Literacy

The Workforce Investment Act of 1998 defines literacy as "an individual's ability to read, write, speak in English, compute and solve problems at levels of proficiency necessary to function on the job, in the family of the individual and in society." This is a broader view of literacy than just an individual's ability to read, the more traditional concept of literacy. As information and technology have increasingly shaped our society, the skills we need to function successfully have gone beyond reading, and literacy has come to include the skills listed in the current definition.

How is adult literacy measured?

When literacy was simply a synonym for reading skill, it was typically measured in grade-level equivalents. In other words, an adult's literacy skill was described as equivalent to reading at a grade in the kindergarten-12th grade system.
A more complex, more realistic conception of literacy that emphasizes its uses in adult activities helped create momentum for new forms of literacy measurement. To determine the literacy skills of American adults, the 1992 National Adult Literacy Survey (NALS) used test items that resembled everyday life tasks involving prose, document and quantitative skills. The NALS classified the results into five levels that are now commonly used to describe adults' literacy skills.
Almost all adults in Level 1 can read a little but not well enough to fill out an application, read a food label, or read a simple story to a child. Adults in Level 2 usually can perform more complex tasks such as comparing, contrasting, or integrating pieces of information, but usually not higher level reading and problem-solving skills. Adults in levels 3 through 5 usually can perform the same types of more complex tasks on increasingly lengthy and dense texts and documents.
In July 2005, the National Assessment of Adult Literacy (NAAL) will give us new information. It will be a short, general audience report that discusses the key NAAL findings and examines trends between 1992 and 2003. A comprehensive survey report detailing the findings in a more in-depth manner is scheduled for release in December 2005.

How literate is the adult population?

Very few adults in the US are truly illiterate. Rather, there are many adults with low literacy skills who lack the foundation they need to find and keep decent jobs, support their children's education, and participate actively in civic life. Between 21 and 23 percent of the adult population, or approximately 44 million people, according to the National Adult Literacy Survey (NALS), scored in Level 1 (see description above). Another 25-28 percent of the adult population, or between 45 and 50 million people, scored in Level 2. Literacy experts believe that adults with skills at Levels 1 and 2 lack a sufficient foundation of basic skills to function successfully in our society.
Many factors help to explain the relatively large number of adults in Level 1. Twenty-five percent of adults in Level 1 were immigrants who may have just been learning to speak English. More than 60 percent didn't complete high school. More than 30 percent were over 65. More than 25 percent had physical or mental conditions that kept them from fully participating in work, school, housework, or other activities, and almost 20 percent had vision problems that affected their ability to read print. For more facts and statistics, visit the NIFL Literacy Facts page. (from National Institute for Literacy)