The Adult Literacy and Life Skills (ALL) Survey: Education, Work and Literacy

2. Educational Participation

• How did the distribution of educational participation in the adult population change between 1996 and 2006?
• How did the distributions of literacy skills according to educational participation change between 1996 and 2006?

This section examines these questions.

The ALL survey directly measured four skill domains: prose literacy, document literacy, numeracy and problem-solving.

Educational participation

Educational participation, as measured by the ALL survey, is the highest level of schooling completed by a person.⁴ Educational participation is not the same as attainment of qualifications; for example, a person could complete Year 11 (or the equivalent) but not achieve a qualification. To ensure that the following analyses are statistically robust, educational participation is summarised by three levels:

• lower secondary or less − the person completed at most Year 10 (or the equivalent)⁵
• higher secondary − the person completed more than Year 10 (or the equivalent) but no more than Year 13 (or the equivalent)⁶
• tertiary − the person participated in a tertiary education programme.

In the IALS and ALL surveys these data are self-reported. The resulting distributions of educational participation are recorded in Figure 2.1.

Figure 2.1: Distribution of educational participation, IALS and ALL 

When interpreting these results it is useful to note that considerable change has occurred in the tertiary sector between 1996 and 2006. According to administrative data held by the Ministry of Education there was a significant increase in participation in tertiary education between 1996 and 2006.⁷ There have also been changes in tertiary provision, with government funding providing an incentive for participation and growth (until 2005). In particular, there was growth in provision by private training establishments, significant growth in enrolments at wānanga, and a steady growth in polytechnics and institutes of technology. Also (although not captured in the statistics summarised here), there was growth in formal work-based learning through industry training.

In general, tertiary education became easier to access for a wider range of people, and many who had not succeeded at school were provided with a chance to re-engage in education.

It is also useful to note that those in the oldest age cohort in the IALS survey (aged between 56 and 65 in 1996) were aged between 66 and 75 in 2006 and therefore not part of the ALL survey (which sampled those aged 16 to 65 in 2006). This oldest IALS age cohort had a larger proportion with low secondary or less educational participation than the whole IALS population. Therefore, changes in the reported distribution of educational participation will have been influenced by this age cohort not being sampled in the ALL survey.

Prose literacy and educational participation

Prose literacy is the ability to read and understand continuous texts (such as news stories, editorials, brochures and instruction manuals). Prose literacy skill was measured by both the IALS and ALL surveys and its distribution among the adult population of New Zealand according to educational participation is shown in Figure 2.2.

Figure 2.2: Prose literacy and educational participation, IALS and ALL

Figure 2.2 shows that for both the IALS and ALL surveys, greater educational participation indicates higher levels of prose literacy skill. Figure 2.2 also shows that:

• for those with lower secondary or higher secondary educational participation, the percentages at levels 1 and 2 increased while those at levels 3, 4 or 5 decreased
• for those with tertiary educational participation, the percentage at level 1 was relatively stable, while that at level 2 increased and that at levels 3, 4 or 5 decreased
• the net change for all levels of educational achievement was a decrease in the percentage at level 1 (from around 18 to 13%) while the percentage at level 2 remained relatively stable (moving from around 29 to 31%) and that at levels 3, 4 or 5 also remained relatively stable (moving from around 54 to 56%).

Document literacy and educational participation

Document literacy is the ability to read and understand discontinuous texts (such as charts, maps, tables, job applications, payroll forms and timetables). Document literacy skill was measured by both the IALS and ALL surveys, and its distribution among the adult population of New Zealand according to educational participation is shown in Figure 2.3.

Figure 2.3: Document literacy and educational participation, IALS and ALL

Figure 2.3 shows that, in both 1996 and 2006, greater educational participation was strongly associated with higher levels of document literacy skill – as for prose literacy. The difference in overall document literacy skill between those with lower secondary and those with tertiary education increased since 1996. However, as in other countries, literacy skills did not determine educational participation, and substantial proportions of people continued to have low levels of education with high skills, and high levels of education with low skills. 

Figure 2.3 also shows that:

• for those with lower secondary educational participation the percentage at level 1 increased, at level 2 it remained stable, and at levels 3, 4 or 5 it decreased 
  
• for those with higher secondary educational participation the percentages at levels 1 and 2 increased, while the percentage at levels 3, 4 or 5 decreased 
  
• for those with tertiary educational participation the percentage at level 1 was relatively stable, as was that at levels 3, 4 or 5, whereas the percentage at level 2 increased
• the net change for all levels of educational achievement was a decrease in the percentage at level 1 (from around 21 to 14%), while the percentage at level 2 remained relatively stable (moving from around 30 to 29%) and that at levels 3, 4 or 5 increased (from around 50 to 57%).

Numeracy and educational participation

Numeracy is the ability to read and process mathematical and numeric information in diverse situations. Numeracy skill was measured in the ALL survey only and its distribution among the adult population of New Zealand according to educational participation is shown in Figure 2.4.

Figure 2.4: Numeracy and educational participation, ALL only

Figure 2.4 shows a very strong association between educational level and numeracy skill. However, as for prose and document literacy, educational level did not determine numeracy skill.

• The population with higher secondary education or more had a substantially smaller proportion with level 1 numeracy skill, and a substantially greater proportion with levels 3, 4 or 5 numeracy skill than the population with lower secondary or less.
• The population with lower secondary education had substantially lower numeracy skill than the total population, whereas the population with tertiary education had substantially higher numeracy skill than the total population.

Problem-solving and educational participation

Problem-solving is the ability to reason and think analytically in situations where no routine procedure exists. Problem-solving skill was measured in the ALL survey only,⁹ and its distribution among the adult population of New Zealand according to educational participation is shown in Figure 2.5.

Figure 2.5: Problem-solving and educational participation, ALL only

Figure 2.5 shows that:

• the population with higher secondary education or more had a substantially smaller proportion with level 1 problem-solving skill, and a substantially greater proportion with levels 3 and 4 problem-solving skill, than the population with lower secondary or less education 
  
• the population with lower secondary education had substantially lower problem-solving skill than the total population, whereas the population with tertiary education had substantially higher problem-solving skill than the total population.

Footnotes