Conclusion

One of the goals of large-scale surveys is to provide information that can help policymakers during the decision-making process. Presenting that information in a way that will enhance understanding of what has been measured and the conclusions to be drawn from the data is important to reaching this goal. This paper offers a framework that has been used for both developing the tasks used to measure literacy as well as for understanding the meaning of what is being reported with respect to the comparative literacy proficiencies of adults. The framework identifies a set of variables that have been shown to underlie successful performance on a broad array of literacy tasks. Collectively, they provide a means for moving away from interpreting survey results in terms of discrete tasks or a single number, and toward identifying levels of performance sufficiently generalized to have validity across assessments and groups. As concern ceases to center on discrete behaviors or isolated observations and focuses more on providing meaningful interpretations of performance, a higher level of measurement is reached (Messick, 1989).