Who's a Literate? Assessment Issues in a Global Perspective
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Educational Administration and Supervision
Educational Assessment, Evaluation, and Research
Educational Methods
Educational Psychology
International and Comparative Education
Language and Literacy Education
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Demographic and economic changes around the world and the linkage between literacy and development have made literacy a critical issue especially in the developing countries. But the uncertainty about the nature and extent of literacy has necessitated taking a new look at literacy assessment. Policy-makers have been hampered not only by too little data, but also by a failure to capture varying types and levels of literacy in each society. Dichotomies like "literate—illiterate" are inappropriate for conceptualising the problem and limit the potential for more effective decision-making. The paper analyses the problems of determining reliable and valid criteria for literacy. The way in which the problem of "who's a literate?" is resolved has serious policy implications.