National Literacy Act, Congress 1991
"An individual's ability to read, write, and speak in English, and compute and solve problems at levels of proficiency necessary to function on the job and in society, to achieve one's goals, and develop one's knowledge and potential".
As a reflection of the 1991 National Literacy Act, where Congress defined literacy, the National Adult Literacy Survey (NALS) created three literacy scales: prose literacy, document literacy, and quantitative literacy.
NALS makes clear that literacy in not something that individuals have or don't have. Thus a continuum was created on which people may fall at different places for different kinds of skills. Level 5 reflecting the highest skills and Level 1, the lowest. The following chart details activities most adults at Level 1 usually can and cannot perform successfully.
Skills of Adults at Level 1
| Can Usually Perform | Cannot Usually Perform |
| Sign one's name | Locate eligibility from a table of employee benefits |
|
Identify a country in a short article |
Locate intersection on a street map |
|
Locate one piece of information in a sports article |
Locate two pieces of information in a sports article |
|
Locate the expiration date information on a driver's license |
Identify and enter background information on a social security card application |
| Total a bank deposit entry | Calculate total costs of purchase from an order form |
Source: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, National Adult Literacy Survey, September 1993