Current Events > How does the United States fix its literacy problem?

(+) Yeah! (+)

https://worldpopulationreview.com/state-rankings/us-literacy-rates-by-state
https://www.apmresearchlab.org/10x-adult-literacy

Most adults in the US today read at a 6th grade level or below.

Story:

The year is 2009. I'm a tech support agent doing support for a number of internet service providers around the country, primarily Frontier Communications. They had just bought out lines from Verizon in a number of states, including West Virginia. It was a terrible migration, which prompted lots of people to call in for various problems.

I got a call from a guy in West Virginia one day. All he needed was his email password. I had to ask the security question on the account to give him his password. His security question was, "What is your favorite book?" Now, normally, if you're presented with a question and you don't know the answer, the phrase "I don't know" is perfectly acceptable. This man's answer was, "HELL IF I KNOW! I DON'T READ BOOKS!"

I was already having a shitty day. Tons of upset customers and customers who wanted to be argumentative. This was a jarring answer. I had to put him on mute for like two minutes and I sat at my desk like this:

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/5/51506d02.jpg

After the call was over, I did some looking into literacy rates where he lives and found that there were multiple areas of West Virginia where around 20 - 25% of the adult population was illiterate.

In 2024, if over half of the adults in the US read at a 6th grade level or below... How do we fix that? It seems like idiocy is favored over intellect by a lot of us.

They don't.

Unless republicans disappear and we pump trillions into it we cant fix it

Working as intended.

Best way to do that is to perhaps encourage reading groups.

Banning cell phones in schools is a good start.

You can't, even if there wasn't a political party hellbent on destroying education there would still be far more people that are just plain idiots that no amount of education will ever save from being idiots.

Parents read to kids when they are young

Schools need to actually require reading in schools

That's basically it.

As a college professor, I can tell you that the corollary to students growing up not reading much is that they are also terrible writers. You passively learn about good writing when you READ good writing. When you don't read...

What do you mean?

Euripides posted...

Parents read to kids when they are young

Schools need to actually require reading in schools

That's basically it.

As a college professor, I can tell you that the corollary to students growing up not reading much is that they are also terrible writers. You passively learn about good writing when you READ good writing. When you don't read...

It's strange to me, because even things like summer reading don't seem to be a thing anymore.

illegals our taking are jerbs though

The United States is free to use this in any literacy advertisements.

Books. Check em out.

What exactly is "6th grade level?"

In 6th grade I was reading a Dean Koontz book every *night.*

IMO by 6th grade you should be able to read pretty much anything.

*edit Freudian slip, I read every night took me a week to finish the book

pazzy posted...

It's strange to me, because even things like summer reading don't seem to be a thing anymore.

Nobody talking about RAB DAR GAB anymore smfh

justaguy3492 posted...

Banning cell phones in schools is a good start.

Then they will read even less than they do now.

NO2_Fiend posted...

What exactly is "6th grade level?"

Note: On 11/17/2024 this article was edited to remove the statement This means more than half of Americans between the ages of 16 and 74 (54%) read below the equivalent of a sixth-grade level. While some have associated PIAAC assessments with grade-level reading, the PIAAC has discouraged such comparisons.

what it is is media clickbaiting

You can bring a horse to water, but you can't make them drink.

Although if you brought MAGA to water, they'd probably just piss in it and refuse to drink it because they claim you infected it with the woke mind virus.

Than blame you for their being thirsty.

I would argue the reading level is actually at 3rd grade level

Open the Derek Zoolander Center for Kids who Cant Read Good

End the "whole language" and "balanced literacy" nonsense, and bring back full phonics.

And get the kids off Tiktok and back to internet forums.

Euripides posted...

Parents read to kids when they are young

Schools need to actually require reading in schools

That's basically it.

As a college professor, I can tell you that the corollary to students growing up not reading much is that they are also terrible writers. You passively learn about good writing when you READ good writing. When you don't read...

This is so very true.

The number one piece of advice for people who want to write well is to read more.

What sucks is that the people that need this help will never be able to read this topic. Those poor, fat, and smelly people.

I dunno but I doubt Republicans dismantling the department of education will help

There are so many factors that it's hard to give a single definitive answer.

1. We need to look at the actual literacy curriculum. How is it teaching reading? Is it including phonics? Is it consistent? Is there repetition to help drill the concepts?
2. Are we addressing the behavioral issues in our classrooms. Can students really learn when the entire classroom is being destroyed by another child having an outburst?
3. Are we addressing the needs of the children so they are ready to learn? Are they feeling safe? Are they fed? If their baseline needs aren't met, they aren't in the headspace to fully learn.
4. Are these children actually ready to learn the material? Do they have mastery of the prerequisite information to start learning to read? Do they know their letters? Do they know the sounds that those letters make? Do they know how to hold a book? Do they know the direction they read the words?
5. Are we as a society valuing education? Are we showing teachers the respect they deserve? Are we doing all we can to entice future teachers into the profession? Are we doing what we can to keep them in the profession? Are we showing them respect? Are we providing them the compensation and support they need to make this a long term career? Are we treating educators as experts in the field? Do we listen to their opinions? Are we working with teachers to benefit the student outcomes?

justaguy3492 posted...

Banning cell phones in schools is a good start.

I graduated in 2005, before cellphones were common items for people in general to be carrying around, and had enough barely-literate people in my graduating class that I feel pretty comfortable saying the phones aren't the root issue here.

What do I mean by "barely literate"? It would take them a solid 5 minutes to read the above sentence out loud, and they would need to be corrected on how to pronounce "literate".

In eleventh grade.

__aCEr__ posted...

Open the Derek Zoolander Center for Kids who Cant Read Good

We're trying to fix the issue of an illiterate voting bloc, not build A CENTER FOR ANTS!!