• Below Level 1:

According to the Program For The International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIACC)'s measurement of literacy, the task description for a literacy level below Level 1 is as follows: "The tasks at this level require the respondent to read brief texts on familiar topics to locate a single piece of specific information. There is seldom any competing information in the text, and the requested information is identical in form to information in the question or directive. The respondent may be required to locate information in short continuous texts; however, in this case, the information can be located as if the text were non-continuous in format. Only basic vocabulary knowledge is required, and the reader is not required to understand the structure of sentences or paragraphs or make use of other text features. Tasks below Level 1 do not make use of any features specific to digital texts" (National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) home page, part of the U.S. Department of Education, n.d.).

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• At Level 1:

According to the Program For The International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIACC)'s measurement of literacy, the task description for a literacy level at Level 1 is as follows: "Most of the tasks at this level require the respondent to read relatively short continuous, non-continuous, or mixed texts in digital or print format to locate a single piece of information that is identical to or synonymous with the information given in the question or directive. Some tasks, such as those involving non-continuous texts, may require the respondent to enter personal information into a document. Little, if any, competing information is present. Some tasks may require simply cycling through more than one piece of information. The respondent is expected to have knowledge and skill in recognizing basic vocabulary, determining the meaning of sentences, and reading paragraphs of text" (National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) home page, part of the U.S. Department of Education, n.d.).

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• At Level 2:

According to the Program For The International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIACC)'s measurement of literacy, the task description for a literacy level at Level 2 is as follows: 

"At this level, texts may be presented in a digital or print medium and may comprise continuous, non-continuous, or mixed types. Tasks at this level require respondents to make matches between the text and information and may require paraphrasing or low-level inferences. Some competing pieces of information may be present. Some tasks require the respondent to

• cycle through or integrate two or more pieces of information based on criteria;

• compare and contrast or reason about information requested in the question; or

• navigate within digital texts to access and identify information from various parts of a document" (National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) home page, part of the U.S. Department of Education, n.d.).

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• At Level 3:

According to the Program For The International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIACC)'s measurement of literacy, the task description for a literacy level at Level 3 is as follows: "Texts at this level are often dense or lengthy and include continuous, non-continuous, mixed, or multiple pages of text. Understanding text and rhetorical structures becomes more central to successfully completing tasks, especially navigating complex digital texts. Tasks require the respondent to identify, interpret, or evaluate one or more pieces of information and often require varying levels of inference. Many tasks require the respondent to construct meaning across larger chunks of text or perform multi-step operations in order to identify and formulate responses. Often, tasks also demand that the respondent disregard irrelevant or inappropriate content to answer accurately. Competing information is often present, but it is not more prominent than the correct information" (National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) home page, part of the U.S. Department of Education, n.d.).