A recent study released by NCES compares the competencies and skill levels of U.S. adults to their counterparts in foreign countries. The study relies heavily on the Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC), which tests three “domains”: literacy, numeracy, and problem solving.
Researchers looked at data from 2012 and 2014 on a representative sample of 8,670 U.S. households—including PIAAC test scores, educational attainment, employment status, and more. They split the sample into three subgroups: unemployed adults (ages 16–65), employed young adults (ages 16–34), and employed older adults (ages 66–74).
Analysts found that, compared to people in other participating countries, U.S. adults between the ages of 16 and 65 have lower average PIAAC scale scores in numeracy and problem solving. American young people are less ready for college and career, and larger percentages of them scored in PIAAC’s lowest level in literacy, numeracy, and problem solving.
Moreover, compared to the international average, U.S. students who graduate high school typically only possess reading, math, and problem solving skills needed to complete brief and simple tasks in the workplace. And 69 percent of unemployed young adults in the United States scored at PIAAC’s lowest level in problem solving. That’s far more than the international average of 58 percent.
Researchers also pinpoint disparities among American workforce-aged adults. In the 16–65 age bracket, the percentage of employed adults scoring at the top proficiency levels (Levels 4 and 5) in literacy and numeracy was eight percentage points higher than the rates for unemployed adults, suggesting a link between these skills and success in the workforce. Racial disparities were also noted within this same age range. Larger percentages of white unemployed adults scored at the top proficiency levels in all three domains compared to their black and Hispanic counterparts. And black and Hispanic young adults between the ages of 16 and 34 fared worse in literacy than their peers in other racial groups, regardless of employment status.
Although analysts did not explore the “complex interactions and relationship” among variables, keeping readers from drawing causal inferences based upon the results, their findings do reaffirm the importance of closing America’s achievement gap and strengthening our K–12 system so that high school graduates can be internationally competitive.
Rigorous standards, along with state- and district-level expansion of CTE programs, can help accomplish this only if states remain committed to these changes for the long haul.
SOURCE: Bobby D. Rampey et al., “Skills of U.S. Unemployed, Young, and Older Adults in Sharper Focus: Results from the Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) 2012/2014: First Look,” National Center for Education Statistics (March 2016).
