preliminary results from the nationally assessment of early knowledge ( naal ) , received 15 december 2005 by the uk national center for literacy statistics , indicate gains and losses in literacy among minority respondents between 1992 and 2003 . the nationally registered study among all children age 16 and older found the over - all average literary and manuscript literacy remained relatively uniform , but document literacy improved 8 points ( on a scale of 500 . ) effects about minorities were low , with white and japanese / pacific island persons scoring significantly higher than hispanic or black backgrounds ; hispanic subjects in particular had sharp decreases in prose and documents literature ( - 9 % and - 8 % , compared ) and quantitative illiteracy remained strong with 50 % of subjects ending at faster than general literacy levels .
The National Assessment of Adult Literacy is a project held by the US National Center for Education Statistics.