locate intersection on a street map 245 Locate eligibility from table of employee benefits 259 Identify and enter background information on application for social security card 277 Identify information from bar graph depicting source of energy and year 296 Use sign out sheet to respond to call about resident 314 Use bus schedule to determine appropriate bus for given set of conditions 323 Enter information given into an automobile maintenance record form 342 Identify the correct percentage meeting specified conditions from a table of such information 348 Use bus schedule to determine appropriate bus for given set of conditions 379 Use table of information to determine pattern in oil exports across years 387 Using table comparing credit cards, identify the two categories used and write two differences between them 396 Using a table depicting information about parental involvement in school survey to write a paragraph summarizing extent to which parents and teachers agree 191 Total a bank deposit entry 238 Calculate postage and fees for certified mail 246 Determine difference in price between tickets for two shows 270 Calculate total costs of purchase from an order form 278 Using calculator, calculate difference between regular and sale price from an advertisement 308 Using calculator, determine the discount from an oil bill if paid within 10 days 325 Plan travel arrangements for meeting using flight schedule 331 Determine correct change using information in a menu 350 Using information stated in news article, calculate amount of money that should go to raising a child 368 Using eligibility pamphlet, calculate the yearly amount a couple would receive for basic supplemental security income 375 Calculate miles per gallon using information given on mileage record chart 382 Determine individual and total costs on an order form for items in a catalog 405 Using information in news article, calculate difference in times for completing a race 421 Using calculator, determine the total cost of carpet to cover a room
Page 1 and 2: ADULT LITERACY in America A First L
Page 3 and 4: U.S. Department of Education Richar
Page 5 and 6: iv ......Contents Section II: The C
Page 7 and 8: vi ......Contents Figures and Table
Page 9 and 10: viii ......Contents Table 3.1: Perc
Page 11 and 12: Our thanks go to all those who carr
Page 13 and 14: xii ......Preface the last decade
Page 15 and 16: xiv ......Preface During the first
Page 17 and 18: adults received proficiency scores
Page 19 and 20: • The literacy proficiencies of y
Page 21 and 22: • Adults in the lowest level on e
Page 23 and 24: Historians remind us that during th
Page 25 and 26: xxii ......Executive Summary
Page 27 and 28: 2 ......Introduction The plan for d
Page 29 and 30: 4 ......Introduction embedded in pr
Page 31 and 32: 6 ......Introduction oversampled to
Page 33: 8 ......Introduction Further inform
Page 37 and 38: About This Report This report is wr
Page 39 and 40: 14 ......Introduction
Page 41 and 42: 16 ......Section I are more challen
Page 43 and 44: NALS Percentages of Adults with Sel
Page 45 and 46: NALS Percentages of Adults Who Repo
Page 47 and 48: 22 ......Section I Twelve percent o
Page 49 and 50: NALS Average Literacy Proficiencies
Page 51 and 52: Percentage in Level Percentage in L
Page 53 and 54: Results by Parents’ Level of Educ
Page 55 and 56: Results by Age 30 ......Section I T
Page 57 and 58: NALS Average Years of Schooling, by
Page 59 and 60: 34 ......Section I When one compare
Page 61 and 62: NALS PROSE Average Proficiency Aver
Page 63 and 64: Age and Racial/Ethnic Differences 3
Page 65 and 66: Country of Birth and Racial/Ethnic
Page 67 and 68: 42 ......Section I appears among Bl
Page 69 and 70: Percentage in Level Percentage in L
Page 71 and 72: Results by Region Results by Sex 46
Page 73 and 74: NALS Percentages of Adults Born in
Page 75 and 76: Summary 50 ......Section I overrepr
Page 77 and 78: 52 ......Section I A strong relatio
Page 79 and 80: NALS Percentages of Adults Who Vote
Page 81 and 82: Aspects of Newspaper Reading 56 ...
Page 83 and 84: NALS Among Adults Who Read the News
Page 85 and 86:
60 ......Section II Individuals in
Page 87 and 88:
NALS Level 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5 3 1
Page 89 and 90:
NALS Average Literacy Proficiencies
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NALS Median Weekly Wages, by Litera
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Summary 68 ......Section II The gre
Page 95 and 96:
70 ......Section III the content an
Page 97 and 98:
NALS 72 ......Section III The respo
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74 ......Section III and the use of
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76 ......Section III Prose Level 2
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82 ......Section III Two other task
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Document Literacy 84 ......Section
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86 ...... Section III Here is a Soc
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88 ......Section III A second quest
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90 ......Section III 12345678901234
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92 ......Section III Other tasks in
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94 ......Section III The NALS quant
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THEATER TRIP 96 ......Section III 1
Page 123 and 124:
98 ......Section III 12345678901234
Page 125 and 126:
100 ......Section III Quantitative
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NALS Average Probabilities of Succe
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104 ......Section III classified as
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106 ......Section III The failure t
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Table 3.4: Percentages and average
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110 ......Section III Table 3.5D: P
Page 137 and 138:
112 ......Section III Relatively hi
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The sample designs for all 12 house
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for 60 strategically constructed su
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Finally, the survey collected infor
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made to include as broad a range as
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Administering the Data Collection I
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124 ......Appendix A Response Rates
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Data Entry 126 ......Appendix A The
Page 153 and 154:
NALS 128 ......Appendix A common it
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A30endix 130 ......Appendix A .....
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132 ......Appendix B College: 2 or
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134......Appendix B Region Census d
Page 161 and 162:
Employment Status Respondents were
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138 ......Appendix B Table 1.12A Av
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140 ......Appendix B
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144......Appendix B
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156 ......Appendix B Census Region
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RACE/ETHNICITY TABLE 1.10 Average P
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CENSUS REGION TABLE 1.11 Average Pr
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DISABILITIES Physical, Mental, Heal
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168......Appendix B
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174 ......Participants Mr. David Ne
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176 ......Participants Test Develop
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