Vol. 39, No. 48

December 15, 2005

Missouri Adults Stand Out on New
National Assessment of Literacy

Missouri adults score significantly higher than adults in the rest of the country on nearly every measure of literacy included in a wide-ranging national study released today. The study is the first in more than a decade to evaluate the skills and functional knowledge of American adults, ages 16 to 65 and over, who are not in school.

The National Assessment of Adult Literacy (NAAL) was released today by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), a part of the U.S. Department of Education. At the same time, state education officials announced the findings of a parallel study that focused only on Missouri.

Missouri is one of only six states that took part in a state-level study in conjunction with the national literacy assessment. About 1,000 Missouri adults were interviewed during 2003 and early 2004. The study was conducted for the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE). Highlights of the findings include:

  • The average literacy level of Missouri adults was significantly higher than the national average in all three areas measured. The portion of Missouri adults who ranked in the lowest skill category ("below basic") also was significantly lower than the national average.
     

  • The average literacy level of African-American adults in Missouri was significantly higher than the national average.
     

  • The average literacy level of women in Missouri was significantly higher than the national average.

"This is an encouraging and highly favorable report for Missouri," said Nancy Headrick, assistant commissioner of DESE’s division of career education.

"Adult literacy is an important issue for our state," she added. "If our adult citizens are more literate than those in other parts of the country, it means Missouri is more competitive. It means Missourians are better prepared to learn new skills and adapt to changing workforce demands. It means parents are more likely to be able to teach important knowledge and skills to their own children."

The study also will help state education officials evaluate trends and the need for adult education services in different parts of the state, Headrick said.

Currently, more than 30,000 Missourians are served each year through locally operated adult education and literacy (AEL) programs that are supported with state and federal funds administered by the Department. AEL classes conducted by local school districts, community colleges and community-based organizations provide instruction in basic skills for adults who lack a high school diploma or do not speak English.

Adult education and literacy classes also help Missourians who are not in school prepare to take the high school equivalency (GED) exam, through the testing program administered by the state education department. About 8,000 Missourians earn their high school equivalency certificate annually by taking the GED exam.

Measuring Literacy

The national and state literacy studies measured adults’ skills in three areas: "prose," "document" and "quantitative" literacy. Prose literacy involves working with continuous written material such as news articles. "Document literacy" evaluates how well adults read and understand materials such as bus schedules or labels on medicine bottles. "Quantitative" literacy measures how well adults handle tasks such as balancing a checkbook or comparing the cost-per-ounce on food price tags.

In prose literacy, for example, 51% of Missouri adults scored at the "intermediate" level, which means a person can perform moderately challenging literacy tasks. This figure is significantly higher than the national average of 44%.

In addition, only 7% of Missouri adults scored at the lowest level (below basic) on prose literacy. This is half the national rate.