Literacy in the United States
Encyclopedia
Rates of literacy in the United States depend on which of the various definitions of literacy
is used. Governments may label individuals who can read a couple of thousand simple words they learned by sight in the first four grades in school as literate. Other sources may term such individuals functionally illiterate if they are unable to use basic sources of written information like warning labels and driving directions. The World Factbook
prepared by the CIA defines literacy in the United States
as "age 15 and over can read and write."
The study, the most comprehensive study of literacy ever commissioned by the U.S. government, was released in April 2002 and reapplied in 2003 giving trend data. It involved lengthy interviews of over 90,700 adults statistically balanced for age, gender, ethnicity, education level, and location (urban, suburban, or rural) in 12 states across the U.S. and was designed to represent the U.S. population as a whole. This government study showed that 21% to 23% of adult Americans were not "able to locate information in text", could not "make low-level inferences using printed materials", and were unable to "integrate easily identifiable pieces of information." Further, this study showed that 41% to 44% of U.S. adults in the lowest level on the literacy scale are living in poverty.
A follow-up study by the same group of researchers using a smaller database (19,714 interviewees) was released in 2006 that showed some upward movement of low end (basic and below to intermediate) in U.S. adult literacy levels and a decline in the full proficiency group.
Thus, if this bottom quantile
of the study is equated with the functionally illiterate, and these are then removed from those classified as literate, then the resultant literacy rate for the United States would be at most 65-85% depending on where in the basic, minimal competence quantile one sets the cutoff.
The 15% figure for full literacy, equivalent to a university undergraduate level, is consistent with the notion that the "average" American reads at a 7th or 8th grade level which is also consistent with recommendations, guidelines, and norms of readability
for medication directions, product information, and popular fiction.
's World Factbook published that the United States had a 97.9% literacy rate; and 97% in 2002.
conducted annual studies aimed at identifying America's most literate cities and other quality of life indicators. The 2009 study ranks the following cities as America's most literate:
, Detroit spent $15,945 per pupil for the 2010–2011 school year, compared with an average per pupil expenditure nationally during the 2007–2008 school year of $10,259. The Detroit Federation of Teachers (DFT) feels that the problem lies with the city's failure to effectively enforce school attendance. DFT president Keith Johnson told the Daily Caller newspaper that the average Detroit school student missed 46 days of school during the 2008–2009 school year, adding that 10 percent of Detroit students missed 100 days or more, and that Detroit public schools do not have an attendance standard.
During the 2005–2009 time period, the list of America's most literate cities published annually by the Central Connecticut State University consistently ranked Detroit about 50th in its published list of 75 cities.
, in his book Illiterate America, suggests that the very high figures of literacy may be due to poor methodology. The Census Bureau reported literacy rates of 86% based on personal interviews of a relatively small portion of the population and on written responses to Census Bureau mailings. They also considered individuals literate if they simply stated that they could read and write, and made the assumption that anyone with a fifth grade education had at least an 80% chance of being literate. Kozol notes that, in addition to these weaknesses, the reliance on written forms would have obviously excluded many individuals who did not have a literate family member to fill out the form for them. Finally, he suggests that because illiterate people are likely to be unemployed and may not have telephones or permanent addresses, the census bureau would have been unlikely to find them (and that if they did, these people might be especially reluctant to talk to a stranger who might be a bill collector, tax auditor, or salesperson).
Literacy
Literacy has traditionally been described as the ability to read for knowledge, write coherently and think critically about printed material.Literacy represents the lifelong, intellectual process of gaining meaning from print...
is used. Governments may label individuals who can read a couple of thousand simple words they learned by sight in the first four grades in school as literate. Other sources may term such individuals functionally illiterate if they are unable to use basic sources of written information like warning labels and driving directions. The World Factbook
The World Factbook
The World Factbook is a reference resource produced by the Central Intelligence Agency of the United States with almanac-style information about the countries of the world. The official paper copy version is available from the National Technical Information Service and the Government Printing Office...
prepared by the CIA defines literacy in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
as "age 15 and over can read and write."
National Assessment of Adult Literacy (NAAL)
The US Dеpartment of Education, Institute of Education Sciences has conducted large scale assessment of adult proficiency in 1992 and 2003 using a common methodology from which trends could be measured. The study measures Prose, Document, and Quantitative skills and 19,000 subjects participated in the 2003 survey. There was no significant change in Prose or Document skills and a slight increase in Quantitative skills. As in 2008, roughly 15% of the sample could function at the highest levels in all three categories. Roughly 40% were at either basic or below basic levels of proficiency in all three categories. The study identifies a class of adults who although they do not meet criteria for functional illiteracy, nonetheless face reduced job opportunities and life prospects due to inadequate literacy levels relative to the requirements of contemporary society.The study, the most comprehensive study of literacy ever commissioned by the U.S. government, was released in April 2002 and reapplied in 2003 giving trend data. It involved lengthy interviews of over 90,700 adults statistically balanced for age, gender, ethnicity, education level, and location (urban, suburban, or rural) in 12 states across the U.S. and was designed to represent the U.S. population as a whole. This government study showed that 21% to 23% of adult Americans were not "able to locate information in text", could not "make low-level inferences using printed materials", and were unable to "integrate easily identifiable pieces of information." Further, this study showed that 41% to 44% of U.S. adults in the lowest level on the literacy scale are living in poverty.
A follow-up study by the same group of researchers using a smaller database (19,714 interviewees) was released in 2006 that showed some upward movement of low end (basic and below to intermediate) in U.S. adult literacy levels and a decline in the full proficiency group.
Thus, if this bottom quantile
Quantile
Quantiles are points taken at regular intervals from the cumulative distribution function of a random variable. Dividing ordered data into q essentially equal-sized data subsets is the motivation for q-quantiles; the quantiles are the data values marking the boundaries between consecutive subsets...
of the study is equated with the functionally illiterate, and these are then removed from those classified as literate, then the resultant literacy rate for the United States would be at most 65-85% depending on where in the basic, minimal competence quantile one sets the cutoff.
The 15% figure for full literacy, equivalent to a university undergraduate level, is consistent with the notion that the "average" American reads at a 7th or 8th grade level which is also consistent with recommendations, guidelines, and norms of readability
Readability
Readability is the ease in which text can be read and understood. Various factors to measure readability have been used, such as "speed of perception," "perceptibility at a distance," "perceptibility in peripheral vision," "visibility," "the reflex blink technique," "rate of work" , "eye...
for medication directions, product information, and popular fiction.
CIA Factbook
In 1993, the US Central Intelligence AgencyCentral Intelligence Agency
The Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government. It is an executive agency and reports directly to the Director of National Intelligence, responsible for providing national security intelligence assessment to senior United States policymakers...
's World Factbook published that the United States had a 97.9% literacy rate; and 97% in 2002.
Central Connecticut State University
Between 2005 and 2009, Dr. Jack Miller of the Central Connecticut State UniversityCentral Connecticut State University
Central Connecticut State University is a state university in New Britain, Connecticut, United States.The school was moved to its present campus in 1922...
conducted annual studies aimed at identifying America's most literate cities and other quality of life indicators. The 2009 study ranks the following cities as America's most literate:
| City | Rankings | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | |
| Seattle, WA | 1 | 1.5 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution.... |
2 | 3 | 5 | 3.5 | 3 |
| Minneapolis, MN | 3 | 1.5 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| Pittsburgh, PA | 4 | 12 | 9 | 6 | 8 |
| Atlanta, GA | 5 | 6 | 8 | 3.5 | 4 |
| Portland, OR Portland, Oregon Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States... |
6 | 10.5 | 12 | 10 | 11 |
| St. Paul, MN Saint Paul, Minnesota Saint Paul is the capital and second-most populous city of the U.S. state of Minnesota. The city lies mostly on the east bank of the Mississippi River in the area surrounding its point of confluence with the Minnesota River, and adjoins Minneapolis, the state's largest city... |
7 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 9.5 |
| Boston, MA Boston Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had... |
8 | 8 | 10 | 11 | 7 |
| Cincinnati, OH | 9 | 10.5 | 11 | 7 | 9.5 |
| Denver, CO | 10 | 7 | 4 | 8 | 6 |
The National Institute for Literacy
In 2011, the National Institute for Literacy estimated that 47 percent of adults in Detroit, Michigan are "functionally illiterate," meaning they have trouble with reading, speaking, writing and computational skills. According to findings by the Detroit Regional Workforce Fund, half of that illiterate population has obtained a high school diploma. According to the Cato InstituteCato Institute
The Cato Institute is a libertarian think tank headquartered in Washington, D.C. It was founded in 1977 by Edward H. Crane, who remains president and CEO, and Charles Koch, chairman of the board and chief executive officer of the conglomerate Koch Industries, Inc., the largest privately held...
, Detroit spent $15,945 per pupil for the 2010–2011 school year, compared with an average per pupil expenditure nationally during the 2007–2008 school year of $10,259. The Detroit Federation of Teachers (DFT) feels that the problem lies with the city's failure to effectively enforce school attendance. DFT president Keith Johnson told the Daily Caller newspaper that the average Detroit school student missed 46 days of school during the 2008–2009 school year, adding that 10 percent of Detroit students missed 100 days or more, and that Detroit public schools do not have an attendance standard.
During the 2005–2009 time period, the list of America's most literate cities published annually by the Central Connecticut State University consistently ranked Detroit about 50th in its published list of 75 cities.
Methodological Issues
Jonathan KozolJonathan Kozol
Jonathan Kozol is a non-fiction writer, educator, and activist, best known for his books on public education in the United States. Kozol graduated from Noble and Greenough School in 1954, and Harvard University summa cum laude in 1958 with a degree in English Literature. He was awarded a Rhodes...
, in his book Illiterate America, suggests that the very high figures of literacy may be due to poor methodology. The Census Bureau reported literacy rates of 86% based on personal interviews of a relatively small portion of the population and on written responses to Census Bureau mailings. They also considered individuals literate if they simply stated that they could read and write, and made the assumption that anyone with a fifth grade education had at least an 80% chance of being literate. Kozol notes that, in addition to these weaknesses, the reliance on written forms would have obviously excluded many individuals who did not have a literate family member to fill out the form for them. Finally, he suggests that because illiterate people are likely to be unemployed and may not have telephones or permanent addresses, the census bureau would have been unlikely to find them (and that if they did, these people might be especially reluctant to talk to a stranger who might be a bill collector, tax auditor, or salesperson).