Some get tech training, as costs escalate[/caption]Gordon Matilla---While it is usual to examine test scores of children to examine educational outcomes, a new research project looks at the achievement of adults with respect to basic literacy, and the results are surprising, as some countries that one would expect to do well lag behind in important areas of literacy and numeracy.
According to the OECD report and outlook, in most countries, there are significant proportions of adults who score at lower levels of proficiency on the literacy. Researchers found between 4.9% and 27.7% of adults are proficient only at the lowest levels of the scales used, and there are in many countries large proportions of the population with no experience with or lacking the basic skills.
The Netherlands, Norway and Sweden show the better skills relative to other countries in that less than 7% of 16-65 year-olds are in this lower group with 23% or higher in Italy, Korea, Poland, the Slovak Republic and Spain.
Even among adults with computer skills, most scored at the lowest level of the problem solving in technology-rich environments, with women scoring lower than men.
Research was conducted on adults of working age, as it was found adults who are in the workforce retain many of the skills necessary for everyday living and achievement than those who are not.
Researchers tell us that the variation among the different countries in levels of achievement suggests the differences in learning cultures, learning opportunities that are available at work and adult education.
The goal of the research was to look at the need for adults to continue learning past school age, through work and stimulating environments, with an eye to examining those who best achieve and those who do not, in order to exchange information relative to improvements for those needing basic literacy and numeracy skills.
