September Is National Literacy Month
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By Cindy Cates, Exec. Dir.-
This definition illustrates the importance of literacy’s impact on society.
The National Assessment of Adult Literacy Survey breaks literacy down into four levels.
People with below basic skills can perform only the most simple and concrete literacy activities.
Adults with basic skills can perform simple and everyday literacy activities.
People with intermediate skills can perform moderately challenging literacy activities, and adults with proficient skills can perform complex and challenging literacy activities.
The survey estimates that 14 percent of adults in America are below basic in their skills, and an additional 29 percent perform at the basic skills level.
ProLiteracy, a national literacy organization, has summarized major impacts of low literacy.
The 14 percent in the below basic category translates to 30 million adults who cannot read, write or do basic math above a third grade level. In addition, more than eight million adults have dropped out of school before the eighth grade. During the past 30 years, more than 10 million Americans reached the 12th grade without learning to read at the basic level.
The link between crime and low literacy skills is well documented. In fact, more than 1.5 million people with the lowest levels of literacy are incarcerated. States that have decreased the high school dropout rate have also decreased the incarceration rates, saving money in reduced crime costs.
If the average literacy rates increased by 1 percent, the Gross Domestic Product would realize a 1.5 percent ($2.3 billion) permanent increase. Single mothers with a high school diploma are 24 percent less likely to be on welfare than single mothers who are high school dropouts. American employers spend nearly $126 billion annually on training that includes remedial reading, writing and performing basic math. Improved education has the potential of saving $10 billion in public assistance costs including welfare, food stamps and public housing expenditures. In fact, if only half of the dropouts from 2008 had graduated, billions would have been realized in additional earnings, spending, and investing ($8 billion). This additional spending and investing would have created 30,000 new jobs.
Adults with low financial literacy are more likely to have problematic credit card behavior. Adults with low health literacy tend to use the emergency room as their primary health care provider and are less likely to seek preventative care, such as flu shots and mammograms. The annual cost of low literacy to the healthcare system is estimated between $106 billion to $238 billion.
Unfortunately, adult illiteracy affects childhood literacy, as the following facts from ProLiteracy and First Book show.
Children of dropouts scored lower in vocabulary than children of high school graduates. On average, at age 6, children from professional families have a 20,000-word vocabulary and children from welfare families have only a 3,000-word vocabulary. In addition, children from low-income families on average score 27 points below the mean reading levels. The gap between children from low and high-income families on reading comprehension scores is more than 40 points. Parents with a high school diploma or a GED® are more likely to help their children with homework.
Kosciusko County has an estimated 5,000 adults who are below basic in reading skills. To seek literacy help, the low-literacy adult may need the encouragement of a friend, family member, co-worker or social worker.
Kosciusko Literacy Services is a nonprofit agency fostering literacy in Kosciusko County.[[In-content Ad]]
This definition illustrates the importance of literacy’s impact on society.
The National Assessment of Adult Literacy Survey breaks literacy down into four levels.
People with below basic skills can perform only the most simple and concrete literacy activities.
Adults with basic skills can perform simple and everyday literacy activities.
People with intermediate skills can perform moderately challenging literacy activities, and adults with proficient skills can perform complex and challenging literacy activities.
The survey estimates that 14 percent of adults in America are below basic in their skills, and an additional 29 percent perform at the basic skills level.
ProLiteracy, a national literacy organization, has summarized major impacts of low literacy.
The 14 percent in the below basic category translates to 30 million adults who cannot read, write or do basic math above a third grade level. In addition, more than eight million adults have dropped out of school before the eighth grade. During the past 30 years, more than 10 million Americans reached the 12th grade without learning to read at the basic level.
The link between crime and low literacy skills is well documented. In fact, more than 1.5 million people with the lowest levels of literacy are incarcerated. States that have decreased the high school dropout rate have also decreased the incarceration rates, saving money in reduced crime costs.
If the average literacy rates increased by 1 percent, the Gross Domestic Product would realize a 1.5 percent ($2.3 billion) permanent increase. Single mothers with a high school diploma are 24 percent less likely to be on welfare than single mothers who are high school dropouts. American employers spend nearly $126 billion annually on training that includes remedial reading, writing and performing basic math. Improved education has the potential of saving $10 billion in public assistance costs including welfare, food stamps and public housing expenditures. In fact, if only half of the dropouts from 2008 had graduated, billions would have been realized in additional earnings, spending, and investing ($8 billion). This additional spending and investing would have created 30,000 new jobs.
Adults with low financial literacy are more likely to have problematic credit card behavior. Adults with low health literacy tend to use the emergency room as their primary health care provider and are less likely to seek preventative care, such as flu shots and mammograms. The annual cost of low literacy to the healthcare system is estimated between $106 billion to $238 billion.
Unfortunately, adult illiteracy affects childhood literacy, as the following facts from ProLiteracy and First Book show.
Children of dropouts scored lower in vocabulary than children of high school graduates. On average, at age 6, children from professional families have a 20,000-word vocabulary and children from welfare families have only a 3,000-word vocabulary. In addition, children from low-income families on average score 27 points below the mean reading levels. The gap between children from low and high-income families on reading comprehension scores is more than 40 points. Parents with a high school diploma or a GED® are more likely to help their children with homework.
Kosciusko County has an estimated 5,000 adults who are below basic in reading skills. To seek literacy help, the low-literacy adult may need the encouragement of a friend, family member, co-worker or social worker.
Kosciusko Literacy Services is a nonprofit agency fostering literacy in Kosciusko County.[[In-content Ad]]
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