Hi there David,

Your provide a lot of interesting and intriguing comments in your email
below.  At the end of your email, however, you ask the question which I
believe is what you would like me to answer:

"Mark,  has the general level of literacy in the U.S. from 1992 - 2003
declined, increased or stayed the same?"

Our report shows that the general level of literacy has remained the
same on the prose and document scales, and has increased on the
quantitative scale.  NAAL is able to detail literacy levels, but not
literacy requirements, which I believe is the point of the earlier part
of your email.

NAAL, as in most comprehensive studies, provides really good news and
news that is not so good.  There has been a statistically significant
increase in the scores of Black adults over the past decade on all three
scales.  Data cannot provide causal inferences about why the literacy of
Black adults has increased, but additional NAAL analyses will be looking
at possible reasons, including increased educational opporutnities.

The decline in scores for adults whose first language is Spanish is of
course very disturbing.  Additional analyses that we hope to conduct
will explore in greater depth the why this decline might be taking
place.  In addition to increased immigration, the 2003 NAAL also
provides what we believe is more accurate data about the literacy of
Spanish speaking adults.  As detailed on page 18 of the report, the NAAL
allowed Spanish speaking adults to read and answer the easy literacy
tasks at the beginning of the assessment in Spanish (although the
materials from which they needed to find the answer was in English).  It
seems that fewer adults were excluded from the assessment than were in
1992. Our next report will provide more in-depth information about these
adults through the Adult Literacy Supplmental Assessment, as well as a
fluency assessment.

Quantitative literacy scores have increased over the past decade, and I
find this quite promising given the computer age we live in.  As we
write on page 18 of the report, respondents in 2003 were allowed to use
calculators unlike in 1992 so that the assessment better reflects the
demands of every day life.  The fact that quantitative scores increased
may mean that adults in this country are becoming familiar with the
technical tools that they will need to succeed I the coming years.  Yes
I certainly am aware that calculators are not computers, and that there
is a digital divide in the country; the next NAAL report will provide
more detail about computer use and literacy levels. 

Pardon me if I have gone off on a tangent and not completely addressed
your question.  I am very excited about the information that is
available in NAAL, as well as the additional data that will be available
through future reports.  Please let me know if I can provide any
additional clarifications.

Regards,

Mark
 

-----Original Message-----
From: assessment-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:assessment-bounces at nifl.gov]
On Behalf Of David Rosen
Sent: Wednesday, December 21, 2005 4:18 PM
To: The Assessment Discussion List
Subject: [Assessment] Has U.S. Literacy increased,declined or stayed the
same?

Hello Mark,

A colleague, on another list, writes: "...in a decade in which the use
of computer technology in our schools and colleges, and in the culture
at large, has expanded significantly. . . the general level of literacy
has declined." He cites as evidence that the general level of literacy
has declined this text:

"Here are the findings as summarized by Grover Whitehurst of the
Department of Education: his words, not mine.

'Educational Attainment: 1992-2003
I will now present the results on change in scores between 1992 and
2003 for
selected educational attainment levels. There were no increases in
literacy in any of any of the educational attainment levels. Prose
literacy decreased among adults at every level of education. This
decrease calls out for more research. On the quantitative scale, there
were no changes in literacy at any level of educational attainment. For
document literacy, those with higher levels of education showed a
decline while those with less education had no change. With scores
dropping in prose literacy for every level of education, you might
wonder why there was no overall decline in the average score for this
type of literacy. This is because adults with higher educational levels
tend to outperform those with lower educational levels, and the
percentage of adults with high educational levels-those with "some
college" or more-has been increasing, while the percentage with low
levels of education has been declining. We have more higher-scoring
adults with high levels of education, and fewer lower scoring adults
with low levels of education, which offsets the fact that average scores
for highly educated adults are declining.'

and adds:

So: the point stands. In a decade of massive growth in the use of
computers and the Internet in and out of school and college there has
been no improvement in the  literacy level of the nation's adults.  
Prose and document literacy have declined."

Leaving aside who said or wrote the paragraph on Educational Attainment
1992-2003 (I think it may have been Mark Schneider ) I am wondering if
this is the right conclusion to draw from the NAAL results.  On the DOE
press release, it seems to me, there was a different overall conclusion:

"The National Assessment of Adult Literacy (NAAL), released today by the
National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), found little change
between 1992 and 2003 in adults' ability to read and understand
sentences and paragraphs or to understand documents such as job
applications."

"African Americans scored higher in 2003 than in 1992 in all three
categories, increasing 16 points in quantitative, eight points in
document and six points in prose literacy. Overall, adults have improved
in document and quantitative literacy with a smaller percentage of
adults in 2003 in the Below Basic category compared to 1992. Whites,
African Americans and Asian/Pacific Islanders have improved in all three
measures of literacy with a smaller percentage in 2003 in the Below
Basic category compared to 1992."

"Hispanic adults showed a decrease in scores for both prose and document
literacy and a higher percentage in the Below Basic category. The report
also showed that five percent of U.S. adults, about 11 million people,
were termed "nonliterate" in English, meaning interviewers could not
communicate with them or that they were unable to answer a minimum
number of questions."

"Other report highlights:
* White adults' scores were up nine points in quantitative, but were
unchanged in prose and document literacy.
* Hispanic adults' scores declined in prose and document literacy 18
points and 14 points, respectively, but were unchanged in quantitative
literacy.
* Asian/Pacific Islanders' scores increased 16 points in prose literacy,
but were unchanged in document and quantitative literacy.
* Among those who spoke only Spanish before starting school, scores were
down 17 points in prose and document literacy between 1992 and 2003."

Press Release from the U.S. Department of education
http://www.ed.gov/news/pressreleases/2005/12/12152005.html

Mark,  has the general level of literacy in the U.S. from 1992 - 2003
declined, increased or stayed the same?


Thanks,

David J. Rosen
Adult Literacy Advocate
DJRosen at comcast.net

On Dec 21, 2005, at 1:09 PM, Marie Cora wrote:


> Dear List Members,

>

>

>

> Mark Kutner of American Institutes of Research (AIR) is on the List 

> and would be glad to answer any questions people may have regarding 

> the NAAL.  One of Mark's many projects is the NAAL study - you are 

> director of that project, isn't that right Mark?  Folks, please take 

> this opportunity to ask any questions you might have.

>

>

>

> For information on adult education related projects at AIR, go to:   

> http://www.air.org/projects/projects_ehd_adult_ed.aspx

>

>

>

> Thanks,

>

>

>

> marie coraModerator, The National Institute for Literacy Assessment 

> Discussion List, and Coordinator/Developer LINCS Assessment Special 

> Collection at http://literacy.kent.edu/Midwest/assessment/

>

>

>

>

> -----Original Message-----

> From: assessment-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:assessment- 

> bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Marie Cora

> Sent: Tuesday, December 20, 2005 3:46 PM

> To: AssList

> Subject: [Assessment] NAAL release

>

>

>

> Dear List Members,

>

>

>

> Last Thursday, Dec. 15 the results of the NAAL (National Assessment  

> of Adult Literacy) were released, and some interesting discussions  

> ensued on the NLA List (http://lists.literacytent.org/mailman/ 

> listinfo/aaace-nla).

>

>

>

> To find information on the NAAL and its background, as well as  

> discussion threads from the NLA, go to the ALE Wiki, Public Policy  

> area at:

>

> http://wikiliteracytent.org/index.php/Public_Policy

>

>

>

> If you would like to hold discussions on the NAAL, please do not  

> hesitate.

>

>

>

> Thanks,

>

> marie cora

>

> Assessment Discussion List Moderator

>

>

>

>

> -------------------------------

> National Insitute for Literacy

> Assessment mailing list

> Assessment at nifl.gov

> To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to  

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