Table 18-1. Average prose, document, and quantitative literacy scores of adults age 16 or older, by selected characteristics: 1992 and 2003
|
|
Prose
|
|
Document
|
|
Quantitative
|
Characteristic |
1992 |
2003 |
|
1992 |
2003 |
|
1992 |
2003 |
|
Total |
276 |
275 |
|
271 |
271 |
|
275 |
283 |
Sex |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Male |
276 |
272 |
|
274 |
269 |
|
283 |
286 |
Female |
277 |
277 |
|
268 |
272 |
|
269 |
279 |
|
Race/ethnicity1 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
White |
287 |
288 |
|
281 |
282 |
|
288 |
297 |
Black |
237 |
243 |
|
230 |
238 |
|
222 |
238 |
Hispanic |
234 |
216 |
|
238 |
224 |
|
233 |
233 |
Asian/Pacific Islander |
255 |
271 |
|
259 |
272 |
|
268 |
285 |
|
Age |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
16–18 |
270 |
267 |
|
270 |
268 |
|
264 |
267 |
19–24 |
280 |
276 |
|
282 |
277 |
|
277 |
279 |
25–39 |
288 |
283 |
|
286 |
282 |
|
286 |
292 |
40–49 |
293 |
282 |
|
284 |
277 |
|
292 |
289 |
50–64 |
269 |
278 |
|
258 |
270 |
|
272 |
289 |
65 or older |
235 |
248 |
|
221 |
235 |
|
235 |
257 |
|
Language spoken before starting school2 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
English only |
282 |
283 |
|
275 |
276 |
|
280 |
289 |
English and Spanish |
255 |
262 |
|
253 |
259 |
|
247 |
261 |
English and other language |
273 |
278 |
|
260 |
268 |
|
271 |
289 |
Spanish |
205 |
188 |
|
216 |
199 |
|
212 |
211 |
Other language |
239 |
249 |
|
241 |
257 |
|
246 |
270 |
|
Education |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Still in high school |
268 |
262 |
|
270 |
265 |
|
263 |
261 |
Less than/some high school |
216 |
207 |
|
211 |
208 |
|
209 |
211 |
GED/high school equivalency |
265 |
260 |
|
259 |
257 |
|
265 |
265 |
High school graduate |
268 |
262 |
|
261 |
258 |
|
267 |
269 |
Vocational/trade/business school |
278 |
268 |
|
273 |
267 |
|
280 |
279 |
Some college |
292 |
287 |
|
288 |
280 |
|
295 |
294 |
Associate’s/2-year degree |
306 |
298 |
|
301 |
291 |
|
305 |
305 |
College graduate |
325 |
314 |
|
317 |
303 |
|
324 |
323 |
Graduate studies/degree |
340 |
327 |
|
328 |
311 |
|
336 |
332 |
|
Employment status |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Employed full time |
290 |
285 |
|
286 |
281 |
|
292 |
296 |
Employed part time |
285 |
281 |
|
279 |
277 |
|
281 |
287 |
Unemployed |
263 |
269 |
|
261 |
265 |
|
261 |
270 |
Not in labor force |
252 |
255 |
|
244 |
250 |
|
247 |
261 |
|
1Race categories exclude persons of Hispanic ethnicity. In 1992, respondents were allowed to identify only one race; in 2003, respondents were allowed to identify multiple races. Included in the total but not shown separately are American Indians/Alaska Natives and respondents with more than one race.
|
2The “English and Spanish” category includes adults who spoke only English and Spanish as well as adults who spoke English, Spanish, and another language(s). The “Spanish” category includes adults who spoke only Spanish as well as adults who spoke Spanish and another non-English language(s). The “Other language” category includes only adults who spoke neither English nor Spanish.
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NOTE: Adults are defined as people age 16 or older living in households or prisons. Prose literacy is the knowledge and skills needed to perform prose tasks (i.e., to search, comprehend, and use information from continuous texts, such as paragraphs from stories); document literacy is the knowledge and skills needed to perform document tasks (i.e., to search, comprehend, and use information from noncontinuous texts in various formats, such as bills or prescription labels); and quantitative literacy is the knowledge and skills required to perform quantitative tasks (i.e., to identify and perform computations, either alone or sequentially, using numbers embedded in printed materials). Results are reported in terms of average scores on a 0–500 scale. To compare results between 1992 and 2003, the 1992 results were rescaled using the criteria and methods established for the 2003 assessment.
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SOURCE: Kutner, M., Greenberg, E., and Baer, J. (2005). A First Look at the Literacy of America’s Adults in the 21st Century (NCES 2006-470), figures 1, 4, 11, 14, 18, and table 7, data from U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, 2003 National Assessment of Adult Literacy (NAAL) and 1992 National Adult Literacy Survey (NALS).
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