On December 6th and 7th, 2018, the 3rd PIAAC Research-to-Practice Conference titled Do U.S. Adults Have the Skills Needed to Thrive in the 21st Century? was held in Arlington, VA. The conference, funded by American Institutes for Research (AIR), brought together over 150 researchers, practitioners, professional developers, and policymakers from government agencies, academic institutions, research and policy organizations, literacy programs, and foundations. Presentations from the five distinguished keynote speakers and materials from the eleven panel sessions are posted below.
Conference Materials
Videos, Summaries, Presentations, and Full Research Papers
Day 1 Sessions – Thursday, December 6th
Day 1 Sessions – Thursday, December 6th
Welcome & Opening Keynotes: Jaleh Behroozi Soroui, Jack Buckley, and Peggy Carr
Welcoming Remarks: Jaleh Behroozi Soroui, PIAAC Director, American Institutes for Research
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Opening Keynotes:
Jack Buckley, Senior Vice President, American Institutes for Research
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Peggy Carr, Associate Commissioner, National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education
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Session 1: Trends in Literacy Outcomes
Moderator: Laura Salganik, Former Director, Federal Statistics Program, American Institutes for Research
“Revisiting the Determinants of Literacy Proficiency: A Lifelong-lifewide Learning Perspective” *
Richard Desjardins, Professor, University of California, Los Angeles
Gina Cobin, University of California, Los Angeles
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“Literacy and growth: Policy implications of new evidence from PIAAC” *
Scott Murray, President, DataAngel Policy Research
Guido Schwerdt, University of Konstanz
Simon Wiederhold, Catholic University Eichstätt-Ingolstadt
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Discussant: Daphne Greenberg, Professor, The Adult Literacy Research Center at Georgia State University
Session 2: Numeracy and Employment
Moderator: Irma Perez-Johnson, Vice President, Research & Evaluation, American Institutes for Research
“Examining the Ways that Numeracy Skills and Soft Skills are Related to Occupational Status: The Case of U.S. Workers” *
Huacong Liu, Research Associate, University of Hamburg
Frank Fernandez, Assistant Professor of Higher Education, University of Houston
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“Associations Between Adults' Numeracy Skills and Employment Status: An Analysis of PIAAC’s U.S. Dataset” *
Leah Katherine Saal, Assistant Professor of Literacy, Loyola University Maryland
Melissa Gholson, Research Scientist, Educational Testing Service
Krisanna Machtmes, Associate Professor in Research Methods & Evaluation, Ohio University
Ryan Machtmes, Doctoral Student in Evaluation Studies, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities
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“Are Canadian Jobs More or Less Skilled than American Jobs?”
Kristyn Frank, Senior Research Analyst, Statistics Canada
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Discussant: Randall W. Eberts, President, W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research
Keynote Speakers: William Thorn and Irwin Kirsch
Video unavailable due to technical difficulties.
William Thorn, PIAAC Manager, Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)
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Irwin Kirsch, Director and Ralph Tyler Chair in Large Scale Assessment, Center for Global Assessment, Educational Testing Service
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Session 3: PIAAC Log Files
Moderator: Eugenio Gonzalez, Research Project Manager, Educational Testing Service
“Using Log Files to Identify Sequential Patterns in PIAAC Problem Solving Environments by U.S. Adults’ Employment Status” *
Dandan Liao, Psychometrician, American Institutes for Research
Qiwei He, Research Scientist, Educational Testing Service
Hong Jiao, Associate Professor, University of Maryland
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Discussant: Marco Paccagnella, Analyst, Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)
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Session 4: Collaboration at Work, College Majors, and Earnings
Moderator: Tony Di Giacomo, Founder, Applied Research Advisors
“Collaboration at Work and PIAAC Skills” *
Tobin Lopes, Assistant Professor, Colorado State University
Ellen Scully-Russ, Associate Professor, The George Washington University
Jill Zarestky, Assistant Professor, Colorado State University
Joshua Collins, Assistant Professor, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities
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“The Importance of Skills and Majors in Determining Future Earnings” *
Karly Ford, Assistant Professor of Education, Pennsylvania State University
Junghee Choi, Pennsylvania State University
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Discussant: Megan Fasules, Assistant Research Professor, Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce
Session 5: PIAAC Socio-Economic Status Index
Moderator: David Miller, Managing Researcher, American Institutes for Research
“Relations between Socio-economic Status and Skills in PIAAC”
Juliet Holmes, Research Associate, American Institutes for Research
Markus Broer, Principal Researcher, American Institutes for Research
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Discussant: George Bohrnstedt, Senior Vice President and Institute Fellow, American Institutes for Research
Session 6: Intergenerational Social Mobility, Writing Behaviors, and Civic Engagement
Moderator: Alisa Belzer, Professor, Rutgers University
“Parental Education and Skill Indicators of Children: An Intergenerational Social Mobility” *
Sara Oloomi, Quantitative Senior Analyst, Citizens Financial Group
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“Writing Behaviors Relation to Literacy and Problem Solving in Technology Rich Environments: Results from the 2012 and 2014 U.S. PIAAC Study” *
Iris Feinberg, Associate Director, The Adult Literacy Research Center at Georgia State University
Elizabeth Tighe, Assistant Professor of Developmental Psychology, The Adult Literacy Research Center at Georgia State University
Amani Talwar, The Adult Literacy Research Center at Georgia State University
Daphne Greenberg, Professor, The Adult Literacy Research Center at Georgia State University
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“Adults’ Civic Engagement in the U.S. and Germany: Evidence from the PIAAC Survey” *
Amy D. Rose, Professor Emeritus, Northern Illinois University
Thomas J. Smith, Professor, Northern Illinois University
Jovita M. Ross-Gordon, Texas State University
Jill Zarestky, Assistant Professor, Colorado State University
Tobin Lopes, Assistant Professor, Colorado State University
M Cecil Smith, Professor, West Virginia University
Anke Grotlüschen, Professor for Lifelong Learning, University of Hamburg
Marion Fleige, German Institute for Adult Education (DIE)
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Discussants:
Meredith Larson, Research Analyst, Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education
Dolores Perin, Professor of Psychology & Education, Teachers College, Columbia University
Sondra Stein, Consultant, PIAAC
Stanley Andrisse, Executive Director of “From Prison Cells to PhD”, Assistant Professor at Howard University College of Medicine, and Adjunct Assistant Professor at Johns Hopkins Medicine
Session 7: Education in Prison
Moderator: Tamara Barron, Occupational Coordinator, Maryland Prisons
“Understanding Educational Aspiration among People in Prison” *
Ruth Delaney, Program Manager, Vera Institute of Justice
Lionel Smith, Research Associate, Vera Institute of Justice
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“Prison-based Education: Programs, Participation and Proficiency in Literacy/Numeracy” *
Jinghong Cai, Research Analyst, Center for Public Education, National School Boards Association
Anirudh Ruhil, Professor, Ohio University
Dianne Gut, Ohio University
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“Incarcerated Adults with Low Skills: Findings from the 2014 PIAAC Prison Study”
Margaret Patterson, Senior Researcher, Research Allies for Lifelong Learning
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Discussant: Stephen J. Steurer, CURE National Reentry/Education Advocate, CURE National Council of State Governments
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Session 8: Correctional Education, Skills, and Incarcerated Parents
Moderator: Al MacNaughton, Prison School Principal, Virginia Department of Corrections
“The Influence of Correctional Education, Skills, and Lifelong Learning on Social Outcomes” *
Roofia Galeshi, Assistant Professor, Radford University
Riane Bolin, Radford University
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“Incarcerated Adults with Dependent Children” *
Daniel M. Leeds, Research Analyst, CNA Education
Juliana Pearson, CNA Education
Leslie Scott, CNA Education
Simone Robers, CNA Education
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Discussant: Amy Lopez, Deputy Director, DC Department of Corrections
Session 9: Skills, Health, and Unemployment of Older Adults
Moderator: Susan Lapham, Vice President, Research & Evaluation, American Institutes for Research
“Numeracy and Preventive Health Care Service Utilization among Middle-aged and Older Adults in the U.S.” *
Takashi Yamashita, Associate Professor, University of Maryland, Baltimore County
Anthony R. Bardo, University of Kentucky
Roberto J. Millar, Doctoral Student, University of Maryland, Baltimore County
Darren Liu, Associate Professor, Des Moines University
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“An Examination of PIAAC Data for Unemployed Adults Aged 45 to 74” *
Phyllis A. Cummins, Senior Research Scholar, Miami University
Takashi Yamashita, Associate Professor, University of Maryland, Baltimore County
Anabelle Arbogast, Miami University
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Discussant: Ricardo Hernandez, Independent Researcher
Session 10: Low-skilled Adults
Moderator: Judy Mortrude, Senior Policy Analyst, Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP)
“Who Is Not Digitally Literate in the United States?”
Saida Mamedova, Senior Research Analyst, American Institutes for Research
Emily Pawlowski, Research Associate, American Institutes for Research
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“Service-Sector Workers’ Skills: Findings from PIAAC and Implications for Educators”
Amanda Bergson-Shilcock, Director of Upskilling Policy, National Skills Coalition
B. Jasmine Park, Senior Researcher, American Institutes for Research
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Discussant: Lisa Hudson, Education Statistician, National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education
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Session 11: PIAAC: Next Steps
Moderator: Saida Mamedova, Senior Research Analyst, American Institutes for Research
“Upcoming releases including Small Area Estimation and Cycle 2 US PIAAC”
Holly Xie, PIAAC National Project Manager, National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education
Stephen Provasnik, International Activities Program Team Lead, National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education
View powerpoint ›
* These papers were commissioned by AIR through funding provided by NCES. For more information on the commissioned papers presented at this and other conferences, please go here.
