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Literacy in the Information Age, the final report from the International Adult Literacy Survey, presents evidence on the nature and magnitude of the literacy gaps faced by OECD countries. It offers new insights into the factors that influence the development of adult skills in various settings - at home, at work and across the 20 countries for which comparable household assessment results are included. Findings point to large differences in the average level and population distribution of literacy skills both within and between countries. Low literacy skills are evident among all adult groups in significant - albeit varying - proportions. Literacy proficiency varies considerably according to home background factors and educational attainment in most of the countries surveyed. However, the relationship between literacy skills and educational attainment is complex. Many adults have managed to attain high levels of literacy proficiency despite a low level of education; conversely, some have low literacy skills despite a high level of education. These differences matter both economically and socially: literacy affects, inter alia, labour quality and flexibility, employment, training opportunities, income from work and wider participation in civic society. Improving the literacy skills of the population remains a large challenge for policy makers. The results suggest that high-quality foundation learning in schools is important but insufficient as a sole means to that end. Policies directed at the workplace and family settings are also needed. The employers’ role in promoting and rewarding literacy skills is particularly important for skills development.

Content area reading. --- Education. --- Functional literacy. --- Literacy. --- Functional literacy --- Literacy --- Education --- Social Sciences --- Education, Special Topics --- Illiteracy --- Adult literacy --- Functional illiteracy --- General education --- Life skills --- Economic aspects --- Government policy. --- International Adult Literacy Survey. --- IALS

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The role of improved schooling, a central part of most development strategies, has become controversial because expansion of school attainment has not guaranteed improved economic conditions. This paper reviews the role of education in promoting economic well-being, focusing on the role of educational quality. It concludes that there is strong evidence that the cognitive skills of the population-rather than mere school attainment-are powerfully related to individual earnings, to the distribution of income, and to economic growth. New empirical results show the importance of both minimal and high-level skills, the complementarity of skills and the quality of economic institutions, and the robustness of the relationship between skills and growth. International comparisons incorporating expanded data on cognitive skills reveal much larger skill deficits in developing countries than generally derived from just school enrollment and attainment. The magnitude of change needed makes it clear that closing the economic gap with industrial countries will require major structural changes in schooling institutions.

Access and Equity in Basic Education --- Adult Literacy --- Cognitive Skills --- Education --- Education For All --- Education for All --- Education For All Initiative --- Education Policy --- Educational Outcomes --- Educational Quality --- Effective Schools and Teachers --- Enrollment Rates --- Finance and Financial Sector Development --- Financial Literacy --- Health, Nutrition and Population --- Knowledge --- Learning --- Literacy Survey --- Population Policies --- Primary Education --- Quality of Education --- Returns to Education --- School --- School Enrollment --- School Improvement --- Schooling --- Schools --- Secondary Education --- Student Outcomes --- Tertiary Education

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Educators believe that they are adequately preparing youth for the labor market while at the same time employers lament the students' lack of skills. A possible source of the mismatch in perceptions is that employers and educators have different understandings of the types of skills valued in the labor market. Using economics and psychology literature to define four skills sets-socio-emotional, higher-order cognitive, basic cognitive, and technical-this paper reviews the literature that quantitatively measures employer skill emand, as reported in a preference survey. A sample of 27 studies reveals remarkable consistency across the world in the skills demanded by employers. While employers value all skill sets, there is a greater demand for socio-emotional skills and higher-order cognitive skills than for basic cognitive or technical skills. These results are robust across region, industry, occupation, and education level. Employers perceive that the greatest skills gaps are in socio-emotional and higher-order cognitive skills. These findings suggest the need to re-conceptualize the public sector's role in preparing children for a future labor market. Namely, technical training is not equivalent to job training; instead, a broad range of skills, many of which are best taught long before labor market entry, should be included in school curricula from the earliest ages. The skills most demanded by employers-higher-order cognitive skills and socio-emotional skills-are largely learned or refined in adolescence, arguing for a general education well into secondary school until these skills are formed. Finally, the public sector can provide programming and incentives to non-school actors, namely parents and employers, to encourage them to invest in the skills evelopment process. Skills, labor demand, cognitive, non-cognitive, behavioral skills, competences, employer surveys, skills policy, education policy, training policy.

Ability. --- Academic Learning. --- Access and Equity in Basic Education. --- Achievement. --- Adolescence. --- Adolescents. --- Adult Literacy. --- Adults. --- Applied Skills. --- Attitudes. --- Basic Knowledge. --- Basic Literacy. --- Basic Numeracy. --- Basic Skills. --- Body Language. --- Caregivers. --- Child Development. --- Childhood Evelopment. --- Children. --- Classroom. --- Cognition. --- Cognitive Development. --- Cognitive Skills. --- Cognitive Test. --- Communication. --- Computer Literacy. --- Computer Skills. --- Concepts. --- Creativity. --- Critical Thinking. --- Curricula. --- Curriculum. --- Decision Making. --- Developmental Psychology. --- Disadvantaged Children. --- Early Childhood Development. --- Early Childhood. --- Early Enrichment. --- Early Stimulation. --- Educated Workers. --- Education for All. --- Education Institutions. --- Education Policy. --- Education Providers. --- Education Sector. --- Education System. --- Education. --- Educational Achievement. --- Educational Infrastructure. --- Educational Sciences. --- Educators. --- Effective Schools and Teachers. --- Effort. --- Elementary School. --- Emotional Development. --- Ethics. --- Exams. --- Experience. --- General Education. --- Girls. --- Global Education. --- Groups. --- Head Start. --- High School. --- Higher Education Institutions. --- Higher Education. --- Human Development. --- Information Processing. --- Instruction. --- Intelligence. --- Interventions. --- Investment. --- Job Training. --- Knowledge. --- Language. --- Leadership. --- Learning Outcomes. --- Learning. --- Levels of Education. --- Life Skills. --- Literacy Survey. --- Literacy. --- Memory. --- Needs. --- New Entrants. --- Numeracy. --- Nutrition. --- Oral Communication. --- Participation. --- Pedagogical Methods. --- Perception. --- Performance. --- Personality Traits. --- Personality. --- Preschool Education. --- Primary Data. --- Primary Education. --- Primary School. --- Primary Schooling. --- Problem Solving. --- Professional Knowledge. --- Psychology. --- Reasoning. --- Regional Education. --- School Activities. --- School Climate. --- School Clubs. --- School Curricula. --- School Curriculum. --- School Improvement. --- School Schools. --- School Setting. --- School. --- Schooling. --- Schools. --- Science. --- Secondary Education. --- Secondary School. --- Skill Acquisition. --- Skill Evelopment. --- Skilled Workers. --- Skills Acquisition. --- Skills Evelopment. --- Skills for Employment. --- Skills. --- Students. --- Study. --- Teacher Qualifications. --- Teacher. --- Teaching Methods. --- Teaching. --- Thinking. --- Training Programs. --- Training. --- Understanding. --- Values. --- Vocational Education. --- Women. --- Work Experience. --- Writing. --- Youth.