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

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NALS Percentage in Level Percentage in Level Percentage in Level 80 60 40 20 0 80 60 40 20 0 80 60 40 20 0 PROSE 14 16 14 25 27 24 Literacy Levels and Average Literacy Proficiencies, by Race/Ethnicity 34 QUANTITATIVE 35 21 5 46 34 17 3 0* 30 27 23 16 4 33 32 28 7 1 49 21 22 6 2 54 25 17 4 0* 46 25 20 6 3 51 28 17 3 1 Figure 1.6 Average Proficiency 286 237 242 254 213 206 211 218 207 260 White 36 21 Average Proficiency 280 230 245 254 213 205 212 215 206 254 White Average Proficiency 287 224 256 250 220 205 223 212 203 246 White 19 4 DOCUMENT 3 38 37 43 Black 36 21 18 4 Black Black 3 0* 0* Asian/Pacific Islander 36 25 25 34 28 25 12 12 2 Asian/Pacific Islander 2 Asian/Pacific Islander 25 American Indian 27 39 American Indian 37 28 29 7 7 American Indian 1 0* 53 52 23 Other 22 15 Other 15 Other 9 54 Hispanic/ Mexican 25 16 4 4 2 2 0* Hispanic/ Mexican 48 Hispanic/ Cuban 30 16 Hispanic/ Cuban Hispanic/ Puerto Rican 49 29 18 3 0* Hispanic/ Puerto Rican Hispanic/ Cen./So. American 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5 Levels 9 0* 54 Hispanic/ Mexican 25 16 5 0* 53 Hispanic/ Cuban 24 17 6 1 Hispanic/ Puerto Rican 47 32 17 3 0* 56 53 22 17 25 18 4 4 0* 0* Hispanic/ Other 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5 Levels 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5 Levels *Percentages below .5 are rounded to 0. Level 1 (0 to 225) Level 2 (226 to 275) Level 3 (276 to 325) Level 4 (326 to 375) Level 5 (376 to 500) Source: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, National Adult Literacy Survey, 1992. Hispanic/ Cen./So. American Hispanic Cen./So. American 53 25 16 4 0* 25 27 33 Hispanic/ Other 32 28 26 Section I ......33 13 2 12 2 1 2 3 4 5 Hispanic/ Other 31 31 25 11 1 1 2 3 4 5
34 ......Section I When one compares the average proficiency results for White and Black adults and for White and Asian/Pacific Islander adults, one sees very different patterns across the three literacy scales. While the proficiency gap between White and Black adults increases across the prose, document, and quantitative scales (from 49 to 63 points), the gap between White and Asian/Pacific Islander adults decreases (from 44 to 31 points). On the prose scale, the average proficiencies of White and Black adults differ by 49 points, compared with a difference of 44 points between White and Asian/Pacific Islander adults. On the document scale, the proficiency gap between White and Black adults is 50 points, whereas between White and Asian/Pacific Islander adults it is 35 points. On the quantitative scale, the average proficiency of White adults is 63 points higher than that of Black adults, but only 31 points higher than that of Asian/ Pacific Islander adults. The differences in average performance between Black and Asian/Pacific Islander respondents are even more striking. The two groups performed similarly on the prose and document scales, but Asian/Pacific Islander adults outperformed Black adults by 32 points on the quantitative scale. Such differences in the patterns of performance reflect the different backgrounds and experiences of these adults. If performance were reported on a single literacy scale, such important variations across the scales would be masked. The racial/ethnic differences in performance reflect the influence of many variables. Data on some of these variables were collected as part of the National Adult Literacy Survey, including information on educational attainment, age, and country of birth. Educational Attainment and Racial/Ethnic Differences Given the strength of the relationship between adults’ level of education and their literacy performance, it was hypothesized that proficiency differences among the various racial/ethnic groups might be related to varying educational attainments. The average years of schooling in this country reported by respondents in different racial/ethnic groups are presented in Table 1.5. Because the numbers of adults in each of the Hispanic subpopulations are relatively small, analyses of the nine levels of educational attainment within each group result in unreliable estimates. Therefore, the five Hispanic subpopulations are combined for these analyses. Hispanic adults reported having had the fewest years of schooling of all the groups — just over 10 years, on average. The average years of education attained by Black adults and respondents of American Indian/Alaskan Native origin are similar: 11.6 and 11.7 years, respectively. Thus, these groups had
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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
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 and 34: 8 ......Introduction Further inform
Page 35 and 36: 0 225 275 325 375 500 Source: U.S.
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: NALS Average Years of Schooling, by
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
Page 91 and 92: NALS Median Weekly Wages, by Litera
Page 93 and 94: 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
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
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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
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98 ......Section III 12345678901234
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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
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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
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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
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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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