Adult Literacy and Lifeskills Survey This study was sponsored by the National Center for Education Statistics and the Employment and Training Administration. The international study was a joint project with Statistics Canada and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Other participating countries: Bermuda, Canada, Italy, Norway, Switzerland For more information, see the report Learning a Living: First Results of the Adult Literacy and Lifeskills Survey (Statistics Canada & OECD: 2005). Tara Smith USDOL/ETA or

Methodology The ALL Survey was a large-scale assessment conducted in households and designed to provide information on the skills and attitudes of adults ages in a number of domains, including:  Prose and Document Literacy  Numeracy  Analytical Reasoning Research Study Questions:  What is the distribution of literacy and numeracy skills among the US population and how does this compare with those of other countries?  What is the relationship between these skills and a variety of social, educational and economic variables? Do these relationships differ by country?  How familiar are adults in the United States and other countries with information and communication technologies? Literacy and Numeracy scores are rated on a scale from and ranked across five levels of difficulty. Level (1): (2): (3): (4): (5):

Performance of American Adults U.S. adults had an average literacy score of 269 and an average numeracy score of 261. The U.S. outperformed Italy in literacy and numeracy, but was outperformed by Bermuda, Canada, Norway, and Switzerland in both skill areas. U.S. males and U.S. females scored very similarly on literacy assessments (269.0 vs 269.5). U.S. males outperformed U.S. females on numeracy assessments (268.6 vs 253.5). White U.S. adults outscored Black, Hispanic, and Other adults in both literacy and numeracy. There was no measurable difference in the performance of Blacks and Hispanics in literacy or numeracy.

Related Studies The Adult Education and Literacy (AEL) Survey was also conducted as part of the larger International Adult Literacy study.  AEL Participant Survey is a large-scale assessment designed to provide information on the literacy and numeracy skills of individuals participating in adult education programs across the United States. –Survey of 5,000 individuals participating in 200 adult education programs –Includes a Spanish-language literacy assessment for Hispanic participants  AEL Program Survey will provide a national picture of the characteristics of federally supported adult education programs and the kinds of services being offered. –The survey was delivered to 1700 federally funded adult education programs Results from these studies are forthcoming from the National Center for Education Statistics. For more information, contact: Mariann Lemke at or