Literacy Assessment and Monitoring Programme (LAMP) UNESCO Institute for Statistics

Literacy and EFA Goal 4: ‘Achieving a 50% improvement in levels of adult literacy by 2015, especially for women, and equitable access to basic and continuing education for all adults’ Goal 6: ‘…ensuring… learning outcomes are achieved by all, especially in literacy, numeracy and essential life skills’ Goal 3: ‘Ensuring that the learning needs… are met through equitable access to appropriate learning and life skills programmes’

Data available Data source for EFA monitoring: countries via UIS and UN Statistical Division (UN Population Division for population figures) Definition: “the ability to read and write, with understanding, a short simple sentence about one’s daily life”

Data quality What is really collected: self-report, educational attainment (in various ways) Limited value within country, and no comparability Data gaps: years, countries, factors

Examples Algeria (1998): an illiterate is a person who never attended an educational establishment Brazil (1998): an illiterate is a person who says that they do not know how to read and write or learnt how to read and write but forgot or only knows how to sign their name More than 1 in 5 countries with no data since 1975; and more than 2 in 5 since 1985

Example (WB)

Overall aim of LAMP “to improve the quality of literacy data, especially at national level but also for international policy development and monitoring, and for the design of improved literacy programmes” Montreal, January 2003

Three objectives Develop a methodology for assessing literacy in developing countries Provide literacy data to inform the participating countries’ policy-making and literacy programme design, and to help international monitoring and policy-making; Literacy distribution at national and international levels; Estimates by eg age, gender, education, influence of other factors; Estimates for years with no assessment Build statistical capacity in the areas of surveys and of literacy assessment

Main features Assessment – adapt IALS methodology Continuum/levels Reading, writing, numeracy Survey Adults (15+?) Pilot in/by 4 or 5 countries In partnership with countries

Example of a task 1. What is the maximum number of days you should take this medicine? 2. List three situations for which you should consult a doctor.

Interview process

Survey questionnaire Indicative list of topics: Educational background (incl. FE, NFE) Use of literacy Social context Economic context Literate environment Perceived abilities and needs Languages used …

Actors National Project Teams Ministers Local and regional organisations Technical specialists ‘Experts’ and ‘reviewers’ International organisations UIS

Main project activities Launching meeting Assessment methodology; software Def & conceptual framework Sampling & estimation method Review experiences Design tests & survey instruments; country adaptation; manuals Field work Analyses Review Analytical plan Countries Capacity building Concept paper

Proposed definition “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 to enable an individual to achieve his or her goals, to develop his or her knowledge and potential, and to participate fully in the wider society.” ED/BAS/LIT - UIE - expert meeting

Proposed components Listening comprehension (in the language of assessment) Recognition of grapheme (letter or other depending on the writing system) Word recognition Sentence reading Passage reading

Proposed components (cont.) Accuracy, understanding, speed Aim for comparability in construct - not always possible to ensure equivalence of the tests at the lowest levels For reading, writing, and numeracy Eg word - speed: read aloud a series of words appearing one after the other, or a list…

Groundwork Concept paper Literature review Use of technology Database of questions built for reference Analytical plan Investigating model-based estimation methods Countries (Mongolia, Morocco, Niger, Jamaica)

Finances USD 1 million required for development and support to 4 countries UK via DFID (core funding) EFA extra-budgetary WB assistance with meeting Non-financial assistance (eg reviewers, IRA) Still require USD 700,000 funding

Issues LAMP is addressing Adapt items to context (linguistic, socio-cultural) Methodology details especially re components; re higher levels adaptation of IALS In what languages? Length of interviews National ownership; appropriation of know-how Availability and quality of population data Defining categories …

Conclusion LAMP and EFA / UNLD Presentation: concept of continuum, new figures much lower (affects trend analyses in particular) Reduce a data gap Focus attention, stimulate reflections Lead to improvements in literacy interventions Increased capacity to measure literacy goals and related matters