The results from international assessments of adult literacy and

numeracy skills

Juliette Mendelovits

CEET 17th Annual National ConferenceFriday 1 November 2013

Monash Conference Centre, Melbourne

What’s the adult L&N story?

A literacy deficitHalf of all adults in Tasmania cannot read or write properly, and many of their children are following in their footsteps as badly needed school reforms are frustrated. Sarah Dingle investigates.A report by the Australian Bureau of Statistics for 2011-2012 shows half of all Tasmanians aged 15 to 74 are functionally illiterate, and more than half are functionally innumerate—meaning they don’t have the skills needed to get by in the modern world, like filling out forms, or reading the instructions on their prescription.

ABC Radio National, Background Briefing, Sunday 22 September 2013

WHAT’S BEHIND THE HEADLINES?

Tasmanian 'illiteracy' and 'innumeracy' levels

15 to 74 year olds

ALLS 2006 Below Level 3

Tasmania 51%

PIAAC 2011-12 Below Level 3

Tasmania 49%

PIAAC 2011-12 Below Level 3Tasmania 58%

ALLS 2006 Below Level 3

Tasmania 56%

Document literacy

Literacy

Numeracy

Numeracy

2006 - ALLS

2011-12 PIAAC

Australian 'illiteracy' and 'innumeracy' levels

ALLS 2006 Below Level 3

Tasmania 51%

Victoria 49%

Australia 47%

PIAAC 2011-12 Below Level 3

Tasmania 49%

Victoria 46%

Australia 44%

ALLS 2006 Below Level 3Tasmania 58%

Victoria 54%

Australia 55%

ALLS 2006 Below Level 3

Tasmania 56%

Victoria 54%

Australia 53%

Document literacy

Literacy

Numeracy

Numeracy

According to ALLs [and PIAAC?]

About 50% of Australian adults are functionally illiterate and innumerate

How can this be true?

What does ‘below Level 3’ mean?

According to the international ALLS reports, Level 3 is ‘a suitable minimum level for coping with the

increasing demands of the emerging knowledge society and information economy’

A Level 2 literacy item from PIAAC

Level 2 literacy description (226 to 275 points)At this level, the medium of texts may be digital or printed, and texts may comprise continuous, non-continuous, or mixed types. Tasks at this level require respondents to make matches between the text and information, and may require paraphrasing or low-level inferences. Some competing pieces of information may be present. Some tasks require the respondent to• cycle through or integrate two or more pieces of information based on criteria;• compare and contrast or reason about information requested in the question; or• navigate within digital texts to access and identify information from various parts of a document.

A Level 3 numeracy item from PIAAC

Level 3 numeracy description (276 to 325 points)Tasks at this level require the respondent to understand mathematical informationthat may be less explicit, embedded in contexts that are not always familiar andrepresented in more complex ways. Tasks require several steps and may involve thechoice of problem-solving strategies and relevant processes. Tasks tend to requirethe application of number sense and spatial sense; recognising and working withmathematical relationships, patterns, and proportions expressed in verbal ornumerical form; and interpretation and basic analysis of data and statistics in texts,tables and graphs.

PIAAC: an overviewThe Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) • An international survey of adults 16-64 years of age (15 to 74 year

olds in Australia)• Commissioned by the OECD, implemented internationally by a

consortium led by Educational Testing Service (ETS) (USA)• Administered in Australia by the ABS• Measures the domains of

• literacy (reading)• numeracy• problem solving in technology-rich environments (PSTRE)

• Modes of administration• paper and pen• computer

• Administered in 25 OECD countries (including Australia) and sub-national entities in 2011-12

• Comparable with the results of the Adult Literacy and Life Skills Survey ??

Results from PIAACMeans for Australia and selected participating

countries

LiteracyMean scale

score

NumeracyMean scale

score

PSTRE% at Level 2

or 3Australia 280 268 38Canada 273 265 37England/ N.Ireland 272 262 35Japan 296 288 35Korea 273 263 30United States 270 253 31Average 273 269 34

Level 2: 226 to 275 pointsLevel 3: 276 to 325 points

Results from PIAAC% at each literacy level for Australia and selected

participating countriesBelow Level 1 Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4/5

Australia 3 9 29 39 17Canada 4 13 32 37 14England / N.Ireland

3 13 33 36 13

Japan 1 4 23 49 22Korea 2 11 37 42 8United States

4 14 33 34 12

Average 3 12 33 38 12

CONSTRUCTION OF THE LITERACY AND NUMERACY REPORTING SCALES

Items and test-takers are placed on the same scale

| | X| | X| 2 XX| XX|7 XX| XXX|34 XXX|19 XXXX|23 1 XXXXXX|12 XXXXXX| XXXXX|11 22 XXXXXX|26 27 33 XXXXXXX|10 14 30 32 XXXXXXX|2 5 20 0 XXXXXXXX|1 4 6 21 29 XXXXXXXXXX|8 16 XXXXXXX|9 31 XXXXXXXXX|3 XXXXXXXX|18 25 XXXXXXXX|13 -1 XXXXXXX|15 XXXXXXXX| XXXXXX| XXXXXXX| XXXX|24 XXXX| -2 XXXXX| XXX|28 XX|17 XX| XX| X| -3 X| X| X| |

Low AchieversEasy items

Difficult itemsHigh Achievers

Relationship between difficulty of assessment items and proficiency of adults

Anchoring of testsThe Rasch model derives comparable scores for two different assessments via the inclusion of 'anchor' items.Anchoring can be used: across test forms (e.g. Rotated designs) across populations (e.g. Different countries) across time (e.g. Different Adult literacy cycles –

ALLS and PIAAC)

Example of anchoring

between two populations of

different ability

Different tests

Common items

Same Scale!

A map of item difficulty and test-takers’ proficiency

Once items and adults are placed on the same scale, proficiency levels are defined

| | X| | X| 2 XX| XX|7 XX| XXX|34 XXX|19 XXXX|23 1 XXXXXX|12 XXXXXX| XXXXX|11 22 XXXXXX|26 27 33 XXXXXXX|10 14 30 32 XXXXXXX|2 5 20 0 XXXXXXXX|1 4 6 21 29 XXXXXXXXXX|8 16 XXXXXXX|9 31 XXXXXXXXX|3 XXXXXXXX|18 25 XXXXXXXX|13 -1 XXXXXXX|15 XXXXXXXX| XXXXXX| XXXXXXX| XXXX|24 XXXX| -2 XXXXX| XXX|28 XX|17 XX| XX| X| -3 X| X| X| |

Level 5

Level 4

Level 3

Level 2

Level 1 PIAAC literacy Level 1Most of the tasks at this level require the respondent to read relatively short digital or print continuous, non-continuous, or mixed texts to locate a single piece of information. ...

PIAAC literacy Level 4Tasks at this level often require respondents to perform multiple-step operations to integrate, interpret, or synthesise information from complex or lengthy continuous, non-continuous, mixed, or multiple type texts. ...

Below Level 1

PIAAC literacy Level 2... Tasks at this level require respondents to make matches between the text and information, and may require paraphrasing or low-level inferences. Some competing pieces of information may be present. . ...

Described literacy levels from PIAAC

Level 2... Tasks at this level require respondents to make matches between the text and information, and may require paraphrasing or low-level inferences. Some competing pieces of information may be present. . ...

WHAT DOES PIAAC TELL US ABOUT THE DISTRIBUTION OF AUSTRALIANS’ SKILLS?

Sex and skillsAustralians aged 15 to 74

Below Level 1 / Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4/505

1015202530354045

PIAAC literacy level by sex

MalesFemales

PIAAC level

Perc

enta

ge

Below Level 1 / Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4/50

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

PIAAC numeracy level by sex

MalesFemales

PIAAC level

Perc

enta

ge

Employment and skillsAustralians aged 15 to 74

Below Level 1 / Level 1

Level 2 Level 3 Level 4/50

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

PIAAC literacy level by employment status

EmployedNot employedTotal

PIAAC Level

Perc

enta

ge

SO WHAT ABOUT THE HEADLINES?

How can all of this be true?

According to ALLS about 50% of Australian adults are below the minimum standard of literacy and numeracy

According to PISA About 15% of Australian 15-year-olds are below the required standard of reading and maths

According to NAPLAN about 6% of Australian Year 9 students are below the required standard of literacy and numeracy

NAPLAN

PISA

ALLS

Comparability of scales?

A project sponsored by the Victorian Department of

Education and Early Childhood Development

and the Australian Council for Education Research

Preliminary findings:

Literacy

Questions?