Search

The aim of the OECD Career Readiness project is to identify patterns of teenage attitudes and activities that are associated with better transitions into employment by analysing multiple national longitudinal datasets. This paper looks for further evidence of the link between teenage activities, experiences and career-related thinking and adult career outcomes by analysing 10 new datasets from eight countries. Overall, the results of this paper find further evidence that secondary school students who explore, experience and think about their futures in work frequently encounter lower levels of unemployment, receive higher wages and are happier in their careers as adults. The findings of this paper are analysed together with the evidence from the two previous working papers of the Career Readiness project, concluding that there is international evidence to support 11 out of the 14 potential indicators that were explored as indicators of career readiness.

This paper explores the impact of test-taking conditions on the quality of the Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) assessment. Interviewers record information about the room of assessment and interruptions that occurred during each interview. These observations, along with information on interviewer assignment size and a careful look at interviewer effects, provide insights into the quality of the assessment. This working paper first describes the variations in test-taking conditions among participating countries. Second, it examines interviewer assignment sizes and the frequency of interruptions, finding that both vary markedly among countries (contrary to the room of assessment). The paper then looks at the relationship between these variations and response rates and engagement measures. While neither the room of assessment nor the recorded interruptions impact quality differences among countries, interviewer assignment size and interviewer effects may have a mild impact on results.

Numeracy and literacy skills have become increasingly important in modern labour markets. The large gender differences that several studies have identified have therefore sparked considerable attention among researchers and policy makers. Little is known about the moment in which such gaps emerge, how they evolve and if their evolution differs across countries. We use data from large-scale international assessments to follow representative samples of birth-cohorts over time, and analyse how gender gaps in numeracy and literacy evolve from age 10 to age 27. Our results suggest that, across the countries examined, males' advantage in numeracy is smallest at age 10 and largest at age 27. The growth in magnitude of the gender gap is particularly pronounced between the age of 15 and 27. Such evolution stands in sharp contrast with the evolution of the gender gap in literacy, which is small at age 10, large and in favour of females at age 15, and negligible by age 27.

It is well-known that there are large disparities in academic achievement between children of different socio-economic status (SES) backgrounds. This study examines the evolution of disparities in literacy skills between adults of different SES backgrounds. It compares countries' patterns in the evolution of disparities in literacy by SES background as cohorts age and asks which patterns of educational and labour force participation predict a narrowing rather than a widening of these disparities. Since there is no international longitudinal study of skills across the entire adult life span, this study uses three cross-sectional international adult studies (International Adult Literacy Survey, Adult Literacy and Lifeskills and Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies) and matches birth years to create synthetic cohorts. Results indicate that there is large cross-national variation in the evolution of skills disparities associated with SES background. Disparities in literacy proficiency tend to widen when SES disparities in high school completion, professional and blue-collar employment increase. Disparities narrow when workers exit the labour force, a finding that is explained by the large inequalities in the employment experiences of individuals from different SES backgrounds, measured by differences in use of literacy skills at work. These results help to explain cross-national variation in the evolution of skills disparities by SES background, which has implications for policies aimed at closing skills gaps over the life course. [Funding from the OECD Thomas J. Alexander Fellowship Programme.]

The paper examines between-country differences in the mechanisms through which education could promote generalised trust using data from 29 countries participating in the OECD's Survey of Adult Skills (PIAAC). Results indicate that education is strongly associated with generalised trust and that a large part of this association is mediated by individuals' literacy skills, income and occupational prestige. However, education gradients in levels of generalised trust and in the extent to which they are due to social stratification mechanisms or cognitive skills mechanisms vary across countries. Differences across countries in birthplace diversity and income inequality are correlated with how strongly education is associated with trust in different countries, as well as in the relative magnitude of direct and indirect associations. In particular, the relationship between literacy skills and generalised trust is stronger in the presence of greater birthplace diversity but is weaker in the presence of greater income inequality.

We assess the relationship between general literacy skills and health status by analysing data from the Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC), an international survey of about 250,000 adults aged 16-65 years conducted by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) from 2011-15 in 33 countries/national sub-regions. Across countries, there seems to be a strong and consistent association between general literacy proficiency and self-rated poor health, independent of prior socio-economic status and income. General literacy proficiency also appears to be a mediator of the association between self-education and self-rated poor health. While the literacy-health association is robust over time, it varies in magnitude across countries. It is strongest for those with a tertiary or higher degree and does not appear to exist among young adults (ages 25 to 34 years). Future studies are required to understand the contextual factors that modify the general literacy proficiency-health association.

Using the qualitative research method known as folknography, the authors led a research team to the heart of Illinois farm country to ask the question "What are the perceptions of the people of the Midwest concerning math and math education?" A review of the literature includes Canadian and Australian references on the topic, as well as information from the United States, and the targeted geography and population is described. Research followed the pattern of a similar study conducted in Appalachia in 2004. A preliminary survey was planned to gather benchmarking statistical data and to open respondents up to the possibilities of a folknographic interview. Folknographers entered the field in May 2006 to perform focused and intensive field research. Findings include: (1) belief that young people can not perform simple math; (2) perception that too much technology has a significant and negative impact on developing minds of students; (3) connection between acquiring math knowledge and achieving a dynamic career; (4) recollections of tyrannical or cruel math teachers; (5) desire for a school or school system that makes learning math an exciting and motivating experience. Folknographic narratives are included to illustrate each finding. Bibliography is included. Four appendixes conclude the document: (1) Perceptions of Math in the Mid-West Interview Questions: Adults (18-55); (2) Perceptions of Math in the Mid-West Interview Questions: Seniors (55-Over); (3) Perceptions of Math in the Mid-West Interview Questions: Youth (Ages 10-17); and (4) Perceptions of Math Survey Mid-West. (Contains 4 charts.)

The United States has an extensive network of publicly financed and managed schools and provides almost no financial support to private schools. One of the most fundamental justifications for the status quo is the hypothesis that the regulation of private schools cannot adequately ensure that the desired social benefits of schooling will be produced. In particular, there is concern that private schools may focus on producing skills and knowledge with clear individual benefits and place less value on the external social benefits that are derived from instilling a variety of civic values and beliefs. In this study, the author presents new empirical evidence on this issue by evaluating the relative effects of Catholic schooling on civic participation as an adult. This evidence is based on two nationally representative longitudinal surveys conducted by the US Department of Education: High School and Beyond (HS&B) and the National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988 (NELS88). He finds that students who attended Catholic school in 10th grade were substantially more likely to vote as adults and that this relationship is generally robust to conditioning on a wide variety of observed demographic, socioeconomic and attitudinal measures. He then attempts to assess whether these results reflect uncorrected selection biases by exploiting three of the instrumental variables that have been employed in recent studies of other youth outcomes. He finds that bivariate-probit and 2SLS estimates based on these instruments suggest that Catholic schooling has even larger effects on voter turnout and possibly negative effects on volunteering. However, he then assesses whether these instruments provide a valid basis for identifying the effects of Catholic schooling using an approach introduced by Altonji, Elder and Taber (2002). The results suggest that system estimates based on these instruments may often be plagued by large, confounding biases. He concludes that, though there is a robust partial correlation between Catholic schooling and adult civic engagement, one cannot completely dismiss the possibility that this reflects selection biases. Nonetheless, the lack of clear evidence that Catholic schools are inferior at promoting adult civic participation does raise questions about the effectiveness of public schools at achieving one of their most fundamental goals. An appendix presenting additional data is included. (Contains 21 footnotes and 8 tables.) [This working paper was produced by the Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning & Engagement (CIRCLE).]

This study examines whether there are differences in men's and women's use of computers and the Internet in the United States and Japan and how any such gender gaps have changed over time. The authors focus on these two countries because information technology is widely used in both, but there are substantial differences in institutions and social organizations. They use microdata from several surveys during the 1997-2001 period to examine differences and trends in computer and Internet usage in the two countries. Their results indicate that there were significant gender differences in computer and Internet usage in both countries during the mid-1990s. By 2001, these gender differences had disappeared or were even reversed in the United States but remained in Japan. People not currently working have lower levels of IT use and skills in both countries regardless of gender, but working women in Japan have lower levels of IT use and skills than working men, a difference that generally does not occur in the United States. This finding suggests that employment status per se does not play a large role in the gender gap in Japan, but type of employment does. The prevalence of nonstandard employment among female workers in Japan accounts for much of the gender gap in IT use and skills in that country. (Contains 11 footnotes and 6 tables.)

This paper offers a comprehensive analysis of the information from the Survey of Adult Skills (PIAAC) regarding adults with low literacy and numeracy proficiency. The paper first describes the demographic and socio-economic characteristics of these populations. Although, they are more likely than the rest of the population to exhibit certain characteristics, such as lower levels of educational attainment, lower rates of unemployment or more disadvantaged backgrounds, adults with low literacy are found in among all socio-demographic groups and in all walks of life. The paper then explores the frequency with which adults with low proficiency engage in the reading, writing and numeracy practices and the relationship between these practices and a range of social and economic outcomes. For most outcomes, levels of engagement in literacy practices appear to be as strong predictors as proficiency, indicating the importance of encouraging more intense use of these skills both in and outside of work. The unique data from the Survey of Adult Skills regarding performance on the simple reading tasks (the so called "reading components") is also analysed. Adults with low proficiency are found to be able to easily recognise commonly used words in printed form but often have difficulty with processing the logic of sentences and reading extended passages for basic meaning. Adults with low proficiency are considerably less likely than their more proficient peers to participate in formal or non-formal adult education or training programmes, which is mostly due to the socio-demographic and employment characteristics of this population. However, the lower participation rates among the low proficient adults does not appear to be a consequence of their lack of motivation as much as of the presence of various obstacles to participation, such as lack of time and the cost of training. PIAAC Methodology for Measuring AET [Adult education and training] and two supplemental tables are provided in an annex. Individual chapters contain references.

This paper presents a comprehensive analysis of the link between age and proficiency in information-processing skills, based on information drawn from the Survey of Adult Skills (PIAAC). The data reveal significant age-related differences in proficiencies, strongly suggesting that proficiency tends to "naturally" decline with age. Age differences in proficiency are, at first sight, substantial. On average across the OECD countries participating in PIAAC, adults aged 55 to 65 score some 30 points less than adults aged 25 to 34 on the PIAAC literacy scale, which is only slightly smaller than the score point difference between tertiary educated and less-than-upper-secondary educated individuals. However, despite their lower levels of proficiency, older individuals do not seem to suffer in terms of labour market outcomes. In particular, they generally earn higher wages, and much of the available empirical evidence suggests that they are not less productive than younger workers. Older and more experienced individuals seem therefore able to compensate the decline in information processing skills with the development of other skills, generally much more difficult to measure. On the other hand, proficiency in information-processing skills remain a strong determinant of important outcomes at all ages: this makes it important to better understand which factors are the most effective in preventing such age-related decline in proficiency, which does not occur to the same extent in all countries and for all individuals. Two broad interventions seem to be particularly promising in this respect. First, it is important to ensure that there is adequate and effective investment in skills development early in the life-cycle: as skills beget skills, starting off with a higher stock of human capital seems also to ensure smaller rates of proficiency decline. Second, it is equally important that policies are in place that provide incentives to individuals (and firms) to invest in skills across the entire working life. In this respect, changes in retirement policies can not only have the short-term effect of providing some reliefs to public finance, but have the potential to radically reshape incentives to stay active, to practice their skills and to invest more in training, thus helping to maintain high levels of proficiency. One table, Age Differences and Age Effects, is appended.

Policy interest in international surveys on Adult Learning (AL) has increased strongly. AL survey data are used as benchmarks for a country's educational system. However, results of key indicators like participation in learning activities often vary remarkably between different data sources. Stating that these differences are due to varying concepts and methods is not enough. The key question is: Which figures represent reality more appropriately? Therefore, evaluation of survey concepts and methods is crucial for international comparison of Adult Learning. This report provides guidelines on methodological and conceptual issues. Part one covers methodological aspects while part two deals with concepts, definitions and example questions. Recommendations are based on input from 14 countries. The methodological section covers data collection (telephone vs. f2f-interviews and online surveys); reference period (calendar year; recall problems); target population (age limit; non-national residents); sample design (proxy interviews, random selection of learning activities). The second part first discusses the basic concepts of Adult learning used in the European Adult Education Survey and in non-European countries (e.g. Canada, USA), including informal learning. The report then goes on to discuss empirical concepts and questions on AL participation and shows how different concepts affect empirical results and recommends example questions for formal, non-formal and informal learning. Other chapters refer to volume of AL; costs (what can be answered by non-experts?); providers of AL (define by teacher or learning location?); fields (ISCED, etc.); obstacles and benefits (which items are more valid?) and imputation. This report will act as a useful resource tool for researchers and policy makers when designing new national AL surveys or when optimising existing surveys. Results are focussed by a summary of conclusions, recommendations and example questions at the end of each section. Annexes include: (1) Acronyms used in this report; (2) References; (3) Existing OECD Education Working Papers. (Contains 40 footnotes and 18 figures.)

In this paper, we review a range of rigorous research studies that estimate the average statistical relationships between children growing up in poverty and their earnings, propensity to commit crime, and quality of health later in life. We also review estimates of the costs that crime and poor health per person impose on the economy. Then we aggregate all of these average costs per poor child across the total number of children growing up in poverty in the U.S. to estimate the aggregate costs of child poverty to the U.S. economy. Our results suggest that "the costs to the U.S. associated with childhood poverty total about $500 billion per year, or the equivalent of nearly 4 percent of GDP." (Contains 35 footnotes.) [This report was prepared for the Task Force on Poverty at the Center for American Progress.]

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused one of the worst economic crises since the Great Depression. Although countries responded quickly to support displaced workers with assistance packages and funding for education and training, additional measures might be needed. Each country's economic recovery will most likely depend on how well its workforce is prepared to meet the needs of the changed labor market. Providing workers with opportunities to upskill or reskill is of major importance in meeting these challenges and improving low- and middle-skilled workers' reemployment prospects. This qualitative study examines measures taken in response to COVID-19 in adult education and training (AET) in seven countries. The findings are based on key informant interviews with international experts and online sources they provided. Some countries have increased government funding for vocational and continuing education or offered financial support for post-secondary students while others have provided funds to employers to offer training and retraining for their employees. [This paper was published in: "Widening Participation and Lifelong Learning" v23 n1 p201-210 Jun 2021.]

Using data from the Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies, this paper compares the earnings premium and employment share of jobs in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) across 11 member countries of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. The results reveal that the STEM wage premium is higher in the United States than in any of the other comparison countries, despite the fact that the U.S. has a larger share of workers in STEM jobs. We also find evidence that the premium varies significantly across STEM sub-fields and education levels, and that the premium tends to be higher in countries with lower unionization rates, less employment protection, or a larger share of employment in the public sector. [This is the online first version of an article published in "New Horizons in Adult Education and Human Resource Development."]

This report provides international benchmarks to help states see how students are doing in math and science within an international context. It shows how state-by-state results from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) can be linked with nation-by-nation results from the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) to provide a comprehensive indicator system that would allow state-by-nation comparisons. Such a system of indicators is important to state and national policymakers because it goes beyond the traditional roles of NAEP and TIMSS. Historically, NAEP has allowed US policymakers to compare and track the progress of states within the United States, while TIMSS has provided similar data for nations. This report places NAEP and TIMSS on the same scale, allowing states to compare themselves with nations. By doing so, states can monitor progress toward improved science and mathematics achievement while seeing how they stack up within an international context. The paper first explores the broader context for the study by arguing that many intractable worldwide problems cannot be addressed in the United States until we reach a critical mass of science and mathematical literacy among the general population. The paper then discusses a brief history of attempts within the United States to establish state-by-state indicators of student performance. The paper argues that most attempts have been flawed. However, there is a way to use extant data from NAEP and TIMSS to provide a comprehensive indicator system with accurate and timely state-by-state data along with international benchmarks for states. Finally, the paper introduces the concept of statistically linking NAEP and TIMSS. This allows TIMSS to be reported based on the NAEP achievement levels. By expressing NAEP and TIMSS in the same metric, states can see not only see how they compare with other states, but also with other countries. The findings indicate that most states are performing as well or better than most foreign countries; however, the highest achieving states within the United States are still significantly below the highest achieving countries. The paper argues that the United States needs to substantially increase the scientific and mathematical competency of the general adult population so that the voting citizenry can better understand and reach a consensus on policies that address many of the world's most pressing problems. Additionally, the paper argues that more people are needed in the scientific disciplines to better compete in a global economic environment. To achieve these goals, national and state policymakers need indicators of scientific and mathematical progress early in the educational pipeline. It is argued that the strategy of linking NAEP to TIMSS helps to provide this system of indicators. The following are appended: (1) Technical Appendix A: Statistical Linking NAEP to TIMSS; and (2) Technical Appendix B: Significance Testing and Multiple Comparisons. (Contains 36 tables, 53 figures, and 13 footnotes.)

Individuals with traumatic brain injury (TBI) often struggle to obtain competitive employment after sustaining a TBI, commonly as a result of the post-injury difficulties they exhibit (Andelic, Stevens, Sigurdardottir, Arango-Lasprilla, & Roe, 2009; Mansfield et al., 2015). The currently reported unemployment rate for people with TBI is approximately 60% (Cuthbert et al., 2015). Hence, the unemployment for individuals with TBI is considerably higher than for individuals without disabilities. Many adults with TBI seek assistance in gaining employment through post-acute rehabilitation. Post-acute rehabilitation services focus on helping individuals adjust to ongoing impairments and to re-enter their communities, workplaces, and education. Post-acute interventions are broadly classified into the following groups (Shames, Treger, Ring, & Giaquinto, 2007): residential community reintegration programs, comprehensive day treatment programs, and community re-entry programs that focus on vocational and social reintegration. This review focused on identifying the most effective type of intervention for returning individuals with TBI to work. The authors of this review drew on a wide range of databases, searched grey literature, included studies with a range of follow-up times, and focused on competitive employment outcomes among individuals with TBI regardless of the injury severity of the individuals. This review examined the effectiveness of vocational rehabilitation (VR) interventions to help adults with TBI attain competitive employment. Studies for this review were identified by searching 16 databases, including the Australian Education Index, CIRRIE--the Center for International Rehabilitation Research Information and Exchange Databases, the Academic Complete collection, EBSCOhost Research Databases, MEDLINE/PubMed, ProQuest, and 11 other databases. Unpublished papers and grey literature were also searched. Reference lists of papers included in the analysis and previous systematic reviews were searched. The following inclusion criteria were used for each potential study: (1) Studies are of interventions focused on assisting helping working-aged adults with TBI return to competitive employment, including self-employment. (2) Competitive employment had to be measured as an outcome. (3) Participants must have been between 18 and 65 years of age, experienced a non-penetrating TBI, been engaged in either full-time or part-time employment at time of injury, and been unemployed or on medical leave at time of receipt of the intervention. Studies that included individuals with other disabilities were included only if the results were provided for TBI participants separately from those with other disabilities. (4) Data had to be presented separately for competitively employed participants. (5) The design must be a randomized controlled trial (RCTs) or quasi-experimental design, with a treatment and a control/comparison group. Odds ratios and log odds ratios were computed and 95% confidence intervals were computed for each included study. Only datab for the primary outcome, competitive employment status, were used due to insufficient secondary outcome data. The literature search resulted in 6,941 unduplicated documents. From these 6,941 documents, 414 documents were selected for full-text review. From these 414 documents, 67 intervention reports were found, with only three return-to-work RCTs meeting inclusion criteria for this systematic review. The last search was conducted November 7, 2015. The three studies included in this review were RCTs with parallel interventions (Man et al., 2013; Salazar et al., 2000; Twamley et al., 2014, 2015). Man et al. (2013) compared two interventions, an artificial intelligent virtual reality-based training program (n = 17) and a psycho-educational vocational training system (n = 20) using a civilian population from China. Salazar et al. (2000) compared an in-hospital cognitive treatment (n = 67) to an in-home treatment (n = 53) for active U.S. military personnel. Twamley et al. (2014, 2015) compared a CogSMART Plus supported employment program (n = 21) to an enhanced supported employment program (n = 21) for U.S military veterans. Salazar and colleagues (2000) used active military samples and Twamley et al. (2014, 2015) used U.S. military veterans. Man and colleagues (2013) used civilians in China.The sample in Salazar et al. (2000) was predominantly African American and White. There were more Hispanic/Latino and White participants in the Twamley et al. (2014, 2015) study. Man and colleagues (2013) RCT did not report the ethnicity or race of its sample from China. The Twamley et al. (2014, 2015) and Man et al. (2013) studies reported severity of injury as mild to moderate. All studies were RCTs; however, blinding, incomplete data, and selective outcome reporting were of concern for all studies. Design, review status, publication type, and presence of control group were sufficient.Findings from this systematic review were inconclusive in that all odds ratios were not significant. Man et al. (2013) had the largest odds ratio (OR = 2.204, p = 0.264) but had the lowest employment rates (30%). Salazar et al. (2000) and Twamley et al. (2014, 2015) had odds ratios less than one. This indicated that the alternate interventions for Salazar et al. (OR = 0.514, p = 0.353) and Twamley et al. (OR = 0.817, p = 0.749) were more effective than the primary intervention. The employment rates for Salazar et al. and Twamley et al. ranged from 55% to 94%, which were rates higher than observed in Man et al. In sum, there were no significant odds ratios. Although all interventions evidenced positive average gains, no intervention was identified as more effective than another. All interventions showed positive average gains. However,the authors were unable to determine which intervention was most effective due to the small number of studies (n = 3). More experimental RCTs need to be conducted with interventions not included in this study. There are several recommendations for the direction of research concerning return-to-work for adults with TBI. First, studies of return-to-work VR interventions for adults with TBI must improve their quality of research by conducting RCTs. Second, separating competitive employment from education would provide a more accurate estimate of impact on return to work. Third, research is needed with other populations outside the United States and civilian samples. Last, future return-to-work VR studies should report time to employment, hours worked, separate rates of competitive employment, sheltered employment, educational training, and continued follow-ups at 12 months or more.

The Simple View of Reading (SVR), which posits that reading comprehension is the product of decoding and linguistic comprehension, has been studied extensively with school-age readers. However, little is known about the intricacies of the SVR for adults who struggle with reading. The current study addresses notable gaps in this literature, including the dimensionality of linguistic comprehension, the interaction between the two SVR components, and the relative contributions of components across different reading proficiency levels. With a sample of 392 struggling adult readers, confirmatory factor analyses indicated that the linguistic comprehension component encompasses the highly related yet separable constructs of oral vocabulary and listening comprehension. Structural equation modeling showed significant main effects of decoding and listening comprehension, but not oral vocabulary, on reading comprehension. Additionally, the interaction between the SVR components did not uniquely contribute to variance in reading comprehension. Quantile regression models demonstrated that the unique effects of the SVR components were relatively stable in magnitude across different levels of reading comprehension performance. Implications for instruction and future research are discussed. [This is the in press version of a paper that will be published in "Journal of Learning Disabilities."]

Automation and advanced technologies have increased the need for a better understanding of the skills necessary to have a globally competitive workforce. This study used data from the Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies to compare problem solving skills in technology rich environments among adults in South Korea, Germany, Singapore, Japan, Canada, Estonia, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Australia. Overall, the United States had the lowest scores among all countries, and in all countries scores declined with age. The United States had higher proportions of survey participants in the lowest skill category and lower proportions in the top skill categories. The results of this study suggest changes in the United States educational and lifelong learning systems and policies may be necessary to ensure all adults have the necessary skills in a competitive workforce. [The paper will be published in "Adult Learning".]

Raising Arizona was the challenge of the 20th century. Sustaining Arizona is now the challenge of the 21st. A crucial part of that task is not just understanding today's knowledge economy, but mastering it. Ray and Charles Eames, the creative geniuses behind many iconic 20th century designs, debuted their film "Powers of 10" in 1977. In nine minutes, the viewer zooms from a picnic in a park to a view of the universe from outer space back to being inside the cells of the human body. The journey is a powerful lesson in perspective. For decision makers, the lesson is clear: each level offers crucial input for wise choices. This paper applies the "Powers of 10" idea. As a result, this paper looks at issues and demands from three perspectives: 30,000 feet, 10,000 feet, and on the ground. Each level provides insights vital to Arizona finding new ways to develop a quality workforce suited to "stimulating innovation, creating wealth, and promoting economic growth." "To Learn and Earn" concludes with questions that the Arizona Minority Education Policy Analysis Center (AMEPAC) sees as a starting point for working with partners throughout Arizona. (Contains 35 endnotes.) ["To Learn and Earn: Arizona's Unfinished Business in Human Capital" was written with Richard Toon and Yuri Artibise. This report was prepared for the Arizona Minority Education Policy Analysis Center (AMEPAC).]

The results of the Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) survey paint a troubling portrait of the literacy skills of adults in the United States. The survey included a direct assessment of skills and was conducted in 23 countries with nationally representative samples of adults ages 16 through 65. Assessed were cognitive and workplace skills needed for success in the 21st-century global economy. The ability to read fluently and for understanding--to be able to learn from text--is perhaps the most important foundational skill for U.S. adult citizens' health, well-being, and social and economic advancement. It is a gateway to lifelong learning, education, and training. With the emergence of the Internet and social networking (which operate primarily through the written word), reading literacy provides control over an immeasurable, readily accessible library of the world's knowledge, as well as the ability to communicate with friends, family, and employers. While the digital revolution has increased the prevalence of and, access to, visual/aural media, written text--whether on paper or screen--continues to be an omnipresent currency of communication and commerce, except for adults who continue to struggle to read. Adults who have trouble reading, using mathematics, solving problems, and using technology are at a disadvantage when competing for jobs in the 21st-century workforce. The situation is perhaps most dire for those at the lowest level of reading literacy skills, because limited literacy skill reduces their access to print-based training and educational opportunities that could be used to enhance their social and workforce skills. Low literacy adults are not necessarily isolated, thanks to the ever-present visual media and communications available. However, their potential is limited because they cannot use printed media to learn, grow their knowledge, and seek opportunities. Interpersonally, it is often painfully obvious to adults when they cannot read well, as it also is to the casual observer. When confronted with text and a task, they can be observed puzzling and lingering for longer than proficient readers do when performing the same literacy activity. The introduction of reading component tasks in the 2011 PIAAC survey provided a rich opportunity to better understand adults with low literacy proficiency scores in the United States in comparison to similar populations in other countries. Reading components results help us to understand what adults with scores at or below Level 1 can and cannot do: (1) Can they identify the meaning of high-frequency vocabulary words when they appear in print? (2) Can they evaluate the meaning of single sentences? Can they read for local meaning in simple passages? and (3) What is the range and variation in foundational skills among the lowest scoring adults in a country? These are the questions addressed in this report. In sum, the reading components tasks in PIAAC were designed to complement the applied literacy tasks in order to provide a richer sense of what adults scoring at or below Level 1 can and cannot do when engaging and processing basic written words, sentences, and passages. In the remainder of the report, it describes in more detail: (1) the reading component measures, including the theoretical and empirical rationale for adopting this framework; (2) the results in a select set of countries that participated in the PIAAC survey; and (3) implications of those findings for policy and practice.