Measuring Literacy Performance Levels for Adults (2005) / Chapter Skim
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6 Communicating and Using the Results of Literacy Assessments
6 Communicating and Using the Results of Literacy Assessments
Pages 167-181
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From page 167... ...
In particular, because media coverage is such a central factor in how the performance levels and associated findings are understood and used, the committee included this important issue as one of the topics discussed at its public forum in February 2004. We draw on the advice provided by the stakeholders and journalists in attendance at the forum to make recommendations about reporting and communicating about results of the National Assessment of Adult Literacy (NAAL)
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From page 168... ...
So, for example, in describing the distribution of survey respondents across performance levels, the department should identify concrete tasks (drawn from the survey) that adults in each category are likely to be
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From page 169... ...
While it is clear that the public wants information about the percentage of adults in the country who truly have substantial difficulties with reading and that policy interventions are needed for this group, other audiences are more concerned about policy interventions at higher points on the continuum of literacy skills. For example, Beth Beuhlmann, with the Center for Workforce Preparation at the U.S.
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From page 170... ...
RECOMMENDATION 6-2: The Department of Education should prepare different versions of the performance-level descriptions that are tailored to meet the needs of various audiences. Simple descriptions of the performance levels should be prepared for general audiences to enhance public understanding.
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From page 171... ...
· What is the relationship between education level and English literacy for immigrants, and does it matter if their education was obtained in the United States or in their native country? The Department of Education commissioned a special study on the literacy levels of non-English speakers who participated in the 1992 NALS (see Greenberg et al., 2001)
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From page 172... ...
Information should also be marketed through channels that are commonly used by those serving immigrants and refugees. Exemplifying the Performance Levels Presentations of the 1992 results included samples of released NALS items that illustrated the skills represented by each of the performance levels.
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From page 173... ...
Mapping items to more than one level will stimulate understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of those scoring at each level. We therefore make the following recommendation: RECOMMENDATION 6-5: The Department of Education should carefully consider the ways in which released items are used to illustrate the skills represented by the performance levels.
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From page 174... ...
commented that having results reported as five performance levels for each of three types of literacy was too much information to present during discussions with policy makers and other audiences. They commented that they would often select results for a single literacy area (i.e., prose)
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From page 175... ...
We therefore recommend the following: RECOMMENDATION 6-6: The Department of Education and others reporting and using NAAL results should consider the purposes of and audiences for their reports as well as the messages they seek to convey. Whereas performance levels will be most appropriate for some purposes, scale scores will be most appropriate for others.
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From page 176... ...
176 MEASURING LITERACY: PERFORMANCE LEVELS FOR ADULTS variety of media outlets. Similarly, in-person, hard-copy, and virtual presentations can be made to organizations, such as the National Governors' Association and the National Conference of State Legislatures, whose members decide the priority and level of resources allocated to adult literacy efforts.
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From page 177... ...
We encourage the department to again commission extensive follow-up studies on NAAL results. The department can also provide support for smaller scale research studies on NAAL data in the same way that it does through the secondary analysis grant program of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP)
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From page 178... ...
178 MEASURING LITERACY: PERFORMANCE LEVELS FOR ADULTS by the adult literacy and adult education fields (e.g., Sticht, 2004)
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From page 179... ...
Many health-related items and associated tasks were included in the 1992 NALS and covered a wide spectrum of health activities, including health promotion, health protection, disease prevention, health care and maintenance, and access and systems navigation. For example, items included a food label, an article on air quality, an advertisement for sunscreen, a medicine box dosage chart, and information from a benefits package.
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From page 180... ...
According to the frameworks the National Assessment Governing Board developed for the civic assessment of NAEP (National Assessment Governing Board, 1998) , fundamental skills required for civic functioning include
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From page 181... ...
For instance, the committee's advanced category for prose literacy encompasses the skills of making complex inferences, comparing and contrasting viewpoints, and identifying an author's argument (e.g., in a newspaper)
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