PROCESAMIENTO, PRESENTACIÓN Y ANÁLISIS DE LOS RESULTADOS
B. Identificación de la intensidad de bullying Tabla
Chapter 2 introduced the latent class analysis methodology to explore the self-reported status of adults on issues related to reading engagement, wealth, and health. These results are now contrasted with the results found for the ALL population. The latent class analysis methodology was used to identify groups of individuals who share similar characteristics based on their answers to a series of related questions from the AEPS and ALL background questionnaires.
Literacy and Reading Engagement
The four aspects considered in this variable included (a) the frequency with which learners used a public library or visited a bookstore, (b) how much time they spent each day watching television or videos, (c) the frequency with which they read various printed materials from newspapers, books, magazines, and letters, notes and e-mails, and (d) which parts of the newspaper they read (i.e., news; sports; home, fashion, food or health; editorial page; financial news or stock listings; book, movie or art reviews, or advice columns). Similar to results shown in Figure 2.12 for the AEPS data, Figure 3.10 shows probabilities of responses for both populations: ALL is shown in the first panel and AEPS is shown in the second panel. The four classes are described below.
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Class 1 represents 49 percent of adults in the general population and 23 percent of adult learners. Adults in this group were frequently engaged with various printed materials, including newspapers, books, magazines, letters, and notes or emails. These adults were likely to read all sections of newspapers, but more so the news (i.e., national, international, regional, and local) and the entertainment sections (i.e., home, fashion, food or health as well as book, movie or art reviews). On the other hand, these learners were less likely to read the financial news and stock listings. Adults in this class are considered highly engaged readers. The first set of bars in Figure 3.10 shows the probabilities that adults in the general population (left panel) and adult learners (right panel) in Class 1 responded in a particular way to a selected set of questions (see the full set of response probabilities for the AEPS data in Table 2.11 and for the ALL data in Table 3.10).•
Class 2 represents 22 percent of adults in the general population and 28 percent of adult learners. Adults in this group were characterized by a high engagement with newspapers and a moderate engagement with other materials such as books, magazines, letters, notes and emails. Similar to Class 1 learners, they were highly likely to read a newspaper, more so the news section (i.e., national, international, regional, and local) but they were also likely to read the remaining sections, except for the financial news. On the other hand, these adults had lower probabilities than adults in Class 1 of reading other types of materials besides newspapers, and had a higher probability of never using a library or visiting a bookstore. Adults in this class are considered moderately engaged readers. The second set of bars in Figure 3.10 shows the probabilities that adults in the general population (left panel) and adult learners (right panel) in Class 2 responded in a particular way to a selected set of questions (see the full set of responseChapter 3
probabilities for the AEPS data in Table 2.11 and for the ALL data in Table 3.10).
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Class 3 represents 17 percent of adults in the general population and 27 percent of adult learners. Adults in this group were characterized by a moderate engagement with books, letters, notes or emails and a lower engagement with magazines and newspapers. When reading newspapers, these learners had a moderate likelihood of reading the news (i.e., national, international, regional, and local), sports and entertainment sections (i.e., home, fashion, food, health, and review sections). They were not likely to read the editorial page, financial news, or stock listings. What differentiated them from the Class 2 learners was the lower likelihood of reading any of the listed materials and the much lower probability of reading a newspaper. Adults in this class are considered low engaged readers. The third set of bars in Figure 3.10 shows the probabilities that adults in the general population (left panel) and adult learners (right panel) in Class 3 responded in a particular way to a selected set of questions (see the full set of response probabilities for the AEPS data in Table 2.11 and for the ALL data in Table 3.10).•
Class 4 represents 12 percent of adults in the general population and 23 percent of participants in adult programs. Adults in this group were not likely to use a library or visit a bookstore. These learners rarely or never read, but when they did, they were slightly more likely to read newspapers than other types of reading materials. When reading newspapers, these learners were moderately likely to read only the news sections (i.e., national, international, regional, and local). Adults in this class are considered the least engaged readers. The fourth set of bars in Figure 3.10 shows the probabilities that adults in the general population (right panel) and adult learners (left panel) in Class 4 responded in a particular way to a selected set of questions (see the full set of response probabilities for the AEPS data in Table 2.11 and for the ALL data in Table 3.10).Adult Education in America: A First Look at Results from the Adult Education Program and Learner Surveys
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Table 3.11 shows ALL data for a selective set of variables by classes of reading engagement (see Table 2.12 for AEPS data). The relationship between performance and reading engagement in adults in the general population (see Figure 3.11) differed from that of adult learners, presented in Chapter 2 (see Figure 2.13). Although reading engagement affected the performance of adult learners in a positive way, this relationship was stronger for adults in the general population. Adults who were highly engaged with reading activities (i.e., adults in Class 1) performed significantly higher than adults who were the least engaged readers (i.e., Class 4) in all three scales, with differences of 69 points in document literacy and 71 points in prose literacy and numeracy. Highly engaged readers from the ALL population performed on average at Level 3 in all three domains while AEPS adults with similar level of engagement performed on average at Level 2 in prose and document literacy and at Level 1 in numeracy.
Never use a public library
Read newspapers at least once a week Read magazines at least once a week Read letters, notes or emails at least once a week
Figure 3.10
Classification of reading engagement of adults, ALL and AEPS
0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0
Reading engagement: The national and international news
The regional or local news The sports section The home, fashion, food or health sections The editorial page The financial news or stock listings The books, movie or art reviews The advice column
0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0
Class 1 Class 2 Class 3 Class 4
Read books at least once a week Never visit a bookstore These adults....
From the newspaper, these adults read:
0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0
0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0
ALL AEPS
Probability Probability
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Approximately half of the ALL adults were highly engaged in reading, more than twice the percentage of AEPS adults in this category. This difference also reflects general differences between these two populations. Table 3.11 shows data for a selective set of variables that include gender, place of birth, race, ethnicity, age, mother tongue, educational attainment, and adults’ perception of how well they speak English (see Table 2.12 for similar data for AEPS adults). These categories showed that the positive relationship of reading engagement and performance remained across classes within these categories. Out of the 26 categories that are shown in this table, differences between the average scores for Class 1 and Class 4 were significant in 22 categories.50
These differences were in general larger than the differences found for adult learners. Among ethnic and racial groups, there were 19 percent more non-Hispanic than Hispanic adults in the general population and 16 percent more White than Black adults who were highly engaged. Within highly engaged readers in the general adult population, non-Hispanic adults performed 47 points higher than Hispanic adults on the prose literacy scale and Black adults performed 34 points lower than White adults on the same scale. These differences were smaller than those found in the adult learner population most likely because adult learners had lower overall levels of performance. The opposite occurred for the least engaged adults.
Within classes, a positive relationship was also found between performance and educational attainment. This relationship was stronger for adults within the highly engaged category where the performance difference between those who did not complete high school and those with more than a high school education was 32 points in prose literacy for native adults and 43 points on the same scale for non-
Prose literacy Document literacy Numeracy
Mean score Mean score
150 300 150 300 275 275 250 250 200 200 175 175 225 225
Class 1 Class 2 Class 3 Class 4
Figure 3.11
Skills on the prose literacy, document literacy and numeracy scales by levels of reading engagement, ALL
Classes of reading enagement
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the least engaged readers, while there were less than 2 percent of adults with more than a high school education in this category.
Age interacted with reading engagement in ways that were not constant across classes. For highly engaged readers, average performance on the prose literacy scale differed only slightly across the various age groups. However, differences existed in the percentage of adults from each category: 40 percent of adults between the ages of 16 and 25 compared to 56 percent of adults between the ages of 46 and 55 were among the highly engaged readers. The reverse was found among the least engaged readers where the various age groups were equally represented but younger groups had higher average performance.
The relationships between reading engagement, performance and demographic characteristics are complex and multidimensional. These data identified a pattern where highly engaged readers were represented by more females, native, non-Hispanic and older adults, as well as adults with higher levels of educational attainment. On the other extreme, the opposite occurred with the least engaged readers, as this group included a stronger representation of language and ethnic minorities, including more adults who were males, Blacks, and non-native. Among the least engaged readers were also Hispanic adults with Spanish as their mother tongue and a larger representation of adults who had not completed high school education.
Literacy and Wealth
The AEPS and ALL background questionnaires included questions on various sources of income, which resulted in the identification of three classes of adults, described below. It is important to note that Class 3, which is likely to represent more wealthy adults, is almost nonexistent in the adult learner population and therefore was not discussed in Chapter 2.
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Class 1 represents 65 percent of adults in the general population and 85 percent of adult learners. Adults in this group had a high likelihood of having wages or salaries (including commissions, tips, and bonuses) as their only source of income. The first set of bars in Figure 3.12 shows the probabilities that adults in the general population (left panel) and adult learners (right panel) in Class 1 responded “yes” to a particular source of income (see the full set of response probabilities for the AEPS data in Table 2.13 and for the ALL data in Table 3.12).•
Class 2 represents 9 percent of adults in the general population and 15 percent of adult learners. In general, adult in this group had a low likelihood of having any income, but when they did, it came from a combination of wages or salaries, social security benefits and SSI payments. The second set of bars in Figure 3.12 shows the probabilities that adults (left panel) and adult learners (right panel) in Class 2 responded “yes” to a particular source of income (see the full set of response probabilities for the AEPS data in Table 2.13 and for the ALL data in Table 3.12).•
Class 3represents 25 percent of adults in the general population and a class that did not exist among adult learners. These adults are likely to have income from wages and salaries, or to be self-employed. The distinguishing characteristic of this group is that they reported receiving income from interest, dividends, capital gains or other investments. The third set of bars in the left panel of Figure 3.12 shows the probabilities that adults in Class 3 responded “yes” to a particular source of income (see the full set of response probabilities for the ALL data in Table 3.12).Chapter 3
Variables such as educational attainment and socioeconomic background are likely to have a direct influence on wealth indicators, and thus, should not be examined in isolation. The relationship between performance and classes of wealth was stronger in the general adult population than among adult learners (see also Figure 2.16 for AEPS adult learners and Figure 3.13 for ALL adults).51 Table 3.13 also shows data
for a selected set of variables, including gender, place of birth, race/ethnicity, age, educational attainment, and employment status (see Table 2.14 for similar data for adult learners). On average, adults in Class 1 performed better than adults in Class 2—differences that were significant in all three domains. This positive relationship was found for 15 out of the 24 categories shown in Table 3.13.
Class 3, which included working adults who reported additional assets coming from interest, dividends, capital gains or other investments, did not exist among adult learners. In the ALL population, 25 percent of adults were in Class 3 with 8 percent more male than female adults, 8 percent more native adults, 19 percent more non-Hispanic adults, 23 percent more adults who were employed, about 15 percent fewer Black adults than other racial groups, and 49 percent of native adults with more than a high school education. This group also demonstrated the highest level of performance in all three scales, as shown in Table 3.13. The differences between their performance and the performance of adults in Class 2 were 61 points in prose
Wages or salaries Self-employment Interest, dividends, capital gains or other investments
Figure 3.12
Classification of wealth of adults, ALL and AEPS
0.00 0.20 0.40 0.60 0.80 1.00
0.00 0.20 0.40 0.60 0.80 1.00 Social security payments
Employment insurance benefits SSI payments Other government sources Pension or retirement income
Class 1 Class 2
Income from the following sources: 0.00 0.20 0.40 0.60 0.80 1.00
0.00 0.20 0.40 0.60 0.80 1.00 Class 3
ALL AEPS
Probability Probability
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Adults in Class 2, those who were likely to receive social assistance, scored significantly lower than adults in the other classes in all three domains. This class had 7 percent more native adults, two times as many Black as White adults, and 3 percent more non-Hispanic adults. It also included 30 percent of adults who were not in the labor force and 28 percent of adults between the ages of 56 and 65. It is important to consider that many social benefits are only available to U.S. citizens or legal residents, thus possibly excluding from this class a segment of the immigrant population that was in the country illegally.
Finally, 65 percent of adults were classified in Class 1, which represents the most traditional type of workers–those with income solely from wages and salaries. This class included larger proportions of adults from the younger groups, and adults who were non-native and of Hispanic backgrounds. Compared to the other two groups, these adults demonstrated an intermediate level of performance, as shown in Figure 3.13. On average, these adults performed 26 points higher than adults in Class 2 on the prose literacy scale and 35 points lower than adults in Class 3 on the same scale.
Prose literacy Document literacy Numeracy
Mean score Mean score
175 325 175 325 300 300 275 275 225 225 200 200 250 250
Class 1 Class 2 Class 3
Figure 3.13
Skills on the prose literacy, document literacy and numeracy scales by levels of wealth, ALL
Classes of wealth
Prose literacy Document literacy Numeracy
Literacy and Health
The latent class analysis methodology was used to identify groups of individuals who shared similar characteristics based on their answers to a series of related questions from the AEPS and ALL background questionnaires. The combined index on health was based on the background questions that asked respondents about (a) their overall impression concerning their health, (b) how they felt about their lives over the past 12 months, (c) how much their health limited everyday activities, (d) whether their physical health interfered with their work or daily activities, (e) whether their emotional problems interfered with their work or daily activities, (f ) the extent to which pain interfered with their normal work, (g) how often they felt calm and peaceful, (h) how often they had lots of energy, (i) how often they felt downhearted
Chapter 3
and blue, and (j) how often their physical health or emotional problems interfered with social activities. The resulting four latent classes are described below.