The National Assessment of Adult Literacy (NAAL) is a household survey conducted
periodically by the Department of Education that evaluates the literacy skills of a
sample of adults in the United Stages ages 16 and older. NAAL results are used to
characterize adults' literacy skills and to inform policy and programmatic decisions.
The Committee on Performance Levels for Adult Literacy was convened at the
Department's request for assistance in determining a means for booking assessment
results that would be useful and understandable for NAAL'S many varied audiences.
Through a process detailed in the book, the committee determined that five performance
level categories should be used to characterize adults' literacy skills: nonliterate
in English, below basic literacy, basic literacy, intermediate literacy, and
advanced literacy. This book documents the process the committee used to determine
these performance categories, estimates the percentages of adults whose literacy
skills fall into each category, recommends ways to communicate about adults' literacy
skills based on NAAL, and makes suggestions for ways to improve future
assessments of adult literacy.
Table of Contents


Front Matter
Executive Summary
1 Introduction
2 Adult Literacy Assessments and Adult Education
3 Developing Performance Levels for the National Adult Literacy Survey
4 Determining Performance Levels for the National Assessment of Adult Literacy
5 Developing Performance-Level Descriptions and Setting Cut Scores
6 Communicating and Using the Results of Literacy Assessments
7 Recommendations for Future Literacy Assessments
References
Appendix A The Committee's Public Forums on Performance Levels for NAAL
Appendix B Examination of the Dimensionality of NALS
Appendix C July 2004 Bookmark Standard-Setting Session with the 1992 NALS Data
Appendix D September 2004 Bookmark Standard-Setting Session with the 2003 NAAL Data
Appendix E Biographical Sketches of Committee Members and Staff