Is Functional Literacy a Prerequisite for Entering the Labor Market? An Analysis of Determinants of Adult Literacy and Earnings in Ghana

1999 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dorte Verner ◽  
Niels-Hugo Blunch
Keyword(s):  
Labor Market ◽  
Adult Literacy ◽  
Functional Literacy

Cognitive Skill and Economic Inequality: Findings from the National Adult Literacy Survey

1998 ◽  
Vol 68 (1) ◽  
pp. 33-80 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen Raudenbush ◽  
Rafa Kasim
Keyword(s):  
Labor Market ◽  
African Americans ◽  
Gender Inequality ◽  
Gender Gap ◽  
Adult Literacy ◽  
Cognitive Skills ◽  
Hispanic Americans ◽  
Literacy Survey ◽  
And Gender ◽  
National Adult Literacy Survey

Few would deny that the civil rights and women's movements have substantially changed U.S. society. Yet ethnic and gender inequality in employment and earnings remain large. Even when comparisons are confined to persons of similar educational attainment, African Americans and Hispanic Americans earn less than European Americans, women earn less than men, and African Americans suffer a substantially elevated risk of unemployment. One prominent explanation for ethnic differences in earnings and employment is that, holding constant access to schooling, differences in economic outcomes reflect differences in cognitive skills that have become decisive in the modern labor market. A prominent explanation for the gender gap emphasizes gender differences in occupational preference, with women choosing occupations that are lower paying. Based on an intensive analysis of data from the U.S. National Adult Literacy Survey, the authors find that these two explanations are only partly successful in illuminating ethnic and gender inequality in employment and earnings. Alternative explanations emphasizing labor market discrimination and residential segregation cannot be ignored. In this article, Stephen Raudenbush and Rafa Kasim consider the implications of this new evidence for current debates about affirmative action and educational reform.

scholarly journals KONSTRUK ASESMEN LITERASI FUNGSIONAL UNTUK SISWA SEKOLAH MENENGAH PERTAMA

LITERA ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Burhan Nurgiyantoro ◽  
Beniati Lestyarini ◽  
Dwi Hanti Rahayu
Keyword(s):  
High School Students ◽  
Junior High School ◽  
Rasch Model ◽  
Adult Literacy ◽  
Junior High ◽  
Literacy Assessment ◽  
School Students ◽  
National Assessment ◽  
Functional Literacy ◽  
The Rasch Model

Literasi fungsional menyiratkan bahwa literasi dapat digunakan untuk meningkatkan kapasitas masyarakat, meraih tujuan, dan meningkatkan kemampuan diri. Penelitian validatif ini bertujuan untuk mengidentifikasi konstruk asesmen literasi fungsional untuk siswa SMP dan mengalisis butir soalnya dengan Model Rasch. Data penelitian ini dikumpulkan melalui observasi, wawancara, FGD, dan tes. Sebanyak 5 orang guru dan 246 siswa dari 5 SMP di DIY, serta 3 pakar dilibatkan dalam proses pengumpulan data. Hasil penelitian berupa konstruk literasi fungsional dari National Assessment for Adult Literacy (NAAL) dimodifikasi dalam 15 jenis literasi, yaitu literasi prosa, digital, dokumen, numerik, lingkungan, kesehatan, pariwisata, transportasi, keselamatan jalan, kesantunan berbahasa, mitigasi bencana, finansial, budaya, visual, dan sosial. Hasil analisis 60 butir soal dengan Model Rasch berbantuan program QUEST menunjukkan probability level 0,50 dengan indeks reliabilitas 0,98. Mean INFIT MNSQ sebesar 1.00 dengan SD 0,04 yang fit dengan Model Rasch. Butir soal yang layak berada pada rentang threshold (± 2) adalah 51 buah (85%), sedangkan yang di luar rentang tersebut 9 butir (15%). Siswa dengan skor ≥75 sebesar 38,2%, sedang yang belum memenuhi standar sebanyak 61,8%.  Indikator esensial dan batang soal menjadi bagian penting untuk melihat kemampuan literasi fungsional siswa. Kata kunci: literasi fungsional, asesmen, analisis butir soal, Model Rasch  THE CONSTRUCTS OF FUNCTIONAL LITERACY ASSESSMENT FOR JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS AbstractFunctional literacy implies that literacy can be used for improving society capacities, obtaining goals, and increasing self-capabilities. The present study is aimed at identifying the constructs of the functional literacy assessment of junior high school students and analysing the item responses by using the Rasch Model. The data were collected through observation, interview, FGD and testing. Five teachers, 246 students from five junior high schools in Yogyakarta Province, and 3 experts were involved in the research processes. Results show that the constructs of the functional literacy from the National Assessment for Adult Literacy (NAAL) concepts have been modified into 15 types of literacy: prose, digital, document, numerical, environmental, health, tourism, transportation, road safety, language civility, disaster mitigation, financial, cultural, visual, and social). The results of the item analysis (60 items) using the Rasch Model with the QUEST program produce a probability value of 0.50 with a reliability index of 0.98. The INFIT MNSQ mean of 1.00 with an SD of 0.4 fits with the Rasch model. Items are eligible for an appropriate threshold range (± 2) of 51 grains or 85% while items outside the range of ± 2 is 9 (15%). Students with a score of ≥ 75 are 94 in number (38.2%). Meanwhile, students who have not fulfilled the standard amount to 61.8%. Essential indicators and item stems have an important role in reflecting the students’ functional literacy competences. Keywords: functional literacy, assessment, item response, Rasch model

scholarly journals Adult Literacy in the USA, 1992–2014: Results of National and International Assessments

2020 ◽  
pp. 144-152
Author(s):  
Nataliya V. Zakharova ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Adult Education ◽  
Ethnic Groups ◽  
Adult Literacy ◽  
Functional Literacy ◽  
Historical Method ◽  
International Assessments ◽  
The Us ◽  
The World ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Document Literacy

The article aims at revealing the change of adult (functional) literacy in the USA and defining the role played by general (country’s population growth, the system of adult education, and its funding) and specific (age, ethnicity, and race) factors. The research is based on the results of national and international assessments of the level of adult literacy in 1992–2014. The following methods were applied for the research: generalization, system, deductive, inductive, and comparative, as well as the historical method and cluster selection for analyzing statistics. The author outlined the concept of functional literacy and described demographic features of the USA on the basis of migration statistics and the ethnic and racial portrait of the country’s population. The author reviewed the American and Russian historiography of adult literacy. A brief history and the current state of the US system of adult education and the corresponding legislation were presented. The study provided data on how the system of adult education was financed and what the initial level of education of migrants and the US migrant policy and testing were. The results of national and international assessments of adult literacy in 1992–2014 were analyzed and compared by literacy types on the national scale and among ethnic groups/races in the USA. The author concluded that the USA had not met the challenge of modern literacy connected not only with rather average assessments of its level in comparison with other countries of the world, but also with significant differences in the level of adult literacy within the country, despite political interest in improving this socioeconomic index, the legislative support which was embodied in setting up the system of adult education based on regional demands, and its annually growing budget. Besides, contradictions in the information (the results of the international assessments were lower than those presented in analytical reports within the country) on adult literacy in the USA available to most Americans were revealed. Trends of the change of literacy levels shown by representatives of various ethnic groups were defined. White Americans demonstrated the highest level of all types of literacy (above the country’s average). Together with the growing level of literacy of Asians and African-Americans, it allowed the USA to remain in the middle of the list of the tested countries of the OECD. The initially low indicators of literacy of Latin Americans and their having become the largest ethnic minority in the USA by the 2000s affected the growth of the country’s literacy in the world rankings negatively. Document literacy was the only indicator which remained stable throughout this period by the results of national surveys. By the results of the international ones, it even rose both compared to the earlier assessments and to the gradually decreasing average world level.

Definitional and Methodological Problems in the Cross-National Measurement of Adult Literacy

1998 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 41-61 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kenneth Levine
Keyword(s):  
Labor Market ◽  
Adult Literacy ◽  
Test Items ◽  
School Based ◽  
Literacy Survey ◽  
National Measurement ◽  
Methodological Problems ◽  
Nationally Representative ◽  
International Adult Literacy Survey ◽  
Definition Of

The International Adult Literacy Survey (MLS) offers researchers comparative data on levels of literacy in seven industrial societies, based on an instrument reflecting the "cognitivist" approach to measurement adapted from the work of Kirsch & Mosenthai. 'The use of nationally representative samples and systematically conducted household interviews represents a great advance on previous census and school-based studies, but the research embodies some serious conceptual problems. Some of these derive from the initial adoption of a definition of literacy that is not subsequently operationalized in the study. Others spring from the use of test items originating in North American research which were not demonstrably familiar to the non-Anglophone participants in the study. As a consequence, some of the occupational and international differences detected are likely to be an artifact of the scales used. This paper also examines the survey's findings, explanations, and predictions relating to the role of literacy in the labor markets for lower-skill jobs. It is argued that the single-snapshot design of the MLS study does not support predictions about future labor market developments, and that some of the explanations are not supported by relevant British research. The IALS approach is criticized for adopting a conception of literacy that is over-individualistic and which is too exclusively tied to a partisan view of labor market processes.

scholarly journals MAPPING JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS’ FUNCTIONAL LITERACY COMPETENCE

2020 ◽  
Vol 39 (3) ◽  
pp. 560-572
Author(s):  
Burhan Nurgiyantoro ◽  
Beniati Lestyarini ◽  
Dwi Hanti Rahayu
Keyword(s):  
High School ◽  
High School Students ◽  
Junior High School ◽  
Adult Literacy ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Junior High ◽  
Total Sample ◽  
Cultural Literacy ◽  
School Students ◽  
Functional Literacy

Literacy issues have probably been a special concern of many countries. In Indonesia, there have also been several surveys regarding the literacy of school students. This study aims to map the functional literacy of junior high school (JHS) students by focusing on various types of literacy and how each of them contributes to the overall functional literacy. This is quantitative survey research whose subjects were JHS students in four regencies and one municipality of the Special Region of Yogyakarta, with a total sample member of 246 students. The research instrument was an extension of the National Assessment for Adult Literacy (NAAL) with some additions of functional literacy types suggested in the FGD. Data were collected by using a test and analyzed through descriptive statistics and confirmatory factor analysis using the structural equation model with the Lisrel program. The results reveal that the functional literacy of the JHS students is mostly in the “medium” (83.3%), “low” (15.4%), and “high” (1.2%) category. Of the 15 types of literacy, two of them (13.33%), namely prose and cultural literacy make “high” contribution to the functional literacy as a whole, and two others (document and environmental literacy) also support to a “medium” extent (13.33%), while the rest (60%) are categorized as having “low” contribution. This likely implies the importance of fostering various types of functional literacy at school for students to have the ability to develop their personal and social functions.

scholarly journals The Challenges of Functional Adult Literacy: A Descriptive Study on EFL Learners in Beqaa District

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 36-48
Author(s):  
Eman Saleh
Keyword(s):  
Critical Thinking ◽  
21St Century ◽  
Adult Literacy ◽  
Rapid Change ◽  
Computer Skills ◽  
Literacy Skills ◽  
Educational Systems ◽  
Daily Lives ◽  
Technical Problems ◽  
Functional Literacy

The world witnesses a rapid change as a result of the technological revolution thatshapes people's daily lives. This new lifestyle demands from 21st-century students new skills such as communication, collaboration, critical thinking, and computer skills. However, it is noticeable that literate people in Lebanon lack these skills which hinder their success at the professional and social levels. In this way, functional literacy is needed to help the literate to read, write, do calculations, and solve technical problems in the social and professional context. Therefore, this research conducted descriptive research on 100 EFL literate in the Beqaa using a questionnaire and a poll to test functional literacy level and to determine the challenges that prevent adult literates to act as functional literate in the 21st-century. The results affirmed that nearly half of EFL adult literates in the Beqaa district can act as functional literates, but the majority of them are at the intermediate level. The results also revealed that they need more improvements regarding developing English skills, technological skills, and numeracy skills. Thus, it is recommended to design training courses that develop functional adult literacy skills by presenting them in a procedure that depends on promoting communication, collaboration, critical thinking, and computer skills so that that the adult learners can substitute the gaps they missed in their educational systems and contribute in the sustainable development of the society

scholarly journals Kompetenzen oder Zertifikate? Die Entwertung ausländischer Bildungsabschlüsse auf dem Schweizer Arbeitsmarkt / Skills or Certificates? The Devaluation of Foreign Educational Credentials in the Swiss Labor Market

2010 ◽  
Vol 39 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Cornelia Weins
Keyword(s):  
Labor Market ◽  
Adult Literacy ◽  
Educational Credentials

ZusammenfassungIm Herkunftsland erworbene Bildungsabschlüsse von Zuwanderern zahlen sich in geringerem Maße in Lohnzuwächsen aus als inländische Abschlüsse. Aus humankapitaltheoretischer Sicht spiegelt die Entwertung ausländischer Bildungsabschlüsse eine geringe Produktivität von Zuwanderern wider, insbesondere aufgrund fehlenden aufnahmelandspezifischen Humankapitals. Unberücksichtigt bleibt bei dieser Argumentation der geringere Signalwert ausländischer Abschlüsse, der statistische Diskriminierung begünstigt. Schließlich müssen Vorurteile als Ursache von Diskriminierung in Betracht gezogen und von statistischer Diskriminierung abgegrenzt werden. Die Schweizer Daten des Adult Literacy and Lifeskills Survey zeigen geringere Fähigkeiten im Lesen und Rechnen bei Bildungsausländern. Kompetenzen erklären die Entwertung ausländischer Abschlüsse jedoch nur teilweise. Auch bei Berücksichtigung unterschiedlicher Kompetenzen haben ausländische Abschlüsse einen geringeren Einfluss auf Löhne als inländische Abschlüsse, wie es bei statistischer Diskriminierung zu erwarten ist. Hinweise auf ethnische Diskriminierung liefern die vorliegenden Daten nicht: Kompetenzen von Bildungsinländern und Bildungsausländern werden gleich honoriert.

scholarly journals Functional Literacy in People's Lives

2010 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 29-51 ◽  
Author(s):  
Milada Rabušicová ◽  
Pavla Oplatková
Keyword(s):  
Adult Literacy ◽  
Parental Education ◽  
Qualitative Data ◽  
Literacy Skills ◽  
The Czech Republic ◽  
Functional Literacy ◽  
Her Family ◽  
Literacy Survey ◽  
History Of ◽  
International Adult Literacy Survey

Functional Literacy in People's Lives The paper presents the results of a qualitative study into the lives of people with inadequate functional literacy skills. The data were collected through a biographical interview with a respondent whose characteristics correspond to those of a hypothetical person likely to exhibit signs of low functional literacy. The characteristics, such as gender, age, parental education achievements and job history, of this hypothetical person have been derived from the results of research into adult functional literacy undertaken in the Czech Republic in 1998-International Adult Literacy Survey (IALS). The analysis of the qualitative data focuses on three domains of the respondent's life, namely her family life, her school years, and her life style. The paper identifies the coping strategies used by the respondent in her everyday life.

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