The 1992 National Adult Literacy Survey: Overview

Excerpt taken from Irwin Kirsch et al., Technical Report and User's Manual for the 1992 National Adult Literacy Survey (National Center for Education Statistics, 2000).

The Adult Education Amendments of 1988 required the U.S. Department of Education to submit a report to Congress defining literacy and measuring the nature and extent of literacy among adults in the nation. To satisfy these requirements, the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) and the Division of Adult Education and Literacy planned a nationally representative household survey to assess the literacy skills of the adult population in the United States. In September 1989, NCES awarded a four-year contract for that purpose to Educational Testing Service (ETS) with a subcontract to Westat, Inc., for sampling and field operations.

The National Adult Literacy Survey is the third and largest assessment of adult literacy funded by the Federal government and conducted by ETS. The two previous efforts included a 1985 household survey of the literacy skills of 21- to 25-year-olds, funded by the U.S. Department of Education, and a 1989-90 survey of the literacy proficiencies of job seekers, funded by the U.S. Department of Labor.

In 1992, nearly 13,600 individuals age 16 and older, randomly selected to represent the adult population in this country, were surveyed in their homes. In addition, about 1,000 randomly selected adults age 16 through 65 were surveyed in each of 12 states that chose to participate in a concurrent State Adult Literacy Survey designed to produce state-level results comparable to the national data (California, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Washington; Florida also participated in the state study, but its survey was conducted later). In addition to the household samples, 1,147 inmates from 87 state and Federal prisons were randomly surveyed to represent the inmate population in the United States. Their participation helped to provide better estimates of the literacy levels of the total population and made it possible to report on the literacy proficiencies of this important segment of society.

Each individual who participated in the National and State Adult Literacy Surveys was asked to provide background demographic information and to complete a booklet of literacy tasks. These tasks were carefully constructed to measure respondents' ability to read and use a wide array of printed and written materials.

The survey results comprise an enormous set of data that includes more than a million responses to the literacy tasks and background questions. More important than the size of the database, however, is the fact that it provides information that is essential to understanding this nation's literacy resources.

Specifically, the National Adult Literacy Survey data give policymakers, business and labor leaders, educators, researchers, and citizens vital information on the condition of literacy in the United States. The survey results can be used to:

	Describe the levels of literacy demonstrated by the adult population as a whole and by adults in various subgroups, including those targeted as "at risk";
	Characterize adults' literacy skills in terms of demographic and background information (such as reading characteristics, education, and employment experiences);
	Profile the literacy skills of the nation's work force;
	Compare assessment results from the 1992 National Adult Literacy Survey with those from the 1985 literacy survey of young adults;
	Interpret the findings in light of information-processing skills and strategies, so as to inform curriculum decisions concerning adult education and training; and
	Increase understanding of the skills and knowledge associated with living in a technological society.