How does NAAL ensure comparability across years?
A number of steps were taken to preserve comparability between the 1992 NALS and 2003 NAAL. First, almost half of the 2003 sample questions are taken from the 1992 assessment. Second, the new 2003 test questions are similar to those used in 1992. Third, NAAL uses the same sampling and data collection procedures as NALS to ensure that NAAL participants are similar to those surveyed in 1992. Fourth, 2003 results are along the same literacy scales as those used in 1992—prose, document, and quantitative. Finally, the 1992 NALS data have been reanalyzed along new, 2003 NAAL performance levels.
