|
Reading
Ability
Because
reading requirements for many military occupations are substantial, reading
ability of recruits is important. The reading grade level (RGL) is estimated
by converting the ASVAB verbal composite score to its RGL equivalent.
[footnote 36] Table 2.9 shows that the mean RGL for
FY 2000 recruits was at a level that would be expected of an 11th grade
student, compared to 10th grade level for the average FY 1984 accession.
Differences
in RGL were relatively small in FY 2000, with mean RGLs ranging from 11.0
for the Navy and Marine Corps to 11.2 for the Air Force. The 1980 nationally
representative sample of 18- to 23-year-olds, on whom ASVAB scores are
based, read at a mean 10th grade level.
|
Table
2.9. Mean Reading Grade Level of FY 19842000 Active Component NPS
Accessions,
By Service, and 1980 Civilians 1823 Years Old
|
|
Fiscal
Year
|
Army
|
Navy
|
Marine
Corps
|
Air
Force
|
DoD
|
1980
Civilian
Youth Population
|
|
1984
|
10.0
|
10.2
|
9.8
|
10.5
|
10.1
|
10.3
|
|
1985
|
10.6
|
10.5
|
10.1
|
10.8
|
10.6
|
|
1986
|
11.2
|
11.0
|
11.1
|
11.4
|
11.1
|
|
1987
|
11.2
|
11.1
|
11.2
|
11.6
|
11.2
|
|
1988
|
11.2
|
11.1
|
11.2
|
11.5
|
11.2
|
|
1989
|
11.1
|
11.0
|
11.2
|
11.4
|
11.2
|
|
1990
|
11.2
|
11.1
|
11.2
|
11.7
|
11.3
|
|
1991
|
11.4
|
11.0
|
11.3
|
11.7
|
11.3
|
|
1992
|
11.5
|
11.4
|
11.3
|
11.7
|
11.5
|
|
1993
|
11.5
|
11.5
|
11.2
|
11.8
|
11.5
|
|
1994
|
11.4
|
11.3
|
11.2
|
11.7
|
11.4
|
|
1995
|
11.3
|
11.3
|
11.2
|
11.7
|
11.4
|
|
1996
|
11.3
|
11.3
|
11.1
|
11.7
|
11.4
|
|
1997
|
11.2
|
11.2
|
11.1
|
11.6
|
11.3
|
|
1998
|
11.2
|
11.2
|
11.1
|
11.5
|
11.2
|
|
1999
|
11.0
|
11.1
|
11.1
|
11.2
|
11.1
|
|
2000
|
11.1
|
11.0
|
11.0
|
11.2
|
11.1
|
|
Source: 1980
civilian youth population data from the Profile of American Youth
(Washington, DC: Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense
[Manpower, Reserve Affairs, and Logistics], March 1982); and Waters,
et al., Estimating the Reading Skills of Military Applicants:
The Development of an ASVAB to RGL Conversion Table (Alexandria,
VA: Human Resources Research Organization, October 1988).
|
[footnote
36] See Waters, B.K., Barnes, J.D., Foley, P., Steinhaus, S.D., and Brown,
D.C., Estimating the Reading Skills of Military Applicants: The Development
of an ASVAB to RGL Conversion Table (Alexandria, VA: Human Resources Research
Organization, October 1988). [back to paragraph]
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