Sampling & Data Collection -> Accommodations

With the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act and the growth of America’s immigrant population, assessment programs like NAAL must consider issues of inclusion and accommodation. The 2003 NAAL provides for two types of accommodations—administrative and language.

Administrative accommodations are made for adults with disabilities. First, NAAL is inherently accommodating because the assessment is conducted one-on-one in the respondent’s home. Second, all respondents with disabilities receive additional time to complete the assessment if necessary.

Language accommodations are made for adults with limited English proficiency or whose primary language is not English. Questions on the background questionnaire are available in either English or Spanish. In addition, instructions for FAN, ALSA, and the core screening test questions are given in either English or Spanish. The stimulus materials for those questions, however, are still in English since NAAL’s main objective is to assess literacy in English.

Results are reported separately for non-native speakers of English and compared to the results of native speakers of English. Thus, the unique needs of English as a Second Language (ESL) adults may be better understood by researchers, policymakers, and practitioners.

Languages used to administer NAAL instruments

	Interviewer can administer		Neighbor or household member1 can administer
	English instrument	Spanish instrument	In Spanish	In another language
Screener	yes	yes	yes	yes
Background questionnaire2	yes	yes	yes	no
Core items	yes	yes	no	no
Main NAAL	yes	no	no	no
ALSA	yes	yes	no	no
FAN	yes	yes	no	no
1 16 or older 2 Requires no reading or writing SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics.

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