Overview

The Adult Literacy and Lifeskills (ALL) Survey is an international comparative study designed to provide participating countries, including the United States, with information about the skills of their adult populations. ALL measured the literacy and numeracy skills of a nationally representative sample from each participating country.

On a pilot basis, ALL also measured adults' problem-solving skills and gathered information on their familiarity with information and communication technologies.

ALL builds on the foundation of earlier studies of adult literacy. Chief among these earlier studies is the International Adult Literacy Survey (IALS), which was conducted in three phases (1994, 1996 and 1998) in 20 nations including the United States.