- The State of the World's Children 2007
Published by UNICEF, 2006 (http://www.unicef.org/sowc07/docs/sowc07.pdf)As the title of this report reveals, it covers many more issues than literacy. But by placing literacy in a broader and more important context, the report does a great service. Education statistics are detailed in table 5.
- Literacy in Everyday Life: Results From the 2003 National Assessment of Adult Literacy
Published by the National Center for Education Statistics, April 2007This current report is comprehensive in its "assess(ment) (of) the English literacy of adults in the United States." Topics covered include "demographic characteristics and literacy" (a key factor!), "education and literacy, "employment, earnings, and job training," and "literacy and the family."
- Seven Myths about Literacy in the United States
By Jeff McQuillan, 1998 (http://www.ericdigests.org/1999-2/seven.htm)A contrarian viewpoint has clear value in this contentious debate. Here are the views of one author who does not subscribe to much of the prevailing wisdom.
- International Adult Literacy Survey (IALS)
(http://www.nifl.gov/nifl/facts/IALS.html)It's always interesting to compare countries on topics such as literacy. "The International Adult Literacy Survey (IALS) was a 22-country initiative conducted between 1994 and 1998. In every country, nationally-representative samples of adults aged between 16-65 were interviewed and tested at home, using the same literacy test. The main purpose of the survey was to find out "how well adults use information to function in society." Note that the scales and percentages are very different than in other studies.