Average American Reader Needs You to Write (Even More) Clearly ▬ Digital Gov

The Average American Reader Needs You to Write (Even More) Clearly

Average America Reader

Digital Gov: 5.13.2020 by  Dr. Meredith Larson

When communicating with the public, we must change our assumptions about their ability to understand text. This is especially true when the information keeps changing and is complex, or the stakes are high and people are in crisis.

Over 50% of U.S. adults score below an international benchmark for literacy, with roughly 20% scoring at the very lowest levels. These adults span all demographics and are a part of your audience. Don’t assume they’re not.

You must communicate clearly with your audience. Keep it simple and convenient, and use plain language. Present the most important information you want to convey first. Get feedback from your readers on whether they understand the information you’re trying to convey.

Background

The Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) is an international, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) study used to assess the skills of literacy, numeracy, and digital problem solving in adults between the ages of 16 and 65. After collecting information on how their country’s population is performing, leaders can better target and help their people get access to the resources they need.

Basic Skills Assessed

PIAAC is designed to assess adults in different countries over a broad range of abilities, from simple reading to complex problem-solving skills. A country can check how its population stands in relation to the rest of the participating countries.

PIAAC has four domains:

1. Literacy

“Literacy is understanding, evaluating, using, and engaging with written text to participate in the society, to achieve one’s goals, and to develop one’s knowledge and potential.” PIAAC Literacy Domain Page.

2. Numeracy

“The ability to access, use, interpret, and communicate mathematical information and ideas, to engage in and manage mathematical demands of a range of situations in adult life.” PIAAC Numeracy Domain Page.

Literacy and Numeracy has a 5-point scale.

We might consider adults scoring Below Level 1 and Level 1 “at risk”, and Level 2 may be “struggling.”

For Literacy and Numeracy, Level 3 should be sufficient for participation in modern economies.

The Skill Scales: Literacy and Numeracy

Below Level 1: Locate a single piece of information in familiar texts.

Level 1: Read relatively short digital print or mixed texts to locate single text.

Level 2: Make matches between text and information that may require low level paraphrasing and drawing low-level inferences.

Level 3: Identify, interpret, or evaluate one or more pieces of information and often require varying levels of inference.

Level 4: Perform multiple-step operations to integrate, interpret, or synthesize information from complex texts, and may require complex inferences.

Level 5: Integrate information across multiple dense texts; construct syntheses, ideas or points of view; or evaluate evidence based arguments.

3. Digital Problem Solving in Technology-Rich Environments

“Using digital technology, communication tools, and networks to acquire and evaluate information, communicate with others, and perform practical tasks.” PIAAC Problem Solving in Technology-Rich Environments Domain Page.

Digital Problem Solving has a 3-point scale.

For Digital Problem Solving, Level 2 should be sufficient for participation in modern economies.

The Skill Scales: Digital Problem Solving

Level 0: One-step or simple problem (“Click on Help tab”).

Level 1: Sorting emails into existing folders.

Level 2: Using website to return item.

Level 3: Navigating multiple pages to find a form, etc.

4. Reading Components

“Focuses on elements of reading that are comparable across the range of languages in the participating countries: reading vocabulary, sentence comprehension, and basic passage comprehension.” PIAAC Reading Components Domain Page.

00:00 Intro

05:00 The Skill Scales: Literacy and Numeracy

08:45 Examples

10:45 United States Statistics

15:20 Demographics for struggling individuals

22:00 Skills predicting information seeking behavior

22:45 What low literacy correlates with

23:40 Adult levels

24:55 How to make things better for people

31:40 Specific things you can try

36:00 resources

READ MORE ➤➤

Automatic Readability Checker

Based on 7 readability formulas:

Grade Level: 11

Reading Level: difficult to read.

Reader's Age: 15-17 yrs. old

(Tenth to Eleventh graders)

This presentation (PDF, 3.6 MB, 51 pages), crafted by Dr. Meredith Larson of the U.S. Department of Education, offers detailed information on literacy skills of U.S. adults, including digital literacy, and the implications for communicating with the public.

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