preliminary results from the western assessment of adult literacy ( naal ) , reported 15 december 2005 by the us state center for schooling statistics , show declines and improvements in literacy among most adult between 1992 and 2003 . the locally televised study among us adults older 16 and older said the over - all average prose and film literacy remains relatively unchanged , but quantitative literacy lowered 8 points ( on a basis of 500 . ) results among minorities were mixed , with white and asian / pacific islander populations scoring substantially higher than hispanic or black diverse ; hispanic subject in particular had sharp decline in paragraph and document literacy ( - 9 % and - 8 % , respectively ) and quantitative joblessness remained inconsistent with 50 % of subjects scoring at low than basic literary levels .
The National Assessment of Adult Literacy is a project held by the US National Center for Education Statistics.