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Adult Literacy in : Results of the State Adult Literacy Survey, Selected Tables

This page will display data from, derived from or relating to the State and/or National Adult Literacy Survey conducted in 1992. The survey was a large-scale study sponsored by the U. S. Department of Education involving twelve states, including California, and funded primarily through State and Federal resources provided via the National Literacy Act of 1991. The survey characterized adults' literacy skills in English based on their performance on diverse tasks. The tasks were designed to reflect the types of materials and demands adults encounter in their daily lives. Based on their responses to the survey tasks, adults recieved proficiency scores along three scales, each ranging from 0 to 500. The score points along these scales reflect varying degrees of skill in prose, document, and quantitative literacy. To provide a way to examine the distribution of low to high performance within various subpopulations of interest, five levels of proficiency were defined along each scale: Level 1 (0 to 225); Level 2 (226 to 275); Level 3 (276 to 325); Level 4 (326 to 375); and, Level 5 (376 to 500). A full report comprehensively detailing the findings of this study, [Adult Literacy in California: Result of the State Adult Literacy Survey, Jenkins and Kirsch (May 1994), ETS], (SALS) is currently available from OTAN. The findings include comparisons with adults in the Western Region and the nation, and explores connections between literacy and an array of demographic and reseach variables. Incidence of Low Literacy in California

TABLE 1. Rank Order Distribution (by Level 1 incidence) of Synthetic Estimates of Low Literacy (Level 1 & Level 1 & 2 combined) by Congressional District*.

% of Name of Mean % of Congressional Population City(s) Congressional Literacy Population District #(s) at Level 1 & Representative Level at Level 1 2 10 Walnut Creek Bill Baker 298 12% 29% 15 San Jose Norman Y. Mineta 294 12% 30% 6 Petaluma Lynn C. Woolsey 293 14% 31% 47 Newport Beach 292 14% 32% Thousand Oaks Anthony C. Bellenson 24 & (36) 288 15% 34% & (L.A.) & () 4 Roseville 288 15% 36% 49 San Diego 287 15% 38% 14 Palo Alto Anna G. Eshoo 291 16% 32% Randy "Duke" 51 Escondido 288 16% 33% Cunningham Huntington 45 282 16% 37% Beach 48 Vista 282 17% 38% Howard P. "Buck" 25 Santa Clarita 280 17% 40% McKeon 29 L.A. Henry A. Waxman 284 18% 38% 12 San Mateo 282 18% 39% 39 Fullerton 278 19% 39% 28 Covina 277 19% 41% 13 Hayward 273 19% 44% 3 Woodland 278 20% 42% 2 Chico 279 20% 43% Ukiah & (El & 278 & 1 & (52) 20% 44% Cajon) (Duncan L. Hunter) (274) 22 Santa Barbara 275 21% 41% 7 Pleasant Hill George Miller 271 22% 46% 40 Redlands Jerry Lewis 273 22% 48% 23 Oxnard 271 23% 43% Sacramento & Robert T. Matsui & 273 & 5 & (43) 23% 45% (Riverside) () (271) 19 Fresno 270 23% 47% Nationwide 267 23% 51% 41 Onterio 267 24% 46% Glendale & Carlos J. Moorhead & 287 & 27 & (38) 24% 48% (Lakewood) () (267) 21 Bakersfield William M. Thomas 267 24% 49% Statewide 263 26% 51% 17 Salinas 265 27% 47% 11 Stockton Richard W. Pombo 261 27% 52% Oakland & Ronald V. Dellums & 264 & 9 & (42) 28% 51% (Colton) (George E. Brown) (281) 8 San Francisco 251 29% 51% 44 Moreno Valley Sonny 257 29% 55% 16 San Jose 256 30% 54% 18 Modesto Gary A. Condit 255 30% 55% 50 Chula Vista 244 36% 63% 34 Pico Rivera 244 38% 60% 32 L.A. Julian C. Dixon 238 40% 67% 26 Northwest L.A. Howard L. Berman 233 40% 68% 46 Garden Grove Robert K. Dornan 228 41% 67% 31 Alhambra Mathew G. Martinez 227 44% 69% 20 Hanford Calvin Dooley 221 49% 75% 37 Compton Walter R. Tucker III 216 50% 78% 35 L.A. 214 50% 80% 30 L.A. 213 51% 76% 33 L.A. Lucille Roybal-Allard 188 64% 88%

*U.S.Dept. of Education, PROGRAM MEMORANDUM FY 96-13, 1996. Prepared by Stephen Reder of Portland State University.

TABLE 2a. Estimated Number of Adults In California Functioning at the Five Levels of Literacy--Prose, Document and Quantitative.

Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4 Level 5 Type of Literacy 225 or lower 226 to 275 276 to 325 326 to 375 376 or higher Prose 5,476,320 5,248,140 6,845,400 4,335,420 912,720 Document 5,932,680 5,704,500 6,845,400 3,879,060 684,540 Quantitative 5,476,320 5,019,960 6,845,400 4,335,420 1,140,900 Averages 5,628,440 5,324,200 6,845,400 4,183,300 912,720

TABLE 2b. Average Literacy Level by Educational Attainment as Measured by SALS

Prose Document Quantitative Level of Education Literacy Literacy Literacy Attained Average Average Average Score Score Score 0 to 8 152 145 148 9 to 12 225 219 225 High School 264 257 262 Diploma GED 263 259 261 Some Post 297 292 297 Secondary 4 year College 331 322 331 Degree

TABLE 2c. Average Annual Earnings by Literacy Proficiency Level as Measured by SALS

Proficiency Level Prose Literacy Document Literacy Quantitative Literacy Level 1 225 & lower $18,000 $18,050 $17,390 Level 2 225 to 275 $29,380 $30,160 $28,980 Level 3 276 to 325 $39,390 $40,410 $39,970 Level 4 326 to 375 $53,590 $51,610 $52,590 Level 5 376 & higher $66,990 $64,040 $64,580

*NOTE: In 1992, the median Household Income in California was $41,924, for male workers in California it was $24,987, and for female workers in California it was $16,991. See TABLE 4 below for further earnings breakouts.

TABLE 3. Mean Annual Earnings for Persons Aged 18 and Over, by Level of Education--1992.

Not a high school graduate $12,809 High school graduate, only $18,737 Some college, no degree $19,666 Associate Degree $24,398 Bachelor's Degree $32,629 Master's Degree $40,368 Doctorate Degree $54,904 Professional Certification $74,560

*From research done by the Delaware Coalition for Literacy--August, 1994, Bureau of the Census Statistical Brief.

TABLE 4. 10%ile, 50%ile and 90%ile Annual Earnings of California and National Households, Male and Female Workers--1992. Adjusted Household, Male and Female Workers in 1992 10%ile 50%ile 90%ile

Adjusted Household--California $11,787 $41,924 $103,648

Adjusted Household-- $11,641 $41,121 $94,658

Male Worker--CA $5,997 $24,987 $60,969

Male Worker--U.S. $5,780 $25,087 $55,318

Female Worker--CA $2,998 $16,991 $39,980

Female Worker--U.S. $2,950 $15,052 $35,508

*Reed, Deborah, M.G. Haber, L. Mameesh, The Distribution of Income in California. Public Policy Institute of California, July, 1996. (pages 116-125)