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Nov 7, 2017 · Illiteracy affects 18% of US adults (approximately 57.4 million people), most commonly impacting black people, Hispanic people, and low-income individuals. Illiteracy is perpetuated from one generation to the next and leads to higher chances of unemployment and poverty.
- Education
The United States’ history of racial segregation continues...
- North America
Though only 4% of the global population, the United States...
- Education
May 31, 2022 · To put it another way, one out of every five American adults are functionally illiterate, meaning that today in the United States, almost 65 million people are unable to read basic sentences, fill out a job application form, or understand the instructions on their prescription labels.
Jan 17, 2024 · There is currently a literacy crisis happening in the U.S., one that disproportionately affects students of color, and that cannot be ignored. Literacy is one of the major civil rights issues of our time, and our children’s future — and our nation’s democracy — depends on us addressing it now.
- The History of American Literacy
- Schools + Learning to Read
- Female Literacy
- Literacy as A Social Justice Issue
- The Achievement Gap
- The Literacy Crisis Today
- What We Can Do as Educators
To truly understand the state of literacy in today’s United States, we need to go back to the beginning. Literacy has long been used as a method of social control and oppression. Throughout much of history, the ability to read was something only privileged, upper-class white men were allowed to learn. School wasn’t free like it is today. Education ...
In the 17th century, public schools existed in the New England states, but largely taught students about religion and family. It wasn’t until the 19th century that public schools truly focused on academics. In the South, public schools were slower to arrive. Rich people paid private tutors to educate their children in the southern states, relegatin...
Women, too, were largely left out of education. Educating women simply was not a priority until the early 1900s and even then, women attending college was rare up until the 1960s. Early Americans often believed it was a waste to educate women past the basics since they would need to run a home and raise a family. Bard College’s Joel Perlmann and Bo...
Think about it: When someone cannot read, they are excluded from many of the things that allow us to be fully functional citizens with choices. Those who are illiterate can lack access to information, are excluded from making choices about their rights or government through voting, and have fewer opportunities for employment. Illiteracy keeps peopl...
In the United States, literacy rates vary greatly between racial and socio-economic groups. Even today, minorities are still oppressed by lower literacy levels. Literacy continues to be a mechanism of social control and oppression. On the most recent National Assessment of Educational Progress 12th Grade Reading Level Assessment (2015), 46 percent ...
Comprehensive national literacy studies are not conducted annually, but the National Commission on Adult Literacyreleased its report in June 2008 naming several factors contributing to the nation’s literacy crisis. Minority and immigrant groups are growing in population, but remain low in educational achievement. The report claims that 1 in 3 peopl...
Literacy is an authentic and complex social justice issue as it determines many of the factors that contribute to a student’s future quality of life. As teachers across the U.S. will tell you, especially those in low-income areas, students are coming to their classrooms each year reading well below grade level. There isn’t one magic solution to our...
the ironies or dilemmas of American dominance. In all the triumphalist statements made by Americans or the virulent attacks made by their cultural opponents, who are by no means French only1 the examples of American dominance are drawn from the movie, music, and the fast food industries.
Sep 1, 2017 · Hispanics, older people, and incarcerated people are more likely to be low literate than other US adults. Major factors influencing literacy development include education, socioeconomic status, learning English as a second language, learning disabilities, and crime.
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Nov 5, 2015 · GAZETTE: You’ve spoken about religious illiteracy in the United States, particularly around Islam. When you arrived at Harvard from Kenya as an undergraduate, what did people in the United States appear to know about Muslims?
