How is it possible that roughly 50% of Americans can’t read above a 6th grade level and how are 21% just flat out illiterate?
How is it possible that roughly 50% of Americans can’t read above a 6th grade level and how are 21% just flat out illiterate?
Question above is pretty blunt but was doing a study for a college course and came across that stat. How is that possible? My high school sucked but I was well equipped even with that sub standard level of education for college. Obviously income is a thing but to think 1 out of 5 American adults is categorized as illiterate is…astounding. Now poor media literacy I get, but not this. Edit: this was from a department of education report from 2022. Just incase people are curious where that comes from. It does also specify as literate in English so maybe not as grim as I thought.
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I’m not an expert, but I have to imagine it’s in relation to the fact that public education in the United States tends to be rather underfunded. Teachers often don’t have all the resources to do their jobs effectively, and many resort to paying for resources out of their own pocket.
Pair that with the fact that the average salary for a teacher in a public school is almost criminally low for a position that has a massive impact on our social outcomes, and you get students that are disengaged and overall not as prepared as they could be.
This is all just what I’ve gathered from reading news articles over time. I’m sure there are several other factors at play.
It has far more to do with parents than teachers for basic literacy. If a family/child doesn't read at home, the child will never get enough practice to achieve a high level of comprehension.
My grade 5 child already reads at a grade 9 of 10 level, but we read together every night and have done so for the last decade of his life. His room has more books than toys.
His average schoolmate has an Xbox in their room instead of books. He complains about it all the time. The electronic device in his room is his kindle.
Cuba didn’t achieve 98% literacy by having a country of concerned parents. They had a massive education push with basically unlimited support from the government.
Placing the responsibility of America’s failure to educate its populace on individuals is honestly kind of insidious. America needs to dedicate resources to education. Period. Their failure to do so is why so many Americans are dumber than stumps.
They didn't achieve that rate through childhood education investmemt. They spent a few years forcing (as in it wasn't optional) adults to become literate too. At the peak about one in ten cubans were involved in teaching others, they even closed schools early at one point and literally drafted 100k students to go teach adults.
The parents weren't needed because an even higher power stepped in to mandate things and actually could and did enforce it.
The US government doesn't have the political authority to mandate such a thing, the rights of individuals are very strong in the US, including the right to be ignorant. Parental involvement is the only realistic option to improve the current situation.
To add on to that, without publicly funded education those illiterates will only perpetuate and exacerbate the problem. If one generation is poorly educated their children will have even more difficulties. And their children even worse. And then they are stuck forever because without education it is uncommon to have enough money to afford a good one for their kids.
If education is privatized and costs money no poor and uneducated person can ever climb out of their misery on their own.
That's great that you've fostered a love for reading, I believe that's an incredibly important thing for a young mind.
But i also don't think not allowing video games at all isn't necessary. I grew up reading and playing online games, it's possible to ensure a balance. And today online games are a huge part of the socializing that happens. It sucks to sit at the lunch table and have your friends talk about conversations they had that you couldn't be a part of.
I played video games with all my boys for hours yesterday, they just don't have unrestricted access to them, or private access in their rooms.
I agree online socializing is important, but I also have to make sure they aren't watching Andrew Tate videos (yes, this is unfortunately a thing for some of the 11 year old boys on his sports team)
Help them build a good foundation and they'll end up building a good house for themselves.
His average schoolmate has an Xbox in their room instead of books. He complains about it all the time.
I'm skeptical.
Only almost criminally low?