Measuring and Assessing Literacy Skills

Academic and workforce literacy skills are fundamental elements of competitive and global labor markets. Assessment and measurement programs are used to determine if appropriate levels of literacy are being achieved. Essential literacy skills include reading, document use, numeracy, writing, oral communication, interpersonal communication, thinking, and computer use. Because of the impact of computer technology and the Internet, literacy skills are now largely construed to include specific digital and information proficiency skills. Information-intensive skills require an increasingly sophisticated appreciation of the quality and reliability of information. Essential skills are foundational prerequisites for developing the ability to find needed information and critically evaluate information sources and content. This entry focuses on information and digital skills as literacy skills and discusses how assessment and measurement of such literacy ...