The framework used in developing and Interpreting the International Adult Literacy Survey (IALS)

This paper offers a framework that has been used for both developing the tasks used to measure literacy in the International Adult Literacy Survey and for understanding the meaning of what has been reported with respect to the comparative literacy proficiencies of adults in participating countries. The framework consists of six parts that represent a logical sequence of steps from needing to define and represent a particular domain of interest, to identifying and operationalizing characteristics used to construct items, to providing an empirical basis for interpreting results. The various parts of the framework are seen as important in that they help to provide a deeper understanding of the construct of literacy and the various processes associated with it. A processing model is proposed and variables associated with performance on the literacy tasks are identified and verified through regression analyses. These variables are shown to account for between 79 and 89 percent of the variance in task difficulty. Collectively, these process variables provide a means for moving away from interpreting performance on large-scale surveys in terms of discrete tasks or a single number towards identifying levels of performance that have generalizability across pools of tasks and towards what Messick has called a higher level of measurement.     

International Adult Literacy Survey (IALS): An analysis of international comparisons of adult literacy

The International Adult Literacy Survey (IALS) raises a number of important issues that are inherent in all attempts to make comparisons of cognitive and behavioural attributes across countries. This article discusses both the statistical and interpretational problems. A detailed analysis of the survey instruments is carried out to demonstrate the cultural specificity involved. The data modelling techniques used in IALS are critiqued and alternative analyses performed. The article argues for extreme caution in interpreting results in the light of the weaknesses of the survey.     

Literacy practices and the Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC): A conceptual critique

International Review of Education - The Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) assesses key skills in literacy, numeracy and problem-solving in technology-rich...     

OECD 2000. Literacy in the Information age: Final Report of the International Adult Literacy Survey

International Review of Education -     

“成人”的三重性:理解成人教育范畴的逻辑前提

成人教育范畴中的“成人”具有三重意蕴。首先,它是面向成人、为了成人的教育,这是成人教育范畴由以存在的对象所指;其次,它也是成为“人”的教育,使成人学习者学会成“人”的教育,成“人”构成了成人教育范畴的目标指向;第三,它亦是使成人学习者“成为”一个人的教育——即“成”人的教育,这是成人教育范畴的过程属性。“成人”的三重性是理解成人教育范畴的逻辑前提。成人教育研究和实践必须紧紧围绕着“成人”、成“人”、“成”人的三重特性,才能使成人教育真正体现自身的独特性与“合法性”,才能使关于成人教育的理论研究和实践筹划取得符合自身特性与运行机制的价值。     

校外学习时间和数学素养对财经素养的影响:来自PISA的结果

使用来自上海市155个学校的1197名中学生参加PISA2012年数学素养测试的数据,探讨校外学习时间和数学素养对财经素养的影响作用,建构并验证一个中介效应模型。研究结果显示,学生的校外学习时间正向影响其财经素养水平,这一影响作用是通过学生的数学素养而达到的,即数学素养在校外学习时间与财经素养之间起完全中介效应。     

The Collective that Didn't Quite Collect: Reflections on the IALS

The concept and methodology of IALS obviously represent progress for literacy research. Nevertheless, this survey presents serious limitations. It prioritises the handling of data-based information as opposed to experiential and contextualized information, ranking at a higher position those who handle the first kind of information. The survey ignores how people solve problems in their life context. The competence of people cannot be understood merely through outside observation and a questionnaire situation. In the case of Poland, the interpretation of data manifests an ethnocentric Western attitude, tending to reduce cultural differences to a cultural deficit. Two IALS-inspired surveys conducted in Spain and Portugal mixed quantitative and qualitative methods in order to take into account the social relations in their cultural context. This article questions the role of research, which cannot be limited to the objectivation of reality, but should help to transform and improve it. The alternative model proposed is named investigation action.     

"成人"的三重性:理解成人教育范畴的逻辑前提

成人教育范畴中的"成人"具有三重意蕴.首先,它是面向成人、为了成人的教育,这是成人教育范畴由以存在的对象所指;其次,它也是成为"人"的教育.使成人学习者学会成"人"的教育,成"人"构成了成人教育范畴的目标指向;第三,它亦是使成人学习者"成为"一个人的教育--即"成"人的教育,这是成人教育范畴的过程属性."成人"的三重性是理解成人教育范畴的逻辑前提.成人教育研究和实践必须紧紧围绕着"成人"、成"人"、"成"人的三重特性,才能使成人教育真正体现自身的独特性与"合法性",才能使关于成人教育的理论研究和实践筹划取得符合自身特性与运行机制的价值.     

The Collective that Didn't Quite Collect: Reflections on the IALS

The concept and methodology of IALS obviously represent progress for literacy research. Nevertheless, this survey presents serious limitations. It prioritises the handling of data-based information as opposed to experiential and contextualized information, ranking at a higher position those who handle the first kind of information. The survey ignores how people solve problems in their life context. The competence of people cannot be understood merely through outside observation and a questionnaire situation. In the case of Poland, the interpretation of data manifests an ethnocentric Western attitude, tending to reduce cultural differences to a cultural deficit. Two IALS-inspired surveys conducted in Spain and Portugal mixed quantitative and qualitative methods in order to take into account the social relations in their cultural context. This article questions the role of research, which cannot be limited to the objectivation of reality, but should help to transform and improve it. The alternative model proposed is named investigation action.     

The Measurement of Adult Literacy in Theory and in Practice

The International Adult Literacy Survey (IALS) was designed as a vehicle to directly measure the functional literacy skills of adults across different countries. This survey was conducted as a household-based survey whereby a random sample of adults in participating countries was selected and administered a literacy skill assessment. The IALS theoretical framework was founded upon a solid base of research and statistical theory. Proven statistical methods such as Item Response Theory and Plausible Values Methodology were used in the development and analysis of the literacy test. Likewise, from the practical viewpoint, the IALS has been successfully administered in the household-survey setting. Several quality assurance steps have shown to be effective in this regard. Finally, the resultant national literacy skill profiles have provided useful literacy indicators at both government and individual levels.     

Adult Literacy: Monitoring and Evaluation for Practice and Policy

With the advent of the UN Literacy Decade launched in 2003, there is increased emphasis on monitoring and evaluation of adult literacy around the globe. The present paper presents an overview of the main approaches that have been taken to measure adult literacy within and across countries. A particular focus of the present review is to compare and contrast three models of literacy assessment: (1) the “traditional” model based largely on census enumeration, which has been used over recent decades to collect national and regional rates of illiteracy; (2) the large-scale survey techniques employed with the International Adult Literacy Survey and similar models; and (3) an intermediate type of assessment that borrows from the previous two models, and attempts to “tailor” the size and complexity of the survey methodology to the policy questions needing answers (called the SQC model). The present paper suggests that there is no single model or set of methods that are universally appropriate to monitoring and measuring in adult literacy around the world, but that blending both programmatic and comparative models through the SQC approach may bring greater involvement in, and insight into, adult literacy evaluations.     

信息素养内涵与结构的国际比较

信息素养是个人成功适应信息化社会和实现自我发展的关键成分,所以各国际组织和国家均将信息素养遴选为核心素养框架中的重要指标和关键成分。信息素养也是我国学生发展核心素养体系中的重要指标之一。通过系统梳理信息素养内涵的历史演变和核心素养框架中信息素养内涵与结构的国际比较,我们归纳了信息素养的内涵,并从中提炼出综合性、过程性、工具性和批评性四个主要特征,同时发现信息素养结构注重综合表现、基于问题解决的创新和与评价体系之间对接的国际共识。在我国课程改革和学生信息素养培养中,应注重建构具有时代特征的信息素养内涵与结构,开发基于现实生活情境的主题和建立科学的评价体系。     

Big6模式在成人学习者信息素质培养中的应用

Big6信息问题解决模式是成人学习者信息素质培养的有效途径,对成人学习者搜索信息、阅读和理解信息、表达和交流信息等信息能力的提高具有促进作用。应用Big6模式培养成人学习者信息素质,应深化信息检索课程教学模式改革、转变教师角色、提升教师的教学能力,大力开展Big6的培训和推广工作。     

成人学习者信息素养及其培养途径

信息时代的到来、知识经济、全球网络高速公路的发展，使得信息素养成为关注的焦点。信息素养作为信息时代公民必备的素质，是这个时代人的基本素养的重要组成部分之一。成人学习者信息素养的水平直接关系到成人教育的质量，直接关系到终身教育目标的实现，本文从成人教育的角度出发，分析了成人学习者信息素养的内涵，并就成人学习者信息素养的培养提出了一些建议。     

国际数学学习测评:聚焦数学素养的发展

学生学习质量的评价已经成为当前国际教育研究和实践中的重要领域。目前,在中小学阶段,国际上不仅有PISA和TIMSS两大全球性的测评体系,还出现了美国的NAEP测验,英国的Kassel测验,日本的学力测验和法国的诊断性测验等区域性的重要测评体系。其中的数学学习测评设计都体现了一个基本特点:聚焦于学生基本素养发展。本文在研究上述六个数学测试项目的基础上,从多个角度分析了国外中小学的数学测评的基本趋势,从中探索当前国际数学教学质量监控的基本特点。了解国际数学学习测评的基本趋势,对于我国当前正在进行的教育质量监控体系的构建具有一定的参考价值。     

The Dominant Tradition in Adult Literacy – A Comparative Study of National Literacy Programmes in Botswana and Zimbabwe

The article highlights the renewed significance of adult literacy for international and national educational policy as a result of the World Educational Forum in 2000, at which a new vision of literacy was advocated. The difference between the new and old paradigms of adult literacy is considered. The article argues that the traditional approach which has dominated the international discourse on adult literacy has profoundly influenced national decisions. This influence is illustrated through a comparative analysis of national adult literacy programmes in Botswana and Zimbabwe. The programmes exhibit a high degree of similarity despite differences in the national contexts. The analysis shows that the traditional approach has been relatively ineffective in improving adult literacy levels. However, proposals for change influenced by the new paradigm have not been taken into account. Thus the examples of Botswana and Zimbabwe indicate the difficulty in displacing the dominant tradition in adult literacy at the level of national policy-making.     

成人教育全球发展的历程与展望——来自UNESCO的推展

UNESCO在推进全球成人教育发展中扮演着极其重要的角色。在其引领下,成人教育经历了激情彭湃的全球成人扫盲、纳入国家正规教育组成、构建终身教育体系、成为一项不可剥夺的基本权利等全球发展时期。今后UNESCO在激发成人学习动机、提升成人学习能力、创设成人学习机会和环境、加大成人学习的财政、立法与文化支持以及促进成人学习的国际合作上还将继续发挥重要的作用。