Adult Literacy and Life Skills Survey FAQs

• What is the Adult Literacy and Life Skills Survey (ALL)?
• How does ALL relate to IALS?
• What is the policy rationale for ALL?
• What does ALL measure?
• Who organises ALL?
• Which countries participate in ALL?
• When and how was ALL data collected in New Zealand?
• How can I find out more about ALL?
• When will ALL results be available?

What is the Adult Literacy and Life Skills Survey (ALL)?

The Adult Literacy and Life Skills Survey (ALL) is an international comparative assessment that provides information about the literacy and numeracy of adults aged 16 to 65 years-old. ALL also measures adults' problem-solving skills and their familiarity with information and communication technologies.

ALL is based on earlier adult literacy studies, particularly the International Adult Literacy Survey (IALS) which was conducted in New Zealand in 1996.

How does ALL relate to IALS?

IALS measured skills in the three domains: prose literacy, document literacy and quantatitive literacy. ALL measures prose and document literacy in the same way as IALS so that comparisons over time are possible. ALL develops quantitative literacy into numeracy, and adds a fourth domain, problem solving.

What is the policy rationale for ALL?

Strong evidence exists internationally that, for developed countries, full participation in society and the labour market is linked to the capacity to accumulate knowledge and to develop and maintain a broad range of skills.

ALL results will provide new information on the relationships between skill levels and the labour market, economic growth, and education systems and services. They will throw new light on the role of skill in creating social equity and inequity in economic outcomes, particularly for groups functioning, on average, below the level of competence. ALL will also provide information on the impact that Information Communication Technology (ICT) use has on economic outcomes and the extent to which ICT use depends on high levels of literacy and numeracy. ALL results will provide comparative information for New Zealand and other OECD countries.

ALL statistics will provide knowledge about New Zealand's human capital and skill levels to inform a range of projects including up-skilling the workforce, Learning for Living and the Adult English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) Strategy, as part of the broader work to improve the foundation competencies of all New Zealanders.

What does ALL measure?

ALL produces internationally comparable statistics on adult skill levels in prose literacy, document literacy, numeracy and problem solving.

• prose literacy - the knowledge and skills needed to understand and use information from texts such as editorials, news stories, poems and fiction
• document literacy - the knowledge and skills required to locate and use information contained in various formats such as tables, forms, graphs and diagrams
• numeracy - the knowledge and skills required to effectively manage the mathematical demands of diverse situations
• problem solving - the ability to solve problems by clarifying the nature of the problem and developing and applying appropriate solution strategies.

In addition, ALL collects data on a range of socio-economic, health, and demographic variables, including use of information and communication technology and participation in spells of adult education and training.

Who organises ALL?

ALL is a joint project of several agencies including the OECD, Statistics Canada, the National Center for Education Statistics of the US Department of Education, and the Educational Testing Service which is a US-based private education research organisation.

In New Zealand, the Ministry of Education is responsible for ALL. The Ministry takes advice from a range of agencies in the government and foundation learning sectors.

Which countries participate in ALL?

A group of seven countries or regions (Bermuda, Canada, Italy, Norway, Switzerland, the United States, and the Mexican state of Nuevo Leon) participated in ALL in 2003. The results are published on Statistics Canada's website.

The following countries, together with New Zealand, are participating in ALL in a second wave: Australia, Korea, Hungary and the Netherlands.

When and how was ALL data collected in New Zealand?

Much of the methodology for ALL is internationally prescribed. ALL has a nationally representative probability-based sample. The ALL target population is all persons aged 16-65 usually resident in New Zealand and living in private households at the time of data collection. One eligible person per household is selected and interviewed face to face. Over 7000 interviews were achieved.

The National Research Bureau (see http://www.nrb.co.nz/) collected ALL data under contract to the Ministry of Education, over the period May 2006 - March 2007.

An ALL interview includes a background questionnaire - which collects information on demography, socio-economic variables, education and training, and Information and Communication Technology (ICT) use - and a task booklet. The interviews last an average of about 90 minutes.

Sample task items are located on this link from the National Center for Education Statistics website: http://www.nces.ed.gov/surveys/all/items.asp

When will ALL results be available?

The Ministry of Education plans to publish ALL findings in a sequence of four brochures and a longer report to the following tentative timeline:

• Factsheets available to December 2007 Headline Factsheets
  
• An overview brochure - January 2008 - will summarise how each of the ALL skill domains is distributed through the adult population, and compare New Zealand's ALL findings with those of other countries.
• Brochure 2 - February 2008 - will outline how skills are related to education and labour force status.
• Brochure 3 - March 2008 - will focus on skill distributions for women and men, and for different ethnic groups.
• Brochure 4 - April 2008 - will report on how skill is related to age.
• A major report - late 2008 - will include more in-depth analysis such as changes in literacy skills 1996-2006, participation in adult education and training, skills in the workplace, and associations between literacy and social participation.

How can I find out more about ALL

If you have a specific question about IALS or ALL 2006 you can send an e-mail to Paul Satherley the ALL Project Manager at the Ministry of Education.

Alternatively you can write to the Ministry of Education directly: