February 10, 2009

How Do You Know How Well You Read?

Tom Sticht
International Consultant in Adult Education

In a recent report Murray et. al (2009) stated that based on their
performance on the International  Adult Literacy Survey (IALS) and the
Adult Literacy and Life Skills Survey (ALL), both standardized tests of
literacy,  as many as 48 percent of Canadian adults lack the literacy
skills  “thought to be needed to take full advantage of opportunities
present in the global economy”(p. 3). After a discussion of a number of the
positive relationships of literacy to economic and social advantages, the
authors go on to say, “In view of these facts, one would expect that low
skilled adults would be clamouring to raise their literacy levels
[but] The
reality is not as expected. The overwhelming majority of Canadian adults
with low literacy skills believe that their skills are adequate and see no
need to invest in raising their literacy skill level”(p. 14).

Looking for a way to explain the gap between the statistic that 48 percent
of adults need literacy training according to their scores on standardized 
literacy tests, while the great majority (over 90 percent) think their
literacy skills are adequate, the authors state,  “many adults have no way
to judge the adequacy of their skill, a fact that causes them to
under-invest [in literacy education]” (p. 3).

This raises the question, how do any of us know how adequate our literacy
skills are?

The Cost/Benefit study of Murray et.al based its analysis on the idea that
all 48 percent of Canadian adults should receive education to raise them up
to an acceptable level of literacy as measured by the international adult
literacy surveys (this is Level 3on these tests). This would bring 100
percent of adults up to this standard. However, a 2006 poll of adults by
the Canadian Council on Learning (CCL) found that Canadians thought that it
would be acceptable if only 80% of adults could meet most everyday reading
requirements. Further, the poll presented data indicating that Canadian
adults thought the country had reached the 80% standard in most basic
skills, including reading. The poll further indicated that 90% of Canadians
thought that they had learned what they need to work and live well with
others, 88% thought that they had learned what they need to think
critically and formulate new ideas, 81% thought that they had learned what
they need to enjoy their life, and 76% thought that they had learned what
they need to succeed in their career.

This raises the question of how we might judge ourselves and our fellow
citizens with respect to the adequacy of our/their basic skills. What
criteria would we consider? Would we compare ourselves to some standard,
such as a TV news anchor reading the news? How do we know how literate we
are, how well we think critically, etc.?

If, as suggested by Murray et. al,  adults have no way to judge the adequacy
of their skills, and if it is adults' self-perceived needs for education
that determines whether or not they will enroll in literacy programs, then
it might be useful to develop methods for assisting adults to judge the
adequacy of their literacy skills, and perhaps their other skills as the
CCL poll results suggest. This might involve the conduct of national
assessments of adult's self-perceptions, what explains their
self-perceptions, what information would help them better assess their
literacy skills, and to then provide respondents who assess themselves as
poor in literacy with information about how they might locate adult
literacy programs. It might also be useful to determine other education
needs or desires so that adult literacy education providers might better
align their delivery system and offerings with adult educational needs.
References

Murray, T. et. al (2009). Addressing Canada’s Literacy Challenge: A
Cost/Benefit Analysis. DataAngel Policy Research Incorporated.
http://www.library.nald.ca/research/cost_benefit/cost_benefit.pdf

[Note: For more on comparisons of standardized test and self-report methods
of assessing adult literacy skills use Google searches to find a review of
adult skills assessment in Europe by Jens Henrik Haahr and Martin Eggert
Hansen, November 2006. Also see Sticht  (2005) The New International Adult
Literacy Survey (IALS): Does it meet the Challenges of Validity to the Old
IALS? The Canadian Council on Learning poll can also be found using Google
searches.]

Tom Sticht  tsticht at aznet.net