The U.S. Department of Education.

The Adult Education Amendments of 1988 require the Department of Education to submit a report to Congress on the definition of literacy and then to estimate the extent of adult literacy. Literacy has been defined by self-report in early Census Bureau surveys, in a competency-based approach by the Adult Performance Level project, and as "the application of skills and knowledge across a variety of adult contexts" by the 1985 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). The NAEP definition is being used by the National Workplace Literacy Project, and it has also been adopted by the Educational Testing Service (ETS) for the 1992 National Adult Literacy Survey (NALS), which will assess a nationally representative sample of adults (ages 16 through 64) residing in private houses and college dormitories in the 48 contiguous states. About 12,500 1-hour, one-on-one interviews will be conducted. The assessment of literacy skills is planned to last 45 minutes, during which respondents will perform simulation tasks. The remaining 15 minutes will be devoted to obtaining background information. ETS will offer states the opportunity to conduct a concomitant State Adult Literacy Survey. (Lists of information contacts and committee members are appended.) (YLB) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document.