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

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NALS Differences in Average Literacy Proficiencies Between Various Racial/Ethnic Groups, Overall and by Level of Education Differences Between: Overall Difference Average Difference by Level of Education* White and Black Adults Prose 49 36 Document 50 37 Quantitative 63 48 White and Hispanic Adults Prose 71 40 Document 67 35 Quantitative 75 41 White and Asian/Pacific Islander Adults Prose 44 54 Document 35 45 Quantitative 31 40 *The "average difference" column reflects the weighted average of the proficiency differences between each pair of groups across the levels of education. For the White-Black and White-Hispanic comparisons, the average is based on all nine levels of education. For the White-Asian/Pacific Islander comparisons, the average is based on the four levels of education for which there are reliable estimates. Source: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, National Adult Literacy Survey, 1992. schooling, as reported in Table 1.5. The average difference across the three scales is reduced by almost 50 percent when level of education is taken into consideration. Overall, the average differences in prose, document, and quantitative proficiencies between White and Hispanic adults are 71, 67, and 75 points, respectively. When one takes levels of education into account, however, these differences decline to 40, 35, and 41 points across the three literacy scales. In contrast, given the similarity in the number of years of schooling completed by White and Asian/Pacific Islander adults, the differences in average performance do not change significantly when level of education is taken into account. That is, whereas the average differences in prose, document, and quantitative performance between White adults and respondents of Asian/ Pacific Islander origin are 44, 35, and 31 points, respectively, the average differences are 54, 45, and 40 points on the three scales when one compares performance while controlling for level of education. Table 1.6 Section I ......37
Age and Racial/Ethnic Differences 38 ......Section I While there continue to be disparities in educational attainment among individuals with different racial/ethnic characteristics, levels of education have risen for all individuals throughout the last century. Therefore, it seems important to explore racial/ethnic group differences in various age cohorts. One might expect that the differences in average years of education among the racial/ethnic groups would be smaller for younger adults, and that the differences in average proficiencies would therefore be higher for older adults. Figure 1.8 shows the differences in average literacy proficiencies and in average years of schooling between White adults and those in the other minority groups by age. The differences in average years of schooling between White and Black adults and between White and Hispanic adults increase across the age groups, and so it is not surprising to see that these are mirrored by rising disparities in literacy performance. For example, across the scales, the average proficiency difference between Black and White adults in the 16 to 18 age group is 36 to 47 points. The accompanying difference in years of schooling is .2 years. In contrast, in the 40 to 54 age group, the average performance gap between White and Black adults is much larger, ranging from 65 to 75 points. The corresponding difference in average years of education is 1.6 years. Across the age groups, there are even larger differences in average literacy proficiencies and years of schooling between White adults and respondents of Hispanic origin. Among 16- to 18-year-olds, the difference in average years of schooling between these two groups is 1.1 years, and the proficiency differences range from 47 to 53 points across the scales. Among 40- to 54-year-olds, on the other hand, the difference in average years of schooling is 3.2 years, and the proficiency gap is between 84 and 89 points on each scale. For White adults and those of Asian/Pacific Islander origin, a different pattern is evident. The numbers of Asian/Pacific Islander adults in the 16 to 18, 55 to 64, and 65 and older age groups are too small to provide reliable proficiency estimates. In the age categories for which data are available, however, White adults outperformed Asian/Pacific Islander adults, but there are no significant differences between the two groups in average years of schooling. It is noteworthy that the performance gap between White and Asian/Pacific Islander adults is relatively small in the 19 to 24 age group. In making the comparisons between White adults and those of either Hispanic or Asian/Pacific Islander origin, it is important to remember that first language spoken and country of birth may contribute substantially to the proficiency differences that are observed.
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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
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 and 58: NALS Average Years of Schooling, by
Page 59 and 60: 34 ......Section I When one compare
Page 61: NALS PROSE Average Proficiency Aver
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
Page 109 and 110: Document Literacy 84 ......Section
Page 111 and 112: 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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