Illiteracy: The Downfall of American Society
from Education Portal: Jul 24, 2007
Illiteracy is causing irreparable damage to our society. If you think that sounds like an exaggeration, you're wrong. For proof, check out these illiteracy statistics.
In a study of 20 'high income' countries, the US ranked 12th on literacy tests. Illiteracy has become such a serious problem in our country that 44 million adults are now unable to read a simple story to their child. A few other shocking facts:
50 % of adults cannot read a book written at an eighth grade level.
20 % percent of Americans are functionally illiterate and read below a 5th grade level.
Nearly half of all Americans read so poorly that they cannot find a single piece of information when reading a short publication.
How Illiteracy Affects Job Prospects
3 out of 4 people on welfare can't read.
20 % of Americans read below the level needed to earn a living wage.
50 % of the unemployed people who fall between the ages of 16 and 21 cannot read well enough to be considered functionally literate.
46 and 51 % of American adults have an income well below the individual threshold poverty level because of their inability to read.
How Illiteracy Affects Society
3 out of 5 people in an American prison can't read.
85 % of juvenile offenders have problems reading.
Approximately 50 % of Americans read so poorly that they are unable to perform simple tasks such as balancing a checkbook and reading prescription drug labels.
To determine how many prison beds will be needed in future years, some states actually base part of their projection on how well current elementary students are performing on reading tests.
How Illiteracy Costs Taxpayers
Illiteracy costs American taxpayers an estimated $20 billion each year.
Illiteracy has been proven to cause children to drop out of school. Dropouts cost our nation $240 billion in social service expenditures and lost tax revenues.
from Education Portal: Jul 24, 2007
Illiteracy is causing irreparable damage to our society. If you think that sounds like an exaggeration, you're wrong. For proof, check out these illiteracy statistics.
In a study of 20 'high income' countries, the US ranked 12th on literacy tests. Illiteracy has become such a serious problem in our country that 44 million adults are now unable to read a simple story to their child. A few other shocking facts:
50 % of adults cannot read a book written at an eighth grade level.
20 % percent of Americans are functionally illiterate and read below a 5th grade level.
Nearly half of all Americans read so poorly that they cannot find a single piece of information when reading a short publication.
How Illiteracy Affects Job Prospects
3 out of 4 people on welfare can't read.
20 % of Americans read below the level needed to earn a living wage.
50 % of the unemployed people who fall between the ages of 16 and 21 cannot read well enough to be considered functionally literate.
46 and 51 % of American adults have an income well below the individual threshold poverty level because of their inability to read.
How Illiteracy Affects Society
3 out of 5 people in an American prison can't read.
85 % of juvenile offenders have problems reading.
Approximately 50 % of Americans read so poorly that they are unable to perform simple tasks such as balancing a checkbook and reading prescription drug labels.
To determine how many prison beds will be needed in future years, some states actually base part of their projection on how well current elementary students are performing on reading tests.
How Illiteracy Costs Taxpayers
Illiteracy costs American taxpayers an estimated $20 billion each year.
Illiteracy has been proven to cause children to drop out of school. Dropouts cost our nation $240 billion in social service expenditures and lost tax revenues.
High Schools Producing the Most Dropouts Identified
from John Hopkins report: "Locating the Dropout Crisis"
Graduation is hardly a given for freshmen in 2,000 of America's public high schools, according to a new study by researchers at the Center for Social Organization of Schools at The Johns Hopkins University.
Using data compiled by the National Center for Education Statistics, researchers Robert Balfanz and Nettie Legters measured the "promoting power" of 10,000 regular and vocational high schools that enroll more than 300 students. They compared the number of freshmen in each school to the number of seniors there four years later.
The results gathered in their report, "Locating the Dropout Crisis," are troubling. They indicate that the dropout crisis is fueled by the 20 percent of high schools in which graduation is not the norm. These schools have "weak promoting power," or 40 percent or fewer seniors than the number of freshmen they enrolled four years earlier. Nearly half of the country's African American students and two out of five Latino students attend one of these "dropout factories," compared with just 11 percent of America's white students, the researchers said.
The study found that the high schools producing the largest number of dropouts are concentrated in 50 large and medium-sized cites and 10 southern and southwestern states. The study presents tables showing the number and concentration of high schools with weak promoting power by state (broken down by locale and minority concentration) and for the nation's 100 largest cities.
from John Hopkins report: "Locating the Dropout Crisis"
Graduation is hardly a given for freshmen in 2,000 of America's public high schools, according to a new study by researchers at the Center for Social Organization of Schools at The Johns Hopkins University.
Using data compiled by the National Center for Education Statistics, researchers Robert Balfanz and Nettie Legters measured the "promoting power" of 10,000 regular and vocational high schools that enroll more than 300 students. They compared the number of freshmen in each school to the number of seniors there four years later.
The results gathered in their report, "Locating the Dropout Crisis," are troubling. They indicate that the dropout crisis is fueled by the 20 percent of high schools in which graduation is not the norm. These schools have "weak promoting power," or 40 percent or fewer seniors than the number of freshmen they enrolled four years earlier. Nearly half of the country's African American students and two out of five Latino students attend one of these "dropout factories," compared with just 11 percent of America's white students, the researchers said.
The study found that the high schools producing the largest number of dropouts are concentrated in 50 large and medium-sized cites and 10 southern and southwestern states. The study presents tables showing the number and concentration of high schools with weak promoting power by state (broken down by locale and minority concentration) and for the nation's 100 largest cities.
an Associated Press map @
Read On @ Your Local Library: CalCat or WorldCat
The Won't Learners: an answer to their cry
by Darlene Leiding.
Scarecrow Press, 2002
Dropouts in America: Confronting the Graduation Rate Crisis
by Gary Orfield (Editor)
Harvard Education Publishing Group, 2004
Last Dropout: Stop the Epidemic!
by Bill Milliken
Hay House, Inc., 2007
Educating the Net Generation: How to Engage Students in the 21st Century
by Bob Pletka
Santa Monica Press, 2007
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