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

More documents

Recommendations

Info

NALS Level 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5 5 7 2 8 Percentages of Adults in Certain Occupational Categories, by Literacy Level 12 15 17 16 20 23 27 24 28 34 30 36 37 PROSE 43 46 Manager, Professional, Technician 70 Sales, Clerical Craft, Service Laborer, Assembler, Fishing, Farming Level 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5 6 8 4 10 13 15 16 18 19 23 26 30 33 29 26 DOCUMENT 34 36 41 From 65 to 70 percent of those in Level 5 held these positions, compared with approximately 13 percent of the respondents performing in Level 2, and 6 percent of those performing in Level 1. Thus, the likelihood of being in a managerial, professional, or technical position declines sharply from Level 5 to Level 1. It is interesting to note, however, that small percentages of individuals in Levels 1 and 2 reported being in managerial, professional, or technical positions. While these data do not reveal what specific types of positions these individuals held, or how successful they were in negotiating the demands of these positions, it does appear that at least some individuals with limited skills are able to obtain managerial and professional jobs. In contrast with these data, a far different pattern is evident among those holding craft or service jobs: On each scale, adults whose proficiency was in the Level 1 range were far more likely than individuals who performed in the Level 5 range to hold these types of jobs. On the quantitative scale, for example, 10 percent of those performing in Level 5 reported being in craft or service jobs, compared with approximately 18 percent in Level 4, 27 percent of those in Level 3, 35 percent in Level 2, and 43 percent of those in Level 1. A similar pattern is shown for those adults reporting laborer, assembler, fishing, or farming occupations. 46 Figure 2.10 0 20 40 60 80 100 0 20 40 60 80 100 0 20 40 60 80 100 66 Manager, Professional, Technician Sales, Clerical Craft, Service Laborer, Assembler, Fishing, Farming Level 1 2 3 4 5 6 10 10 5 13 16 18 16 20 24 23 27 QUANTITATIVE Note: Overall, 24 percent of the adults surveyed reported holding managerial, professional, or technical jobs; 28 percent reported holding sales or clerical jobs; 29 percent reported holding craft or service jobs; and 19 percent reported holding laborer, assembler, fishing or farming jobs. 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 Percentage in Each Level in Each Occupational Category Source: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, National Adult Literacy Survey, 1992. 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5 29 34 29 35 34 43 43 Section II ......67 65 Manager, Professional, Technician Sales, Clerical Craft, Service Laborer, Assembler, Fishing, Farming
Summary 68 ......Section II The greatest variability in literacy proficiencies seems to occur among adults reporting sales or clerical jobs. The percentages of adults in these positions increase between Levels 1 and 2 and again between Levels 2 and 3, then decrease across the two highest levels. These data show a strong relationship between one’s literacy skills and one’s occupation. It should be noted, however, that this relationship is likely to be quite complex. While adults with better literacy skills almost certainly have greater opportunities to obtain professional, managerial, or technical positions, it is also likely that many of these positions enable individuals to strengthen their literacy skills. Individuals who participated in the National Adult Literacy Survey were asked to provide information on various aspects of their lives that have been found in previous research to be related to literacy. This self-reported information was used to explore the connections between literacy and various social and economic outcomes. Newspaper reading appears to be very common among American adults, regardless of their demonstrated literacy skills. However, those who performed in the lowest literacy level were far more likely than those in the higher levels to say they never read a newspaper. Similarly, the vast majority of adults reported getting some or a lot of information about current events from television or radio, but those in the lower literacy levels were less likely than those in the higher levels to say they also get some or a lot of information from print media. In addition to these differences in reading practices by literacy level, the survey results reveal that adults with limited literacy proficiencies were far less likely to have voted in a recent state or national election than were those with more advanced competencies. Strong relationships between literacy and economic status are also evident in the survey findings. Relatively high proportions of adults in the lower literacy levels were in poverty and received food stamps. On the other hand, relatively few reported receiving interest from savings, which helps to protect individuals from interruptions in earnings. Further, individuals who performed in the lower levels of literacy proficiency were more likely than their more proficient counterparts to be unemployed or out of the labor force. They also tended to earn lower wages and work fewer weeks per year, and were more likely to be in craft, service, laborer, or assembler occupations than respondents who demonstrated higher levels of literacy performance.
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 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 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: NALS Median Weekly Wages, by Litera
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
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 and 148:
Administering the Data Collection I
Page 149 and 150:
124 ......Appendix A Response Rates
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 167 and 168:
Page 169 and 170:
144......Appendix B
Page 171 and 172:
Page 173 and 174:
Page 175 and 176:
Page 177 and 178:
Page 179 and 180:
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 189 and 190:
Page 191 and 192:
Page 193 and 194:
168......Appendix B
Page 195 and 196:
Page 197 and 198:
Page 199 and 200:
174 ......Participants Mr. David Ne
Page 201:
176 ......Participants Test Develop
show all

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

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?