1. HRSD, Learning Policy Directorate 1 Literacy in PEI Implications of Findings From IALSS 2003 Presented by Satya Brink, Ph.D. Director, National Learning Policy Research Learning Policy Directorate May 2006

2. HRSD, Learning Policy Directorate 2 Key Questions What is the level of literacy proficiency in PEI? How does PEI compare to Canada, other provinces and territories? How proficient are residents of PEI in the different component skills? How is literacy performance distributed in the working age population of PEI/Atlantic? What is the level of literacy proficiency among males and females in PEI? How do age and education affect the literacy and numeracy performance? How is literacy performance distributed in the labor force, among immigrants, occupations, industries and earning groups? What are the demographic characteristics of people with low literacy proficiency and where are they located in PEI? Introduction

3. HRSD, Learning Policy Directorate 3 Literacy proficiency: the ability to understand and employ printed information in daily activities, at home, at work and in the community. It is not about whether or not one can read but how well one reads. -Prose: The knowledge and skills needed to understand and use information from texts including editorials, news stories, brochures and instruction manuals. -Document: The knowledge and skills required to locate and use information contained in various formats, including job applications, payroll forms, transportation schedules, maps, tables, and charts. -Numeracy: The knowledge and skills required to apply arithmetic operations, either alone or sequentially, to numbers embedded in printed materials, such as balancing an account, figuring out a tip, completing an order form or determining the amount of interest on a loan from an advertisement. -Problem Solving: Involves goal-directed thinking and action in situations for which no routine solution procedure is available. The understanding of the problem situation and its step-by-step transformation, based on planning and reasoning constitute the process of problem solving. (Only four proficiency levels) 4 Domains, measure skills at five levels : Level 1 0 - 225 points Level 2 226 -275 points Level 3 276-325 points* Level 4 326 -375 points Level 5 376 -500 points * Proficiency level for modern economy and knowledge-based society Introduction

4. HRSD, Learning Policy Directorate 4 Background information of importance for IALSS results. Total population (2003) 137,300 Population/square km 24 Population 15-65(2005) 94,200 Population 65 and over (2005) 19,500 Immigrant population (2001) 4,140 Population by mother tongue (Census 2001) English only 125,125 French only 5,665 Non-official languages only 2,065 English and French 440 Eng. And non-off language 85 Introduction Source: Statistics Canada Gender Distribution (15-64, 2005) Males 46,300 Females 47,900 Population 15 years and over by highest level of schooling (Census 2001) Less than high school 36,720 High school graduate 12,350 Trade Vocational cert. 3,485 College education 25,780 University 25,175

5. HRSD, Learning Policy Directorate 5 The number of persons (16 to 65) with low literacy rose from 8 m in 1994 to 9 m in 2003 though the percentage (42%) did not change. Source: IALSS, 2003; IALS, 1994. 3.1 million 4.6 million 6.7 million 4.1 million 4.2 million 8.2 million 5.8 million 3.1 million Total: 18.4 millionTotal: 21.4 million * Differences at each level between IALS and IALSS are not statistically significant Change between 1994 and 2003, Canada IALSIALSS

6. HRSD, Learning Policy Directorate 6 In the Atlantic region, the number of persons (16 to 65) with low literacy rose slightly from 1.5 m in 1994 to 1.6 m in 2003 (population 16 to 65) Sources: IALSS, 2003; IALS, 1994 * Differences at each level between IALS and IALSS are not statistically significant 0.3 million 0.5 million 0.4 million 0.3 million Total: 1.5 million 0.3 million 0.6 million 0.5 million 0.2 million Total: 1.6 million Change between 1994 and 2003, Atlantic

7. HRSD, Learning Policy Directorate 7 Comparisons of provinces and territories based on average scores. Jurisdiction Y.T.Sas.Alta.B.C.N.S.N.W.TMan.P.E.I.Can.Ont.Que.N.B.N.L.Nvt Yukon Territory Saskatchewan Alberta. British Columbia Nova Scotia Northwest Territories Manitoba Prince Edward Island Canada Ontario Quebec New Brunswick Newfoundland and Labrador Nunavut Prose, population 16 and older, 2003 Mean proficiency significantly higher than comparison jurisdiction No statistically significant difference from comparison jurisdiction Mean proficiency significantly lower than comparison jurisdiction PEI performance

8. HRSD, Learning Policy Directorate 8 IALSS 2003, 16-65 years Gross domestic product (GDP) per capita and numeracy proficiency average score in 2003, Canada and Provinces (population 16-65) Source: IALSS 2003 PEI performance

9. HRSD, Learning Policy Directorate 9 PEI proficiency varied across domains and population age ProseDocumentNumeracy Problem Solving 16 and older 272270260262 16 to 65 years of age 282281269271 Source: IALSS, 2003 PEI literacy performance Average proficiency scores, population 16 and older and population 16 to 65, PEI, 2003 - Below level 3 * Proficiency levels are defined differently for problem solving

10. HRSD, Learning Policy Directorate 10 In PEI, the distribution of prose literacy proficiency is more favourable in the working age population compared to 16 and over, similar to most provinces and territories Per cent of population aged 16 and older and 16-65 at each prose level, 2003 Source: IALSS, 2003 PEI performance 16-6516 and over

11. HRSD, Learning Policy Directorate 11 PEI has average scores in document and prose literacy at level 3 and at level 2 in numeracy (population 16-65) Province or TerritoryDocument literacy Prose literacyNumeracy Newfoundland and Labrador Prince Edward Island Nova Scotia New Brunswick Quebec Ontario Manitoba Saskatchewan Alberta British Columbia Nunavut Territory Northwest Territory Yukon Territory 269 281 284 270 273 279 283 294 290 234 280 294 271 282 286 273 275 279 283 294 289 288 232 280 296 257 269 272 262 269 270 271 284 281 279 220 269 283 PEI performance Source: IALSS, 2003 Below level 3 in 3 domains Below level 3 in Numeracy but not in literacy.

12. HRSD, Learning Policy Directorate 12 Yukon had the lowest proportion overall (31%) of prose literacy below level 3. In PEI, 43% of the working-age population (16-65) had an average prose literacy proficiency below level 3. Source: IALSS, 2003 Percent of population 16 to 65 at each prose level by provinces and territories, 2003 PEI performance

13. HRSD, Learning Policy Directorate 13 Source: IALSS, 2003 Percent of population 16 to 65 at each numeracy level by provinces and territories, 2003 Yukon had lowest proportion of working-age adults below level 3 in numeracy (41%). In PEI the proportion of working-age adults below level 3 in numeracy was of 54%. PEI performance

14. HRSD, Learning Policy Directorate 14 Prose Level 1Level 2Total %Number% % Newfoundland and Labrador 18.870,00031.6119,00050.4189,000 Prince Edward Island14.013,00028.827,00042.840,000 Nova Scotia11.975,00026.5168,00038.4243,000 New Brunswick16.685,00033.8173,00050.4258,000 Quebec15.6800,00033.01,700,00048.62,500,000 Ontario16.21,300,00026.02,100,00042.23,400,000 Manitoba12.790,00027.0200,00039.7290,000 Saskatchewan6.641,00026.4162,00033.0203,000 Alberta9.7209,00025.3544,00035.0753,000 British Columbia13.8400,00020.9600,00034.71,000,000 Yukon9.02,00021.94,00030.96,000 Northwest Territory16.54,00026.17,00042.611,000 Nunavut45.86,00026.43,00072.09,000 Impact of low literacy in the population 16-65. Total 8,849,000 PEI performance Source: IALSS, 2003

15. HRSD, Learning Policy Directorate 15 Numeracy level 1Numeracy level 2Total %Number% % Newfoundland and Labrador 26.8101,00034.3107,00061.1208,000 Prince Edward Island 19.218,00034.833,00054.051,000 Nova Scotia 19.7125,00030.9196,00050.6321,000 New Brunswick 23.1118,00037.2191,00060.3309,000 Quebec 20.01,026,00033.11,697,00053.12,723,000 Ontario 21.31,759,00029.12,403,00050.44,162,000 Manitoba 18.2131,00032.1230,00050.3361,000 Saskatchewan 11.873,00030.2186,00042.0259,000 Alberta 15.1324,00029.3629,00044.4953,000 British Columbia 16.7471,00027.0762,00043.71,233,000 Yukon 14.13,00026.45,00040.58,000 Northwest Territory 22.06,00029.07,00051.013,000 Nunavut 54.77,00022.63,00077.310,000 Impact of low numeracy in the population 16-65. Source: IALSS, 2003 Total 10,682,000 PEI performance

16. HRSD, Learning Policy Directorate 16 Source: IALSS, 2003 Good Poor The proportion of PEI residents at levels 1 and 2 varied by 11 percentage points between literacy and numeracy. Per cent of adult populations performing at levels 1 and 2 in ALL 2003 PEI performance

17. HRSD, Learning Policy Directorate 17 PEI residents with high school education score better in prose literacy than counterparts in 8 provinces and territories (16 and over) Literacy proficiency by educational attainment, Canada, 2003 Source: IALSS, 2003 PEI performance

18. HRSD, Learning Policy Directorate 18 Prose Literacy proficiency by educational attainment in the provinces and territories. Mean prose proficiency scores by education level, population 16 and over, Canada and jurisdictions, 2003 Source: IALSS, 2003 PEI performance

19. HRSD, Learning Policy Directorate 19 Women in PEI performed significantly better than men in prose and tend to do better in the other domains as well Gender in PEI DomainsCanadaPEI GenderMeans.e.Means.e. Prose Male 2711.22704.5 Female 2740.82934.0 Document Male 2751.12744.3 Female 2680.82874.2 Numeracy Male 2721.62684.1 Female 2540.72713.7 Problem Solving Male 2671.32653.6 Female 2641.12773.3 Source: IALSS, 2003 * Differences for document, numeracy and problem solving not significant

20. HRSD, Learning Policy Directorate 20 In PEI, a larger share of youth have prose literacy proficiency below level 3 (46%) compared to Nova Scotia (39%) or New Brunswick (38%) or Newfoundland and Labrador (43%) Distribution of proficiency level on the prose literacy scale for youth age 16-25, Canada, 2003 Source: IALSS, 2003 Youth in PEI

21. HRSD, Learning Policy Directorate 21 The majority of seniors (19,500, 14%) in PEI have low literacy skills. Distribution of proficiency level on the prose literacy scale for those older than 65 years, provinces and territories, 2003 Source: IALSS, 2003 Seniors in PEI

22. HRSD, Learning Policy Directorate 22 Source: IALSS, 2003 In Canada and in PEI prose literacy scores decline with age; in PEI, the scores are higher in the 26-35 age group. Performance by Age, PEI

23. HRSD, Learning Policy Directorate 23 13,000 27,000 36,000 18,000 94,000 4.2m 8.2m 5.8m 3.1m 21.4m Number of people by proficiency level Source: IALSS, 2003 40,000 (43% of the population 16-65) residents of PEI had prose literacy scores below level 3.

24. HRSD, Learning Policy Directorate 24 Level 1 13,000 69 % were male and 31% female 64% were employed 14% were unemployed Education: 69% less than high school; 20% had completed high school 11% had post-secondary education Main characteristics of people at level 1 and 2 in prose IALSS in PEI (population 16-65) Low literacy performance Source: IALSS, 2003 Level 2 27,000 53% were male and 47% female 58% were employed 11% were unemployed Education: 36% less than high school; 34% had completed high school 30% had post-secondary education

25. HRSD, Learning Policy Directorate 25 47% of those at level 1 and 60% of those at level 2 in the Atlantic were employed. Source: IALSS, 2003 Per cent of employed population in each document literacy level, population 16 to 65, Canada and Regions, 2003 Literacy performance and employment Atlantic

26. HRSD, Learning Policy Directorate 26 Source: IALSS 2003 Literacy performance and employment In PEI, unemployed workers and those not in the labour force had an average prose score below level 3

27. HRSD, Learning Policy Directorate 27 Canada IndustriesLevel 1Level 2 Manufacturing445,000696,000 Trade, finance, insurance, real estate and Leasing 325,000951,000 Accommodation and food services 189,000323,000 Construction158,000287,000 Health care and social assistance 140,000409,000 Source: IALSS, 2003 (Population 16-65) Low literacy and employment Total: Persons with low prose literacy were concentrated among certain industries, Canada and PEI. 1,257,0002,666,000 *These industries employed roughly 60% of the workers at levels 1 and 2 Prince Edward Island IndustriesBelow level 3 Manufacturing3,672 Trade, finance, Insurance, real estate and leasing 3,189 Forestry, fishing, mining, oil and gas 3,127 Agriculture2,468 Construction1,773

28. HRSD, Learning Policy Directorate 28 The majority of knowledge experts score at Level 3 or above in prose literacy in the regions and the Territories. Per cent of Labour force population at prose levels 3 and 4/5 by type of occupations, population 16 to 65, Canada and regions, 2003 Source: IALSS, 2003 1 Knowledge expert2Managers3Information high-skills 4Information low-skills5Services low-skills6Goods Literacy performance- Occupation Atlantic

29. HRSD, Learning Policy Directorate 29 Workers in knowledge-related occupations tend to engage more often in writing at work than do low-skill information, services and goods production workers. Index scores of writing engagement at work on a standardized scale (centered on 2) by aggregated occupational types, labour force population, 16 to 65, 2003 Literacy performance- Occupation Source: IALSS, 2003 Legend Occupation Types 1 Knowledge expert 2 Managers 3 Information high-skills4 Information low-skills 5 Services low-skills6 Goods Atlantic

30. HRSD, Learning Policy Directorate 30 Knowledge intensive sectors had higher proportions of adults with document literacy proficiency above level 3. 70% of knowledge intensive industry workers in the Atlantic had proficiency levels above level 3. Source: IALSS 2003 1 Knowledge-intensive market service activities 2 Public administration, defense, education and health 3 Other community, social and personal services 4 High and medium-high- techonology manufacturing industries 5 Low and medium-low- technology manufacturing industries 6 Utilities and Construction 7 Wholesale, retail, hotels and restaurants 8 Transport and storage 9 Primary industries Per cent of labour force populations (16-65) at document literacy Levels 3 and 4/5, by type of industry, 2003 Literacy performance- Industry Atlantic

31. HRSD, Learning Policy Directorate 31 In all industrial sectors in the Atlantic, at least 35% of workers had proficiency levels above level 3 in numeracy. 1 Knowledge-intensive market service activities 2 Public administration, defense, education and health 3 Other community, social and personal services 4 High and medium-high- techonology manufacturing industries 5 Low and medium-low- technology manufacturing industries 6 Utilities and Construction 7 Wholesale, retail, hotels and restaurants 8 Transport and storage 9 Primary industries Source: IALSS, 2003 Per cent of labour force population at numeracy levels 3 and 4/5, by type of industry, population 16 to 65, Canada and regions, 2003 Literacy performance- Industry Atlantic

32. HRSD, Learning Policy Directorate 32 Regardless of level of literacy proficiency most immigrants were employed but were they under employed? Immigrants Canadian born Level 11,408,000 1,715,000 EmployedUnemployedEmployedUnemployed 893,000135,000889,000227,000 Level 21,234,000 4,595,000 EmployedUnemployedEmployedUnemployed 856,000105,0003,255,000381,000 Level 31,284,000 6,967,000 EmployedUnemployedEmployedUnemployed 966,00099,0005,329,000429,000 Level 4/5469,000 3,688,000 EmployedUnemployedEmployedUnemployed 360,00034,0002,949,000180,000 Source: IALSS, 2003 Literacy performance- Immigrants in Canada

33. HRSD, Learning Policy Directorate 33 A high number of immigrants at level 1 and 2 proficiency in English and French have post secondary education Immigrants Level 11,408,000 Less than HSHSPSE 567,000 (68.8%)467,000 (36.2%)374,000 (16.4%) Level 21,234,000 Less than HSHSPSE 169,000 (20.5%)423,000 (32.8%)642,000 (28.1%) Level 31,284,000 Less than HSHSPSE 77,000 (9.3%)309,000 (23.9%)898,000 ( 39.4%) Level 4/5469,000 Less than HSHSPSE --92,000 (7.1%)366,000 (16.1%) Total-- (100%)1,290,000 (100%)2,279,000 (100%) Source: IALSS, 2003 Literacy performance- Immigrants in Canada

34. HRSD, Learning Policy Directorate 34 About 45% of workers participated in adult training in PEI compared to 50% in Canada. Per cent of population receiving adult education and training the year preceding the interview, by type of participation, population 16 to 65, Canada and jurisdictions, 2003 Source: IALSS, 2003 Literacy performance- Adult training participation

35. HRSD, Learning Policy Directorate 35 67% of PEI residents have access to a computer at home compared to 76% of Canadians aged 16 to 65 years. Computer and Internet access at home Per cent of adults aged 16-65 who report having access to a computer and the Internet at home, Canada and jurisdictions, 2003 Literacy performance-ICT Source: IALSS, 2003

36. HRSD, Learning Policy Directorate 36 Generally, 16 to 65 year-olds in poor health have the lower average document literacy scores. 116-65 266 and older Physical Component Summary (PCS) scores by mean document literacy proficiency by age groups, Canada and regions, 2003 Note : Orders the provinces and territories by the size of the difference in average document literacy between those in poor health and those in excellent health. Literacy performance- Health Source: IALSS, 2003

37. HRSD, Learning Policy Directorate 37 16-2546-65Less than High School PSE Regression analysis. Canada and PEI; significant results only shown. Base group: -26-45 -Those with high school -Mother tongue English Source: IALSS 2003 Policy sensitive targets should be directed toward those with less than high school and those with a mother tongue other than English or French. Improving literacy in PEI Mother tongue French *Non significant

38. HRSD, Learning Policy Directorate 38 Concentration of people at levels 1 and 2 in prose in Prince Edward Island (IALSS population 16-65). Source: IALSS 2003

39. HRSD, Learning Policy Directorate 39 Concentration of people at levels 4 and 5 in prose in Prince Edward Island (IALSS population 16-65). Source: IALSS 2003

40. HRSD, Learning Policy Directorate 40 Contact Information : Satya Brink, Ph.D. Director, Policy Research Learning Policy Directorate Human Resources and Skills Development Canada Place du Portage, Phase IV, 3 Floor 140 Promenade du Portage Gatineau, QC K1A 0J9 Tel: 819-953-6622 Fax: 819-997-5433 Satya.Brink@hrsdc-rhdcc.gc.ca