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

>

>

>

>

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

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