US Born Adults :: Largest % With Low English Literacy via Air

NCES Data Point: Adult English Literacy in the United States

AIR: 7.11.2019

The ability to read and understand basic texts is vital in modern society. Though many adults take this skill for granted, it has a deep impact on an individual’s ability to participate in society, achieve his or her goals, and fully develop their knowledge and potential.

A National Center for Education Statistics Data Point shows that one in five adults in the United States have low English literacy skills, meaning that they would have difficulty understanding, evaluating, using, or engaging with written texts. On a practical level, this means that they might struggle to compare and contrast, paraphrase, or make low-level inferences. Of the 43 million adults in the U.S. with low English literacy skills, two-thirds of them were born in the U.S.  READ MORE >>

Literacy Reports & Statistics

Adult

2019: Adult Literacy in the United States, NCES 2019-179

2013: OECD Skills Outlook 2013: First Results from the Survey of Adult Skills, OECD

2009: Literacy of America's Least Literate Adults, NAAL 2003

2006: Literacy of America's College Students, AIR

2007: Literacy in Everyday Life, NAAL 2003

2003: National Assessment of Adult Literacy, NAAL

2000: Programs for Adults in Public Library Outlets, USDE, NCES

1992: National Adult Literacy Survey, NALS

Automatic Readability Checker

Based on (7) readability formulas:

Grade Level: 10

Reading Level: fairly difficult to read.

Reader's Age: 14-15 yrs. old

(Ninth to Tenth graders)