Literacy Assessment and Monitoring Programme (LAMP) Expert’s Meeting on Implementation and Strategic Planning for Using HHD Literacy Module S. Venkatraman, AIMS-UIS, UNESCO Bangkok 24-26 March 2008 Bangkok, Thailand

How do we monitor the LITERACY Traditionally, literacy is defined as ‘a person’s ability to read and write, with understanding, a simple statement about one’s everyday life’. But, dividing the world into literates and illiterates oversimplifies the nature of literacy. The most common method of collecting the literacy data in these censuses and surveys is to ask a question, such as: “Are you literate or not?” or “Can you read and understand a letter or a newspaper easily, with difficulty, or not at all?”. There is no scientific assessment test involved and they result in literacy information in dichotomy - how many are illiterate and how many are literate. These literacy statistics are called “Reported literacy statistics”

How do we monitor the LITERACY It is increasingly accepted that there is a continuum of literacy skills and they can be applied in a functional way. There are specialized surveys that use an assessment tool to test individuals, which provide more comprehensive information on literacy. IALS and ALL measure literacy in three skills (prose, document, and quantitative) divided into five levels. These surveys provide a literacy profile of the individuals tested and estimates for the population. These literacy statistics are called “(Assessment) Tested literacy statistics”

How do we monitor the LITERACY Literacy tests as part of part wider evaluations Programme evaluations Individual diagnostics In-depth data on literacy SKILLS and people’s background In-depth data on higher literacy levels Data on students LAMP ALL, IALS PISA, SACMEQ, PIRLS Comparative cross-national assessement surveys Ad hoc literacy assessment surveys Declarations & mini-tests REGULAR data collection Large population COVERAGE Household surveys Censuses Literacy Measures

Traditional Literacy Assessment Survey Test, mark and sum up the score The difficulties of items not calculated and weighted in a scientific manner Results depend on the test Results not scientifically reliable

Issues in current literacy statistics Definitions Comparability (over time and across populations subgroups and countries), Literacy in mother tongue (/home language) or another language? Availability Timeliness and Reliability and Validity Usefulness

Why LAMP ? Recognizing these issues… UIS has launched the LAMP initiative which defines and measures a spectrum of literacy skills in developing countries.

LAMP incorporates a new conception of literacy Literacy is a tool that one uses to respond to new and unfamiliar reading (and numeracy) tasks Literacy is the ability to identify, understand, interpret, create, communicate and compute, using printed and written materials associated with varying contexts. Literacy involves a continuum of learning in enabling individuals to achieve his or her goals, develop his or her knowledge and potentials, and participate fully in the community and wider society

What LAMP measures Literacy includes both learning to read and reading to learn: Learning to read involves mastery of the components that underpin fluent and automatic reading Reading to learn involves mastery of texts and tasks of increasing difficulty. To be placed at a level adults must get 80% or more of items at a level correct

LAMP “Learning to Read” Measures Knowing the distribution of component skills across the population, and how these relate to proficiency, and designing suitable programmes that take this into account, will lead to increasing more effectively the functional literacy of a population. LAMP measures three components: Prose, Document and Numeracy

LAMP instrument Learning to Read Reading to Learn Background Questionnaire Filter Module individual characteristics, educational background, literacy skills and personal abilities and needs Module A: Low skilled Module B: High skilled prose, Document, numeracy Prose, doc, numeracy Locator Items Book 1 Component Skills Book 2 Learning to Read Reading to Learn LAMP: Estimates for Levels 1, 2, 3 , 4/5 + components

LAMP Background Questionnaires The Background Questionnaire is designed to obtain basic background information about the respondent and his/her household to facilitate the analysis and dissemination of LAMP results. for use in model-based estimation, in profiling population for reporting, and for national and international policy development. Household characteristics and structure Language and self-assessment of literacy skills Education-related information Job-related information Literacy practices outside of workplace Literacy practices in relation to health issues Household environment, parents’ education and occupation Use of Information Communication Technology (ICT) Geographic location, migration and ethnicity

What LAMP will be answered Distribution of literacy skills What is the distribution of component reading skills in the adult population? What do these patterns imply for resource allocation and for the design and delivery of curricula and instruction? Relationship between literacy and inequalities in social outcomes To what extent do individuals with low skills appear to be less engaged in the broader society (community service and social activities)? How do individuals with low skill levels cope with their everyday reading and numeracy demands? The adequacy of adult learning systems Who is participating in adult learning of various types, including adult literacy classes? To what extent are particular population sub-groups excluded from adult learning systems? The quality of formal/non-formal education What is the relative quality of the current educational output in a country? How do numeracy and literacy compare to that of other countries?

How data from LAMP can be applied To better understand the social and economic costs of low literacy at both the individual and macro level To argue for increased resources To allocate available funds optimally To target population sub-groups that are judged to be at risk To design more efficient and effective literacy and educational programs for adults To monitor trends in performance To promote and design literacy programs To increase the effectiveness of investments in education