Thanks, Mark.  That affirms my understanding.

Now the only puzzle is that "Educational Attainment: 1992-2003"  
paragraph. I can't figure out how it fits with the overall  
conclusions.  It would seem to be saying the opposite.  Mark  
Schneider warned that this might be tough to understand at the  
session with the press on 12/15.  I think he said about that last  
sentence that it took him six years to understand it.  Can you shed  
any light on what the paragraph means and why it doesn't seem to  
support the overall findings?

David
David J. Rosen
djrosen at comcast.net


On Dec 22, 2005, at 4:12 PM, Kutner, Mark wrote:


> 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

>> http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/assessment

>

>

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