Satya Brink, Ph.D.

1
LITERACY IN British ColumbiaImplications of
Findingsfrom IALSS 2003
Presented by Satya Brink, Ph.D. Director,
National Learning Policy Research Learning Policy
Directorate, HRSDC June 2006
2
Key Questions
Introduction

• What is the level of literacy proficiency in
  British Columbia?
• How does British Columbia compare to Canada, the
  provinces and other territories?
• How proficient are residents of British Columbia
  in the different component skills?
• How is literacy performance distributed in the
  working age population of British Columbia?
• How do age and education affect the literacy and
  numeracy performance?
• How is literacy performance distributed in the
  labor force, immigration, aboriginal status,
  occupations, industries and earning groups?
• What are the demographic characteristics of
  people with low literacy proficiency and where
  are they located in British Columbia?

3
Introduction
Literacy proficiency the ability to understand
and employ printed information in daily
activities, at home, at work and in the
community. It is not about whether or not one
can read but how well one reads.
4 Domains, measure skills at five levels

• Prose The knowledge and skills needed to
  understand and use information from texts
  including editorials, news stories, brochures
  and instruction manuals.
• Document The knowledge and skills required to
  locate and use information contained in various
  formats, including job applications, payroll
  forms, transportation schedules, maps, tables,
  and charts.
• Numeracy The knowledge and skills required to
  apply arithmetic operations, either alone or
  sequentially, to numbers embedded in printed
  materials, such as balancing an account, figuring
  out a tip, completing an order form or
  determining the amount of interest on a loan
  from an advertisement .
• Problem Solving Involves goal-directed thinking
  and action in situations for which no routine
  solution procedure is available. The
  understanding of the problem situation and its
  step-by-step transformation, based on planning
  and reasoning constitute the process of problem
  solving. (Only four proficiency levels)

• Level 1 0 - 225 points
• Level 2 226 -275 points
• Level 3 276-325 points
• Level 4 326 -375 points
• Level 5 376 -500 points

Proficiency level for modern economy
and knowledge-based society
4
Introduction
Background information of importance for IALSS
results British Columbia
Total population (2003) 4,154,600 Population
15-64(2005) 2,972,400 Population
/ square km (2005) 4.50 Population 65 and over
(2005) 586,800 Immigrants
(2001) 1,009,820
Gender Distribution (population 15-64,
2005) Males 1,486,000 Females 1,486,300
Population by mother tongue (Census
2001) English only 2,825,780
French only
54,400 Non-official languages only
939,945 English and French
6,780 Eng. and non-off language
39,525 French and non-off language 1,705
Population 15 years and over by highest level of
schooling (Census 2001) Less than high school
886,085 High school graduate 395,735
Trade Vocational cert. 99,020
College education 853,120 University 926,610
Source Statistics Canada
5
The number of persons (16 to 65) with low
literacy rose from 8 m in 1994 to 9 m in 2003
though the percentage (42) did not change.
Change between 1994 and 2003, Canada
IALS
IALSS
4.1 million
4.2 million
8.2 million
6.7 million
5.8 million
4.6 million
3.1 million
3.1 million
Total 18.4 million
Total 21.4 million
Differences at each level between IALS and
IALSS are not statistically significant
Source IALSS, 2003 IALS, 1994.
6
Comparisons of provinces and territories based on
average scores.
British Columbia performance
Prose, population 16 and older, 2003
7
Proficiency varied across domains and population
age in British Columbia.
British Columbia literacy performance
Average proficiency scores, population 16 and
older and population 16 to 65, British Columbia,
2003
- Below level 3
Proficiency levels are defined differently for
problem solving
Source IALSS, 2003
8
In British Columbia, the distribution of prose
literacy proficiency was more favourable in the
working age population compared to 16 and over,
similar to most provinces and territories.
British Columbia performance
Percent of population aged 16 and older and 16-65
at each prose level, 2003
16-65
16 and over
Source IALSS, 2003
9
British Columbia performance
British Columbia had average scores at level 3 in
document literacy, prose literacy and in numeracy
(population 16-65).
Below level 3 in 3 domains Below
level 3 in numeracy but not in literacy.
Source IALSS, 2003
10
Yukon had the lowest proportion overall (31) of
prose literacy below level 3. In British
Columbia, 35 of the working-age population
(16-65) had an average prose literacy proficiency
below level 3.
British Columbia performance
Percent of population 16 to 65 at each prose
level by provinces and territories, 2003
Source IALSS, 2003
11
Yukon had lowest proportion of working-age adults
below level 3 in numeracy (41). In British
Columbia the proportion of working-age adults
below level 3 in numeracy was 44.
British Columbia performance
Percent of population 16 to 65 at each numeracy
level by provinces and territories, 2003
Source IALSS, 2003
12
British Columbia performance
The importance of language the proportion of the
residents of British Columbia at level 3 or
above increased by 9 when we only consider
people with French and/or English mother tongue.
Distribution of the population aged 16 to 65 and
whose mother tongue is English or French by prose
level, Canada, provinces and territories
Significantly above Canadian average
Not significantly different than the Canadian
average
Significantly below Canadian average
Source EIACA, 2003
13
British Columbia performance
Impact of low literacy in the population 16-65.
Total 8,849,000
14
British Columbia performance
Impact of low numeracy in the population 16-65.
Source IALSS, 2003
Total 10,681,000
15
British Columbia performance
Gross domestic product (GDP) per capita and
numeracy proficiency average score in 2003,
Canada and Provinces (population 16-65)
IALSS 2003, 16-65 years
Source IALSS 2003
16


British Columbia performance
The proportion of British Columbia residents at
levels 1 and 2 varied by 9 percentage points
between literacy and numeracy.
Percent of population 16-65 performing at levels
1 and 2 in IALSS 2003
Poor
Good
Source IALSS, 2003
17
At each level of education, the scores of British
Columbians were a little bit higher than Canadian
averages in prose literacy.
British Columbia performance
Mean prose proficiency scores by education level,
population 16 and over, Canada, provinces and
territories, 2003
Source IALSS, 2003
18
In British Columbia, as in most provinces and
territories, the majority of youth had prose
literacy proficiency at level 3 or above. More
than 60 of youth in British Columbia had a high
level of prose literacy.
Youth in British Columbia
Distribution of proficiency level on the prose
literacy scale for youth age 16-25, Canada,
provinces and territories 2003
Source IALSS, 2003
19
The majority of seniors (586,800 14) in British
Columbia had low literacy skills.
Seniors in British Columbia
Distribution of proficiency level on the prose
literacy scale for those older than 65 years,
provinces and territories, 2003
Source IALSS, 2003
20
Performance by Age, British Columbia
In Canada, prose literacy scores declined with
age In British Columbia, the decline was more
gradual because scores were generally higher than
Canadian averages at every age group
Source IALSS, 2003
21
The number of people (population 16 to 65) with
low literacy increased by 0.1 million from 1994
to 2003in British Columbia
British Columbia literacy performance
0.5 million
0.7 million
1.1 million
0.9 million
0.5 million
0.6 million
0.4 million
0.4 million
Total 2.3 million
Total 2.8 million
Sources IALSS, 2003 IALS, 1994
22
Low literacy performance
Main characteristics of people at level 1 and 2
in prose IALSS in British Columbia (population
16-65).

• Level 1
• 400,000
• 64 (261,000) were immigrants
• 48 were male and 52 female
• 45 were employed
• 17 were unemployed
• Education
• 43 less than high school
• 38 had completed high school
• 19 had post-secondary education
• Mother tongue
• 38 English and/or French
• 62 non-official language

• Level 2
• 600,000
• 31 (169 000) were immigrants
• 59 were male and 41 female
• 70 were employed
• 9 were unemployed
• Education
• 28 less than high school
• 36 had completed high school
• 36 had post-secondary education
• Mother tongue
• 69 English and/or French
• 31 non-official language

Source IALSS, 2003
23
47 of those at level 1 and 67 of those at level
2 in British Columbia were employed.
Literacy performance and employment
Per cent of employed population in each document
literacy level, population 16 to 65, Canada and
Regions, 2003
Source IALSS, 2003
24
Literacy performance and employment
In British Columbia, people who were employed had
a higher average prose score than employed
Canadians
Source IALSS 2003
25
Low literacy and employment
Persons with low prose literacy were concentrated
among certain industries, Canada and British
Columbia.
(Population 16-65)
These industries employed more than 60 of the
workers at level 1 and 2
Total
1,257,000
2,666,000
Source IALSS, 2003
26
The majority of knowledge experts scored at
level 3 or above in prose literacy in the regions
and the territories.
Literacy performance- Occupation
Per cent of Labour force population at prose
levels 3 and 4/5 by type of occupations,
population 16 to 65, Canada and regions, 2003
Source IALSS, 2003
27
Workers in knowledge-related occupations tended
to engage more often in writing at work than did
low-skill information, services and goods
production workers.
Literacy performance- Occupation
Index scores of writing engagement at work on a
standardized scale (centered on 2) by aggregated
occupational types, labour force population, 16
to 65, 2003
Legend Occupation Types 1 Knowledge expert 2
Managers 3 Information high-skills 4 Information
low-skills 5 Services low-skills 6 Goods
Source IALSS, 2003
28
Knowledge intensive sectors had higher
proportions of adults with document literacy
proficiency above level 3. Each knowledge
intensive sector had at least 69 of their
workers at level 3 or above in British Columbia.
Literacy performance- Industry
Per cent of labour force populations (16-65) at
document literacy Levels 3 and 4/5, by type of
industry, 2003
Source IALSS 2003
29
All industrial sectors in British Columbia had at
least 45 of their workers with proficiency
levels above level 3 in numeracy.
Literacy performance- Industry
Per cent of labour force population at numeracy
levels 3 and 4/5, by type of industry, population
16 to 65, Canada and regions, 2003
Source IALSS, 2003
30
Those with higher average scores earn more
Literacy performance-Labour force
Source IALSS, 2003
31
Subgroups - Immigrants
A signficantly higher proportion of immigrants
had low literacy compared to their Canadian-born
counterparts, and the proportion did not vary by
their length of stay in Canada
Distribution of recent immigrant, established
immigrant and native born populations by level
of Prose performance, ages 16-65, Canada, 2003
10 years or less
More than 10 years
Canadian born
Source IALSS, 2003
32
Subgroups - Immigrants
The literacy performance of immigrants was higher
among those with mother tongue the same as the
language of test (population 16-65)
Source ALL, 2003
33
A high number of immigrants at levels 1 and 2
proficiency in English or French had post
secondary education.
Literacy performance- Immigrants in Canada
Source IALSS, 2003
34
In Manitoba and in Saskatchewan, the proportion
of urban aboriginals with low literacy was about
10 higher than the proportion of non-aboriginals.
Sub-populations Aboriginals
Comparative distributions of prose literacy
proficiency by level, per cent of Aboriginal and
non-Aboriginal populations in Manitoba and
Saskatchewan, aged 16 and over, 2003
Source  IALSS, 2003.
35
Over half of the Aboriginal people in the Yukon,
69 of the Aboriginal people in the Northwest
Territories and 88 of Inuit in Nunavut scored
below level 3 in prose literacy
Subgroups Aboriginal people
Comparative distributions of prose literacy
proficiency by level, per cent of Aboriginal and
non-Aboriginal populations in the Northern
Territories, aged 16 and over, 2003
Source IALSS, 2003
36
There was a positive relationship between prose
literacy and civic engagement
Literacy performance- Civic engagement
Civic engagement index by prose literacy level,
population aged 16 and older, Canada, 2003
Source IALSS, 2003
37
In all provinces and territories there is a
substantial difference between the participation
rates in training of those with the lowest and
highest levels of literacy.
Literacy performance- Adult training participation
Per cent of population receiving adult education
and training during the year preceding the
interview, by document literacy levels, 16-65,
Canada and regions, 2003
Source IALSS, 2003
38
In British Columbia, about 57 of workers
participated in adult training, compared to 50
in Canada. 31 of workers took courses, which is
similar to Alberta, Nova Scotia and Yukon.
Literacy performance- Adult training participation
Percent of population receiving adult education
and training the year preceding the interview, by
type of participation, population 16 to 65,
Canada, provinces and territories, 2003
Source IALSS, 2003
39
79 of British Columbia residents had access to
a computer at home compared to 76 of Canadians
aged 16 to 65 years.
Literacy performance-ICT
Computer and Internet access at home Per cent of
adults aged 16-65 who report having access to a
computer and the Internet at home, Canada,
provinces and territories, 2003
Source IALSS, 2003
40
Generally, 16 to 65 year-olds in poor health had
lower average document literacy scores.
Literacy performance- Health
Physical Component Summary (PCS) scores by mean
document literacy proficiency by age groups,
Canada, provinces and territories, 2003
Note Orders the provinces and territories by
the size of the difference in average document
literacy between those in poor health and those
in excellent health.
Source IALSS, 2003
41
Improving Literacy in British Columbia
Gains may be achieved by targeting persons with a
mother tongue other than English or French.
Regression analysis.
Significant at 10
Base group -26-45 -Those with high
school - Mother tongue English or
French
Mother tongue other than English or French
16-25
46-65
gtHS
PSE
Source IALSS 2003
42
Low literacy performance
Concentration of people at levels 1 and 2 in
prose in British Columbia (IALSS population
16-65).
43
Concentration of people at levels 4 and 5 in
prose in British Columbia (IALSS population
16-65).
44
Low literacy performance
Concentration of people at levels 1 and 2 in
prose in Vancouver (IALSS population 16-65).
45
Concentration of people at levels 4 and 5 in
prose in Vancouver (IALSS population 16-65).
46
Contact Information Satya Brink,
Ph.D. Director, Policy Research Learning Policy
Directorate Human Resources and Social
Development Canada Place du Portage, Phase IV, 3
Floor 140 Promenade du Portage Gatineau, QC K1A
0J9 Tel [phone] Fax [phone] Satya.Bri
nk_at_hrsdc-rhdcc.gc.ca