Data sources, methods and definitions
Data sources
The Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) is an international collaborative effort between the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and numerous other international organizations. Canada is one of 24 countries and sub-national regions that participated in the first round of PIAAC. The survey, which was administered by Statistics Canada from November 2011 to June 2012, was conducted with collaboration and support from Employment and Social development Canada (ESDC), the Council of Ministers of Education, Canada (CMEC) and many other partners, including provincial and territorial ministries and departments responsible for education. PIAAC is a complex survey of the information-processing skills of youth and adults between the ages of 16 and 65. The PIAAC survey is made up of three main parts: a background questionnaire, a direct assessment, and a module on the use of skills.
Definitions
Literacy
Respondents are evaluated for their ability to engage with written texts (print-based and digital) and thereby participate in society, achieve goals, and develop their knowledge and potential. This requires accessing, identifying and processing information from a variety of texts that relate to a range of settings.
Numeracy
Respondents are evaluated for their ability to engage with mathematical information in order to manage the mathematical demands of a range of situations in everyday life. This requires understanding mathematical content and ideas (e.g., quantities, numbers, dimensions, relationships), and the representation of that content (e.g., objects, pictures, diagrams, graphs).
Description of skill proficiency levels
Individuals with a 2nd proficiency level or below are those who had a score of 275 or less (out of 500) on the literacy and numeracy assessments, and are defined as those who are in the “lower range” for literacy or numeracy. Of note, these proficiency levels "do not represent strict demarcations between abilities but instead describe a set of skills that individuals possess to a greater or lesser degree. This means that individuals scoring at lower levels are not precluded from completing tasks at a higher level – they are simply less likely to complete them than individuals scoring at the higher level".Note 1 The descriptions for each level are as follows (readers are invited to consult the pan-Canadian report for more details):
| Literacy | Numeracy | |
|---|---|---|
| 5 | Tasks may require the respondent to search for and integrate information across multiple, dense texts; construct syntheses of similar and contrasting ideas or points of view; or evaluate evidenced based arguments. Application and evaluation of logical and conceptual models of ideas may be required to accomplish tasks. Evaluating reliability of evidentiary sources and selecting key information is frequently a key requirement. | Tasks require the respondent to understand complex representations and abstract and formal mathematical and statistical ideas, possibly embedded in complex texts. Respondents may have to integrate multiple types of mathematical information where considerable translation or interpretation is required; draw inferences; develop or work with mathematical arguments or models; and justify, evaluate and critically reflect upon solutions or choices. |
| 4 | Tasks may require the respondent to search for and integrate information across multiple, dense texts; construct syntheses of similar and contrasting ideas or points of view; or evaluate evidenced based arguments. Complex inferences and application of background knowledge may be needed to perform successfully. | Tasks require the respondent to understand a broad range of mathematical information that may be complex, abstract or embedded in unfamiliar contexts. These tasks involve undertaking multiple steps and choosing relevant problem-solving strategies and processes. |
| 3 | Texts are often dense or lengthy, and include continuous, non-continuous, mixed, or multiple pages of text. Understanding text and rhetorical structures become more central to successfully completing tasks, especially navigating of complex digital texts. Tasks require the respondent to identify, interpret, or evaluate one or more pieces of information, and often require varying levels of inference. | Tasks require the respondent to understand mathematical information that may be less explicit, embedded in contexts that are not always familiar and represented in more complex ways. Tasks require several steps and may involve the choice of problem-solving strategies and relevant processes. |
| 2 | The medium of texts may be digital or printed, and texts may comprise continuous, non-continuous, or mixed types. Tasks in this level require respondents to make matches between the text and information, and may require paraphrasing or low-level inferences. Some competing pieces of information may be present. | Tasks require the respondent to identify and act on mathematical information and ideas embedded in a range of common contexts where the mathematical content is fairly explicit or visual with relatively few distractors. |
| 1 | Most of the tasks require the respondent to read relatively short digital or print continuous, non-continuous, or mixed texts to locate a single piece of information that is identical to or synonymous with the information given in the question or directive. | Tasks require the respondent to carry out basic mathematical processes in common, concrete contexts where the mathematical content is explicit with little text and minimal distractors. |
| Below 1 | The tasks at this level require the respondent to read brief texts on familiar topics to locate a single piece of specific information. There is seldom any competing information in the text and the requested information is identical in form to information in the question or directive. | Tasks require the respondents to carry out simple processes such as counting, sorting, performing basic arithmetic operations with whole numbers or money, or recognizing common spatial representations in concrete, familiar contexts where the mathematical content is explicit with little or no text or distractors. |
Interaction between lower literacy and lower numeracy
There is a relatively high degree of overlap between proficiency in literacy and proficiency in numeracy. That is, individuals with lower (or higher) scores on one are likely to have lower (or higher) scores on the other. For example, 43% of respondents aged 25 to 65 had a level 2 or less for both literacy and numeracy, and about 40% had a level 3 or above for both literacy and numeracy. Relatively few were either low on one and high on the other: 12% had a level 3 or above for literacy and a level 2 or below for numeracy, while 6% had a level 2 or below for literacy and a level 3 and above for numeracy.
Educational programs
In PIAAC, respondents were asked the field of study of their highest level of education in response to the following question: "Which of the following categories would best represent the field of study of your highest level of schooling? If there was more than one, please choose the one you consider most important." The respondent was given nine broad categories, which were then collapsed into five for the current analysis: STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and computer science); humanities, languages and arts; social sciences, business and law; teacher training and education science; and health and welfare. The STEM groupings used here also include a relatively small proportion of graduates from agriculture and veterinary programs. As a result of the lack of precision with this question, the definitions may not correspond exactly to certain Classification of Instructional Programs (CIP) definitions. However, the current categorizations are nonetheless useful for the purpose of examining the possible relationship between field of study and lower levels of skills.Note 2
Notes
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