Abstract
Among the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) launched in 2015, the fourth goal (SDG 4) is dedicated to education, and one of the ten targets within that goal specifically addresses adult literacy and numeracy skills. Efforts to reach this target involve monitoring, which in turn involves assessment. The most powerful instrument for assessing literacy proficiency is the Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC), conducted by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). It has five hierarchically organised proficiency levels for literacy. A sixth category, labelled “below Level 1”, lumps together low proficiencies at the bottom end of the proficiency continuum. To boost effective action in addressing SDG 4, the UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) recently launched the Global Alliance to Monitor Learning (GAML), which aims to support national assessment strategies and to develop internationally comparable indicators and methodological measurement tools. While PIAAC Levels 1–5 are already broadly suitable for international comparison, the “below Level 1” category has so far only been assessed by individual countries (e.g. Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom and Germany) using instruments developed nationally. Focusing on the reading aspect of literacy, the authors of this article investigate how these nationally developed low proficiency assessment instruments might be adjusted to facilitate international comparability.
Highlights
RelevanceAmong the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) launched by the United Nations (UN) in 2015 (UN 2015; 2016), the fourth goal (SDG 4) is dedicated to education
We describe and report on the relevant statistical tests which we carried out using item response theory (IRT)7 and the German PIAAC Reading Components subset of data
As a main result of our analysis, we found that the applied Rasch model confirmed the possibility of representing the 100 reading component items on a hierarchical scale
Summary
RelevanceAmong the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) launched by the United Nations (UN) in 2015 (UN 2015; 2016), the fourth goal (SDG 4) is dedicated to education. Extending the scope beyond the previous agenda’s focus on primary education, it aims to “promote lifelong learning opportunities for all”. This has led to “hopes for a stronger role” of adult learning and education “in global education. While UN Agendas fall into the category of soft law, they reflect a need for action, and by endorsing them, UN Member States have made commitments towards trying to achieve the targets. One of the core instruments of soft law is monitoring (Grek 2019), and it often relies on assessment (Hamilton et al 2015). Monitoring countries’ progress towards achieving the targets of the SDGs on an international scale makes it necessary to discuss methods of assessment, especially for adult literacy and numeracy. One of the ten targets within SDG 4 directly addresses adult literacy and numeracy skills: By 2030, ensure that all youth and a substantial portion of adults, both men and women, achieve literacy and numeracy (SDG target 4.6; UN 2016)
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
