"A First Look at the Literacy of America’s Adults in the 21st Century"
The 2003 National Assessment of Adult Literacy (NAAL) measures the English literacy of America's adults (people age 16 and older living in households and prisons). NAAL builds on the previous national assessment of literacy completed in 1992. The 2003 assessment defines literacy as “using printed and written information to function in society, to achieve one’s goals, and to develop one’s knowledge and potential.” Results are reported in terms of scale score averages and literacy levels on three literacy scales: prose, document, and quantitative.
Complete report available here
NATIONAL COALITION FOR LITERACY CALLS FOR GREATER FOCUS ON IMPORTANCE OF FUNCTIONAL LITERACY.
Washington, DC – In response to the release of the National Assessment of Adult Literacy (NAAL) earlier today, the National Coalition for Literacy (NCL) called for a greater emphasis to be placed on functional literacy. The NAAL study found that tens of millions of adult Americans are not functionally literate, meaning they can’t read at a level that would allow them to perform such basic tasks as complete a job application, use the internet, or read a bedtime story to a child.
