The technological revolution that began in the last decades of the 20th century has affected nearly every aspect of life in the 21st: from how we “talk” with our friends and loved ones, to how we shop, to how and where we work. Quicker and more efficient transportation and communication services have made it easier for people, goods, services and capital to move around the world, leading to the globalisation of economies. These social and economic transformations have, in turn, changed the demand for skills as well. With manufacturing and certain low‑skill tasks increasingly becoming automated, the need for routine cognitive and craft skills is declining, while the demand for information‑processing and other high‑level cognitive and interpersonal skills is growing. In addition to mastering occupation‑specific skills, workers in the 21st century must also have a stock of information‑processing skills and various “generic” skills, including interpersonal communication, self‑management, and the ability to learn, to help them weather the uncertainties of a rapidly changing labour market.
The Survey of Adult Skills (PIAAC) was designed to provide insights into the availability of some of these key skills in society and how they are used at work and at home. It directly measures proficiency in several information‑processing skills – namely literacy, numeracy and problem solving in technology‑rich environments. Among the main findings:
What adults can do in literacy, numeracy and problem solving in technology‑rich environments
In most countries, there are significant proportions of adults who score at lower levels of proficiency on the literacy and numeracy scales. Across the countries involved in the study, between 4.9% and 27.7% of adults are proficient at only the lowest levels in literacy and 8.1% to 31.7% are proficient at only the lowest levels in numeracy.
In many countries, there are large proportions of the population that have no experience with, or lack the basic skills needed to use ICTs for many everyday tasks. At a minimum, this ranges from less than 7% of 16‑65 year‑olds in the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden to around 23% or higher in Italy, Korea, Poland, the Slovak Republic and Spain. Even among adults with computer skills, most scored at the lowest level of the problem solving in technology‑rich environments scale.
Only between 2.9% and 8.8% of adults demonstrate the highest level of proficiency on the problem‑solving in technology‑rich environments scale.
Its appalling what’s going on here in Silicon Valley. Huge swarms of mostly illiterate people are being allowed to emigrate illegally into the country, ostensibly for the sake of benefitting “the economy” and providing cheap labor, thereby driving down the demand and wages for domestic labor.
Secondary and higher-education institutions have had their missions hijacked. With some school districts having 1/3 of students being non-native English speakers, vast resources must be expended for multi-lingual services and education even when budgets are dwindling from economic pressures.
Higher-education institutions like California’s once great 2-year community-college system are now more like providers of remedial classes for flunkies.
US adults score below average on worldwide test
In math, reading and problem-solving using technology — all skills considered critical for global competitiveness and economic strength — American adults scored below the international average on a global test, according to results released Tuesday.
Adults in Japan, Canada, Australia, Finland and multiple other countries scored significantly higher than the United States in all three areas on the test. Beyond basic reading and math, respondents were tested on activities such as calculating mileage reimbursement due to a salesman, sorting email and comparing food expiration dates on grocery store tags.
Not only did Americans score poorly compared to many international competitors, the findings reinforced just how large the gap is between American high- and low-skilled workers and how hard it is to move ahead when your parents haven’t.
Here’s a reaction in England which scored better than the USA:
Business leaders issue stark warning following OECD education study
Britain’s business leaders have warned that the country risks an economic “car crash” as a respected international thinktank issued a stark warning that millions of English adults cannot read, write or add up better than primary school children.
…
“It’s a car crash in slow motion for the economy,” said John Cridland, director general of the Confederation of British Industry. “You have about 30% of every year of 16-year-olds who have been failed by the education system. Not by teachers. After 11 years in full time education, when they enter the labour force without adequate GCSE English or maths everyone loses out.”
As the American economy sputters along and many people live paycheck-to-paycheck, economists say a highly-skilled workforce is key to economic recovery. The median hourly wage of workers scoring on the highest level in literacy on the test is more than 60 percent higher than for workers scoring at the lowest level, and those with low literacy skills were more than twice as likely to be unemployed.
“It’s not just the kids who require more and more preparation to get access to the economy, it’s more and more the adults don’t have the skills to stay in it,” said Anthony Carnevale, director of the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce.
Education Secretary Arne Duncan said in a statement the nation needs to find ways to reach more adults to upgrade their skills. Otherwise, he said, “no matter how hard they work, these adults will be stuck, unable to support their families and contribute fully to our country.”
http://www.newsdaily.com/article/bd70ccd67039e72b65f7ddbda8ad39d2/us-adults-score-below-average-on-worldwide-test
California students score at bottom of nation in reading, math
California students continue to score near the bottom among states in math and reading, according to results of a national test released Thursday.
How appalling.
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