"30 Million Americans are Hiding a Secret"

ProLiteracy's new campaign for donations includes new student stories! Follow the link to check them out, then consider this questions: would it be easier to admit you were an alcoholic than that you couldn't read?

What Do I Mean By....

... prose, document, and quantitative literacy? You've heard me mention them a lot; here are what they mean in practical terms:

	Prose literacy The knowledge and skills needed to perform prose tasks, (i.e., to search, comprehend, and use continuous texts). Examples include editorials, news stories, brochures, and instructional materials.
	Document literacy The knowledge and skills needed to perform document tasks, (i.e., to search, comprehend, and use non-continuous texts in various formats). Examples include job applications, payroll forms, transportation schedules, maps, tables, and drug or food labels.
	Quantitative literacy The knowledge and skills required to perform quantitative tasks, (i.e., to identify and perform computations, either alone or sequentially, using numbers embedded in printed materials). Examples include balancing a checkbook, figuring out a tip, completing an order form or determining the amount.

This chart is available from NAAL.

Literacy & Gender

As a woman, I was particularly interested to see how fellow females fared in the 2003 National Assessment of Adult Literacy. Would they come out higher or lower than men, or would it be about equal?

Let’s see how the numbers compare, both for men and women, and between 1992 and 2003.

·      Women scored higher than men in prose and document literacy. Their prose scores remained the same from 1992, while men’s scores dropped by 4 points. Women actually gained 4 points in document literacy, while men dropped 5 points.

·      Men scored high in quantitative literacy. But although they still scored lower, women’s quantitative literacy scores still increased by 10 points. (Men did not change from 1992 in this area).

·      The percentage of women with Below Basic literacy levels decreased.

This is good news for women, particularly when compared with worldwide statistics: women account for two-thirds of the world’s lowest literate adults (ProLiteracy). 

For further information, please see

A First Look at the Literacy of American Adults in the 21st Century (NAAL).

ProLiteracy 

 

Literacy - Race, Ethnicity, & Immigration

What did the 2003 National Assessment of Adult Literacy find with regard to literacy, and race/ethnicity? First, here are the statistics:

Performance in 2003

• Prose: Whites had the highest scores followed by Asians/Pacific Islanders, Blacks, and Hispanics
• Document: Whites and Asians/Pacific Islanders had the highest scores followed by Blacks and Hispanics
• Quantitative: Whites had the highest scores followed by Asians/Pacific Islanders, and both Blacks and Hispanics

Changes between 1992 and 2003

• White Adults

·       Up 9 points in quantitative

• Black Adults

·       Up 6 points in prose, 8 points in document, and 16 points in quantitative

• Hispanic Adults

·       Down 18 points in prose and 14 points in document

• Asian/Pacific Islander Adults

·       Up 16 points in prose

While the population percentage of Black and White Americans did not change significantly between 1992 and 2003, the percentage of Asians/Pacific Islanders rose by 2%, and Hispanics by 4%.

The NAAL did not measure Native American’s in its study, but

data from the National Congress of American Indians indicates that American Indians and Alaska Natives are affected in disproportionately large numbers compared to all other groups. They are at an educational disadvantage at every stage of schooling through high school and their high school dropout rate is higher than all other groups as well (National Commission on Adult Literacy).

The Immigration Issue

Why do we see such low literacy skills in the Hispanic population, where Hispanics account for 39% of Americans with Below Basic literacy skills? [1]As the Report of the National Literacy Commission states, “currently, one-third of foreign-born adults, and 44 percent of Hispanic Americans, do not have a high school diploma” (By 2030, the Hispanic share of the population is expected to rise to 20%).

Every year, almost two million immigrants come to the United States from all over the world to seek job opportunities and better lives for their families…But low literacy levels, as well as a lack of high school education and English language skills, severely hinder up to one million of these immigrants in their attempts to earn family-sustaining wages (National Commission of Adult Literacy).

For more information, please visit:

The National Assessment of Adult Literacy.
Report of The National Commission of Adult Literacy 

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[1] Although the NAAL text analysis was always in English, the questions administered could be asked in English or Spanish.

Literacy & Socio-Economics

When David Perdue, Chairman of the National Commission on Adult Literacy, made a speech before the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in September of 2007, he drew a clear connection between low literacy skills and socio-economic status. There is a "high correlation," he stated, "between illiteracy and socio-economic status," a connection that is perhaps to explain for the general lack of awareness in America regarding this crisis of literacy:

In my opinion, the primary reason most people aren’t aware of this raging problem is that unlike most diseases, this problem is not generally experienced across all socio-economic categories. Cancer affects us all but illiteracy and lack of education primarily affect people of lower socio-economic standing.

While the 2003 National Assessment of Adult Literacy did not measure literacy based on an individual’s economic status, it did measure literacy levels and employment status, allowing us a first look at how low literacy levels (and a corresponding lack of a high school diploma or equivalent GED) effect employability. Here is what they found:

·      For adults with Below Basic literacy skills, 51% were not employed in the labor force. Thirty-five percent were employed full-time. (This was actually an increase in employment from 1992. Unfortunately, we do not have any similar data for the period after the economic crisis).

·         “In 2003, average prose and document literacy was highest among adults employed full or part time… and average quantitative literacy was highest for adults employed full time. Literacy was lowest across the three scales for adults who were not in the labor force.

The problem with these statistics is that they imply that literacy rises with employment. Instead, low literacy levels and associated low educational attainment (“on average, 55 percent of adults scoring at the lowest literacy level in NAAL were adults with less than high school or lacking a GED") hinder job possibilities for the 93 million Americans who “lack literacy at a level needed to enroll in the postsecondary education or job training that current and future jobs require” (National Commission on Adult Literacy). 

For further information, please see:

David Perdue's speech before the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

A First Look at the Literacy of American's Adults in the 21st Century (NAAL)

National Commission on Adult Literacy

Today's Literacy Action

Wondering what kind of action for adult literacy you can take today? Why not become a "ProLiteracy Champion!" Fill out a simple form, and you're automatically linked with thousands of other people "engaged in the fight against adult illiteracy."

As a literacy champion, you'll receive updates about ProLiteracy's advocacy work, "calls to action," and other literacy related news.

What is NAAL?

Throughout this blog you’ll see me make mention numerous times of The National Assessment of Adult Literacy (NAAL). As it underpins so many of the statistics I mention, and as it’s used in so many other sources linked to on this blog, let’s dig into this piece of research a little further.

First, here is how NAAL defines itself:

The 2003 National Assessment of Adult Literacy is a nationally representative assessment of English literacy among American adults age 16 and older. Sponsored by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), NAAL is the nation's most comprehensive measure of adult literacy since the 1992 National Adult Literacy Survey (NALS).

In 2003, over 19,000 adults participated in the national and state-level assessments, representing the entire population of U.S. adults who are age 16 and older, most in their homes and some in prisons from the 50 states and the District of Columbia. Approximately 1,200 inmates of federal and state prisons were assessed in order to provide separate estimates of literacy for the incarcerated population.

By comparing results from 1992 and 2003, NAAL provides the first indicator in a decade of the nation's progress in adult literacy. NAAL also provides information on adults' literacy performance and related background characteristics to researchers, practitioners, policymakers, and the general public.

This assessment resulted in a fascinating portrait of American adult literacy, one that collected participant information about “age, race/ethnicity, gender, language, education, income…past and present participation in welfare; job-related training; use of technology, including computers, e-mail, and the Internet; health-related conditions and activities; and literacy practices such as parents' reading to their children.”

In addition to the assessment of 1,200 state and federal inmates in its prison component, NAAL also measured the health literacy of participants – their ability “to use literacy skills to read and understand health-related information” – and a supplement specifically related to those adults whose low literacy skills prevented them from completing the main NAAL survey. 

And while only six states participated in the State Assessment of Adult Literacy (SAAL) - Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Missouri, New York, and Oklahoma - its "statistical models" helped the National Center for Education Statistics produce "estimates of the percentage of adults lacking Basic Prose Literacy Skills (BPLS) for all states and counties in the United States in 2003 and 1992."(You can compare states or even counties here).

"And it’s made me the happiest person in the world."

If you're considering become a literacy volunteer, I would encourage you to read the story of Emanuel Anderson and his tutor, Steve Hobbs. Matched through the South Baltimore Learning Center, these two men "bonded" over their shared experience of literacy.

Today's Literacy Quote

"Literacy is a bridge from misery to hope. It is a tool for daily life in modern society. It is a bulwark against poverty, and a building block of development, an essential complement to investments in roads, dams, clinics and factories. Literacy is a platform for democratization, and a vehicle for the promotion of cultural and national identity. Especially for girls and women, it is an agent of family health and nutrition. For everyone, everywhere, literacy is, along with education in general, a basic human right.... Literacy is, finally, the road to human progress and the means through which every man, woman and child can realize his or her full potential." - Kofi Anan

Welcome

First, thank you for visiting A Human Right: the Problems, the People, and the Hope of American Adult Literacy!

If you're reading this you are probably not one of the 30 million Americans - 14% of the population - who struggle with literacy, those American adults who strain to compare ticket prices at a baseball game, or read a TV Guide to see what time their favorite program comes on. They lack what UNESCO calls a "human right."

While this blog protests these rates of adult literacy in America, it is really an individual's call for individual action. Read about the problem, assimilate the troubling statistics, but then turn your eyes to the people who have triumphed over these numbers, the Marten Griego's and Rosseta Harper's. 

And then act! Becoming involved in literacy can mean contacting your elected officials or donating to a literacy organization. But it can also mean sitting face-to-face with someone who has struggled to read and write, opening them up to the the freedom, the joy, and the pleasure of starting to fully understand the written word for the first time.

This blog grew out of my own love of reading and writing, and the shock of realizing how many Americans struggled with the most basic tasks associated with both. This shock pushed me through the statistics to find the people, extraordinary stories that I hope will inspire you to protest this situation, and act for and with your fellow Americans who struggle with literacy.


Key information about literacy, including what I mean by this term, as well as the research that informs this protest is always available on the top tabs of this blog. Other themes are organized on the right side bar, and this main page will always be updated with new research, stories, and events. Participate in a poll, leave a comment, and pass on the information you learn here! Whatever you choose to do, I look forward to hearing your voices.


Sidney