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

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NALS Average Number of Weeks Worked in the Past 12 Months, by Literacy Level PROSE Level Level 1 19 19 1 2 27 27 2 3 35 35 3 4 38 38 4 5 44 44 5 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 19 DOCUMENT 19 29 35 Source: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, National Adult Literacy Survey, 1992. 40 43 Average Number of Weeks Worked by Adults in Each Level QUANTITATIVE Figure 2.8 0 20 13 40 26 60 3980 100 52 0 20 13 40 26 60 3980 100 52 0 20 13 40 26 60 3980 100 52 Earnings Clearly, the number of weeks worked increases dramatically across the literacy levels. While respondents who demonstrated proficiency in the lowest level on each scale worked, on average, only about 19 weeks a year, individuals in the three highest levels reported working about twice as many weeks — between 34 and 44. Individuals who were either working full time or part time or were on leave from their jobs the week before the survey were asked to report their weekly wage or salary before deductions. Given that individuals who performed in the higher levels were more likely than those in the lower levels to be in the work force and to have worked more weeks in the past year, it is not surprising that these individuals reported earning significantly more money each week (FIGURE 2.9). On each literacy scale, the median earnings of individuals performing in Level 1 were approximately $230 to $240 each week. In comparison, those who performed in Level 3 reported earning $340 to $350 (or about $110 more), while those in Level 4 reported earning $462 to $472 (or nearly $250 more). For those who attained Level 5, the financial rewards were even greater. Individuals performing in this level on the quantitative scale, for example, had median earnings of $681 each week — roughly $450 more than individuals performing in Level 1 on that scale. 29 Level 1 18 18 2 29 29 35 3 34 34 40 4 39 39 43 5 40 40 Section II ......65
NALS Median Weekly Wages, by Literacy Level $240 $281 $339 Occupations PROSE $465 66 ......Section II $650 DOCUMENT Level Level Level 1 2 3 4 5 $244 $288 $350 $462 While it would be useful to know the level of literacy skills required to find, hold, and succeed in various types of jobs, research is limited in this area. Some perspective on this question can be gained, however, by looking at the percentages of people within certain occupational categories who demonstrated various levels of literacy. Survey participants were asked to describe the type of work they performed in their current or most recent job, and this information was sorted into occupational categories using the Census Classification for Industries and Occupations. These categories were then recombined into four occupational groupings, and the percentages of respondents who worked in these categories of jobs were calculated. Twentyfour percent of the adults surveyed worked in managerial, professional, or technical jobs; 28 percent were in sales or clerical occupations; 29 percent worked in craft or service occupations; and 19 percent were in laborer, assembler, fishing, or farming jobs. In all but the group of adults holding sales or clerical positions, the data show a strong relationship between the type of job that individuals held and their demonstrated level of literacy proficiency (FIGURE 2.10). This figure displays the percentages of adults in each literacy level who reported holding a particular type of job. On all three literacy scales, individuals who performed in the highest levels were much more likely to report holding managerial, professional, or technical jobs than were respondents who performed in the lowest levels. Figure 2.9 $0 200 400 600 800 1000 $0 200 400 600 800 1000 $0 200 400 600 800 1000 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 1 2 3 4 5 $618 Median Weekly Wages of Adults in Each Level Source: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, National Adult Literacy Survey, 1992. 1 2 3 4 5 QUANTITATIVE $230 $274 $345 $472 $681
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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
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: NALS Average Literacy Proficiencies
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
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
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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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