Glossary of termsAdult: The National Assessment of Adult Literacy defines citizens 16 years or older as adults. Literacy: The U.S. Department of Education defines literacy as the ability to use “printed and written information to function in society, to achieve one’s goals and to develop one’s knowledge and potential.” The National Assessment of Adult Literacy: The nation’s largest and most comprehensive measure of adults’ literacy performances. The most recent assessment was made in 2003, when more than 19,000 Americans in households and prisons were tested. When performing the national assessment, the U.S. Department of Education tests three types of literacy: 1. Prose literacy: The ability to understand and use “prose texts” such as news stories, brochures and instruction manuals. 2. Document literacy: The ability to understand and use “noncontinuous texts” such as job applications, maps and drug and food labels. 3. Quantitative literacy: The ability to identify and compute numbers in or out of print material, such as completing an order form or figuring out how much money to leave for a tip. State Assessment of Adult Literacy: A specific measure of adult literacy within a state that’s completed in conjunction with the national assessment. Missouri, Maryland, Massachusetts, Kentucky, New York and Oklahoma took part in the 2003 state assessment. Missouri’s results were first reported in 2005. Illiteracy in English: Defined by the U.S. Department of Education as people who “could not answer simple test questions” on the national assessment or could not take the test “because of language barriers.” Health literacy: The ability to read, understand, communicate about and act on health information. Examples of health literacy skills: Financial literacy: The ability to read, analyze, manage and communicate about financial information to make informed decisions about the use and management of money, assets and investments. Work force literacy: The set of reading and communication-based skills a worker needs to effectively perform job-specific tasks. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 26 of America’s 30 fastest-growing jobs require skills that can only be gained from some type of post-secondary education. Family literacy: An education method that involves parents acting as the primary teacher for their children and being active partners in their children’s formal education. This method can include programs that educate and/or raise the literacy of parents and teach them how to better teach their children. According to Rochelle Cassella, director of communications for ProLiteracy Worldwide, children who are not read to before they enter school are less prepared to learn to read than other children, causing them to fall behind from the get-go. Functional literacy: The ability to perform reading and writing skills well enough to function in “everyday life” in a modern society. — Kelsi Stoltenow |
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