Measuring Literacy

For my research, I will (most likely) propose to measure the literacy skills of job training program participants based on the National Assessment of Adult Literacy's guidelines, in order to avoid confusion about all the different kinds of literacies being discussed (financial, health, cultural...). I suppose I will use their "coding" and measurement tests, since they are a well-recognized/established program in this field of study.

■ Prose Literacy.

The knowledge and skills needed to perform prose tasks (i.e., to search, comprehend, and use information from continuous texts). Prose examples include editorials, news stories, brochures, and instructional materials. Prose texts can be further broken down as expository, narrative, procedural, or persuasive.

■ Document Literacy.

The knowledge and skills needed to perform document tasks (i.e., to search, comprehend, and use information from noncontinuous texts in various formats). Document examples include job applications, payroll forms, transportation schedules, maps, tables, and drug or food labels.

■ Quantitative Literacy

The knowledge and skills required to perform quantitative tasks (i.e., to identify and perform computations, either alone or sequentially, using numbers embedded in printed materials). Examples include balancing a checkbook, figuring out a tip, completing an order form, or determining the amount of interest on a loan from an advertisement.