Measuring Literacy

The National Assessment of Adult Literacy (NAAL) is a household survey conductedperiodically by the Department of Education that evaluates the literacy skills of asample of adults in the United Stages ages 16 and older. NAAL results are used tocharacterize adults' literacy skills and to inform policy and programmatic decisions. The Committee on Performance Levels for Adult Literacy was convened at theDepartment's request for assistance in determining a means for booking assessmentresults that would be useful and understandable for NAAL'S many varied audiences. Through a process detailed in the book, the committee determined that five performancelevel categories should be used to characterize adults' literacy skills: nonliteratein English, below basic literacy, basic literacy, intermediate literacy, andadvanced literacy. This book documents the process the committee used to determinethese performance categories, estimates the percentages of adults whose literacyskills fall into each category, recommends ways to communicate about adults' literacyskills based on NAAL, and makes suggestions for ways to improve futureassessments of adult literacy.