What
is functional illiteracy?
Functional illiteracy
refers to the inability of an individual to read, write, speak,
or compute in everyday life situations. A functionally illiterate
adult cannot fill out an employment application, write a check,
follow written instructions, or read a newspaper.
What is the cause of illiteracy?
There
is no one cause of illiteracy.
Reading
difficulties (in most children according to Children of the
Code) have four causes. One is the code, the process of assigning
meaning to arbitrary symbols, the written word. Th is code can
be confusing in any language. English, especially , is full of
inconsistencies and rules that apply only part of the time.
The other
three causes include a child’s readiness to read, how well instruction
adapts to a child's level of readiness and the child's emotional
response to these three things. M any other factors , such as
disabilities, parent involvement and incompetent instruction ,
contribute to and exacerbate these issues.
The bottom
line is: a large number of children are getting through school
without learning how to read, resulting in a large, growing number
of adults who can’t read.
At Literacy
Volunteers of Tucson we believe that everyone should have a chance
to learn to read, write and /or speak English. We take adult
learners where they are and find ways to help them learn It isn’t
always easy. Adults are subject to the same challenges they
faced as children – and more. But with understanding, encouragement
and personalized instruction that addresses their goals, our students
are able to learn, and many of their lives are transformed.
What
is the scope of illiteracy?
According to the 2005
National Assessment of Adult
Literacy (NAAL), the
reading ability of 14%, or 30 million, adults is Below Basic;
29%, or 63 million, are at the Basic level. Taken together, 43% of the population can’t read a newspaper article and answer questions
about it. They can’t fill out an application, read a food label
or read a simple story to a child.
Only
13% of adults are considered proficient, which means they can
read information from two different sources and compare, analyze
and extrapolate the information to form a conclusion.
What
this means is: Only 13% of the population can read information
about the health care strategies offered by the various candidates
for President of the United States and can then decide which plan
they favor.
Among
young adults, illiteracy is increasing.
Is there a typical illiterate adult?
The
inability to read, write or speak English cannot be predicted
by age, race or economic status. However, the literacy level of
the primary caregiver, usually the mother, is the most valid predictor
of a child’s success in school.
Age %
Illiterate Where Illiteracy
Occurs %
20-39
40%
Suburbs
51%
40-59
28%
City
41%
60
and up 32% Rural
8%
What
is the impact of illiteracy?
While
illiteracy is an unseen problem, it profoundly impacts our society.
U.S. Department of Education statistics reveal :
- 60% of prison inmates are illiterate
- 85% of all juvenile offenders
have reading problems.
Illiteracy
leads to
- low self-esteem
- unemployment
- poverty
and
- crime.
And
it perpetuates itself.
Cycle
of illiteracy
The
Arizona Community Foundation released two reports in 2008:
Educating
Arizona: Assessing Our Education System (Birth -
Grade 12) and Building
Our Foundation: Assessing Early Care and Education
in Arizona.
They
show that students from low-income homes, that is, those that
qualify for federal free or reduced lunch programs, perform at
a level 20% to 30% below students from middle-income families.
And once "these students start to fall behind, in the third
or fourth grade, they tend not to catch up," said ACF president
and CEO Robert King.
Literacy
empowers people to better their lives and the lives of their families
and our communities.
What
we have found is that, upon achieving their initial goal, students
set new, more challenging goals. Not only do they read to their
child, they read to their child’s class, help their child with
homework and communicate more regularly with their child’s teacher.
The education of their children becomes a priority in their lives,
which breaks the cycle of illiteracy. At work they experience
newly found longevity in the job and frequently get a promotion.
The
impact of one person’s learning to read, write and speak English
is felt by the family and community for generations.
