The Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) is an ongoing large-scale study that measures, analyzes, and compares key cognitive and workplace skills of adults in over 30 countries. Developed by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, PIAAC focuses on literacy, numeracy and problem-solving – basic skills needed for individuals to participate and prosper in society. Data from PIAAC is meant to help countries improve their education and training systems and further the distribution of these basic skills across the adult working-age population. So far, PIAAC has released assessment results for 2012, 2014, and 2017. A new round of assessments is currently in progress, with published results expected in 2024.

PIAAC assessments are scored on a 0-500 scale, which are divided into 5 proficiency levels. In this series of posts, I’ll be focusing on Americans’ proficiency in literacy and numeracy. Here are descriptions of Levels 1 and 2, provided by the National Center for Education Statistics, which administers the PIAAC in the U.S.

At or below Level 1 (0–225 points): 

Literacy: Adults at this level can be considered at risk for difficulties using or comprehending print material. Adults at the upper end of this level can read short texts and understand the meaning enough to perform simple tasks. Adults below Level 1 may only be able to understand very basic vocabulary or find very specific information on a familiar topic. Some may struggle with this and may be functionally illiterate.

Numeracy: Adults at this level can be considered at risk for difficulties with numeracy. Adults at the upper end of this level can understand how to add, subtract, multiply, and divide, and can perform basic one-step mathematical operations with given values or common spatial representations. Adults who are below Level 1 may only be able to count, sort, and do basic arithmetic operations with simple whole numbers and may be functionally innumerate.

Level 2 (226–275 points)

Literacy: Adults at this level can be considered nearing proficiency but still struggling to perform tasks with text-based information. Such adults may be able to read print and digital texts, relate multiple pieces of information within or across a couple documents, compare and contrast, and draw simple inferences. However, more complex inferencing and evaluation may be too difficult.

Numeracy: Adults at this level can be considered nearing proficiency but still struggling to perform numeracy tasks. Such adults can successfully perform tasks requiring two or three steps involving calculations with whole numbers and common decimals, percentages, and fractions. They can conduct simple measurement and interpret simple data and statistics. However, more complicated problem solving may be too difficult.

Go here for information on higher proficiency levels. But just to give a taste of what’s required to reach Level 3, here are a couple level 3 PIAAC questions:

Unfortunately, a good number of Americans would have trouble answering the above questions correctly. Check it out:

Comparative studies have shown that in most countries an increase of around 40 points in the PIAAC numeracy score leads to a wage increase of between 12% and 15% of the reference wage. (Hanushek et al, 2013).  But the wage increase is as high as 28% in the United States. So if the reference wage was $20 an hour, a wage increase of 28% would bring that up to $25.60 an hour, or an additional $224 a week for full-time workers.  

And one study found that an increase of around 40 points in the PIAAC literacy score was associated with a 6% increase in hourly wages, on average, across several developed countries, including the United States (Kankaraš et al, 2016). So if the reference wage was $20 an hour, a wage increase of 6% would bring that up to $21.20 an hour, or an additional $48 a week for full-time workers.

Bottom line: if we want to reduce poverty and increase social mobility in the U.S., we need to find better ways to increase adult literacy and numeracy.

References:

Accounting for Inequality: Literacy, Math Skills, and Wages/Exploring the Problem Space September 22, 2020

Hanushek, E., G. Schwerdt, S. Wiederhold and L. Woessman (2013), “Returns to skills around the world: Evidence from PIAAC”, European Economic Review, Vol. 73, pp. 103-130, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.euroecorev.2014.10.006 . 

OECD Education Working Paper No. 177, Numeracy Practices and Numeracy Skills among Adults by Nicolas Jonas, OECD, July 19, 2018.  https://doi.org/10.1787/19939019 http://www.oecd.org/officialdocuments/publicdisplaydocumentpdf/?cote=EDU/WKP(2018)13&docLanguage=En

Kankaraš, Miloš; Montt, Guillermo; Paccagnella, Marco; Quintini, Glenda; Thorn, William (2016), Skills Matter: Further Results from the Survey of Adult Skills, OECD Skills Studies, OECD Publishing, Paris. http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/9789264258051-en  

U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC), U.S. PIAAC 2017, U.S. PIAAC 2012/2014. https://nces.ed.gov/surveys/piaac/current_results.asp