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14 Percent of U.S. Adults Can't Read
Live Science ^ | 01/10/09 | Robert Roy Britt

Posted on 01/11/2009 8:12:31 AM PST by presidio9

About 14 percent of U.S. adults won't be reading this article. Well, okay, most people won't read it, given all the words that are published these days to help us understand and navigate the increasingly complex world.

But about 1 in 7 can't read it. They're illiterate.

Statistics released by the U.S. Education Department this week show that some 32 million U.S. adults lack basic prose literacy skill. That means they can't read a newspaper or the instruction on a bottle of pills.

The figures are for 2003, the latest year available. State and county results are available here.

"The crisis of adult literacy is getting worse, and investment in education and support programs is critical," said David C. Harvey, president and CEO of ProLiteracy, in response to the finding.

This is about jobs and the economy, Harvey said.

"More than 1 million people lost their jobs in 2008 and the new unemployment figures are the highest in 16 years," Harvey said. "A large number of the unemployed are low-skilled individuals who struggle with everyday reading, writing and math tasks. The administration wants to create new jobs

(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Extended News; Miscellaneous
KEYWORDS: literacy; lol; obamavoters
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To: WellyP

“Please break that number down a little and add catagories for inner-city blacks and illegal immigrants!”

No,no,no! We can’t do that. It might reveal too much.


101 posted on 01/11/2009 10:15:12 AM PST by EEDUDE
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To: wintertime

That’s a rather curious omission, isn’t it? And, yes, knowing the precentages of men vs women would be interesting.


102 posted on 01/11/2009 10:23:56 AM PST by citizen (Fascism: All persons, capital & activities exist to support the will & best interests of the State.)
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To: Raycpa
Level Five - determining the total cost of carpet to cover a room, using a calculator.
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That is level **Five**!! Using a calculator?

This is really very basic math. I conclude that those on the lower levels are seriously handicapped.

I have story:

My daughter and I went to JoAnn Fabrics to buy fabric for a christening dress. The outfit had a cape, dress, cap, and various mix and match patten pieces.

We took the fabric to the counter, and I was able to add ( mentally) all the fractions of all those various pieces and had the correct answer faster than the sale clerk could punch it into her calculator. She was definitely surprised.

My daughter can do the same thing to because I taught her.

103 posted on 01/11/2009 10:28:58 AM PST by wintertime (Good ideas win! Why? Because people are NOT stupid)
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To: Sacajaweau

Require a reading course similar to a GED for VOTERS.
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How many **teachers** could pass, it they were challenged to take it next month? I bet the math section will knock out a lot of them.


104 posted on 01/11/2009 10:36:44 AM PST by wintertime (Good ideas win! Why? Because people are NOT stupid)
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To: CindyDawg

I used to jump rope to that rhyme. :-)


105 posted on 01/11/2009 10:41:49 AM PST by wintertime (Good ideas win! Why? Because people are NOT stupid)
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To: CindyDawg
Like my son, I think many fall through the cracks. These kids may not be able to read but many are very smart and are good at hiding their disability. It’s much better to get labeled as a trouble maker than have people know that you don’t understand what you are reading.

That's very true, and I don't think we do enough diagnosis and remediation, particularly in the early grades.

On the other hand, no one knows your child like you do -- and if all the teacher sees is the "troublemaker" side, sometimes it's hard to know there is something else there, particularly if the teacher isn't very experienced and/or has a large class with several "troublemakers."

Also, sometimes the paperwork requirements at the school level are such that the child has to fail drastically before schools can even begin testing for dyslexia, etc. Unless the parent forces the issue or has testing done privately, it takes a long time for the school systems I'm familiar with to act.

106 posted on 01/11/2009 11:00:45 AM PST by Amelia
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To: wintertime
Since we can't help **all** of the disadvantaged students, then we should subject **all** of student to a model of schooling that seems to produce results only for functional families.

Nice deflection. I asked you what model would work for dysfunctional families where the parents refuse to take responsibility - how do you make parents accountable?

Of course, our current model of schooling was designed when a much larger proportion of families were functional. The current breakdown of the family is causing problems in many areas, not just the schools.

107 posted on 01/11/2009 11:05:20 AM PST by Amelia
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To: presidio9

For some reason this doesn’t make any sense. Unless you’re new to the country, I see little reason to be so dumb.

Maybe I should have READ the article....nah....haha


108 posted on 01/11/2009 1:16:32 PM PST by Rick_Michael (Have no fear "Senator Government" is here)
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To: Flycatcher

Actually, I agree. It’s got a nicer rythm. Plus, it sounds less ungood.


109 posted on 01/11/2009 1:34:03 PM PST by yazoo
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To: presidio9

1 in 7 can’t read “words”, but I suspect 3 in 7 can’t comprehend most reading.


110 posted on 01/11/2009 2:32:58 PM PST by Theodore R. (GWB is neither "compassionate nor conservative.")
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To: presidio9
There seem to be plenty of people who read well and have university degrees and talk smartly but have no grasp of the essentials of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

I met a kid the other day who has degree in philosophy, pursuing a masters in social work, very proudly proclaiming that he is a "community organizer."

I asked him to explain what a community organizer does and lo if he didn't sound like Obama when the teleprompter's on the fritz. Here's this kid lecturing me on Augustine's proofs of God's existence in one breath and yapping about "goin' into communities and helpin' 'em find out how to fix their problems" in another.

By the time I was his age, I had long outgrown fantasies like that.

111 posted on 01/11/2009 3:17:08 PM PST by the invisib1e hand (revolution is in the air.)
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To: Vermont Lt
OK, lets write funny things about them. They will never look here!

Since I have never been a 13 year-old girl, I have made a point of never once posting "LOL" in the ten years that I have been coming to FR.

I almost made an exception in this case, because it was justified.

112 posted on 01/11/2009 3:28:40 PM PST by presidio9 (Islam Is As Islam Does)
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To: Amelia
Nice deflection. I asked you what model would work for dysfunctional families where the parents refuse to take responsibility - how do you make parents accountable?

Possibly these parents would be agreeable to a boarding school.

It is **impossible** to expect 100% when working with real people. The **rational** goal is to reach as many as possible. Clearly our current system of government schools presents a of model of teaching that is an utter failure for too many.

Although we do see success with the government school model with functional families to apply this to children from dysfunctional homes, and then when they fail, blame the parents is absurd in the extreme.

Also, I contend that academically successful institutionalized children are essentially 99% "afterschooled", it could be that the government school model may actually be retarding the academic and social development of children from good homes.

Only in a private system of schooling can there be the flexibility and innovation to maximize results.

113 posted on 01/11/2009 3:41:37 PM PST by wintertime (Good ideas win! Why? Because people are NOT stupid)
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To: Amelia

By the way, Amelia, you haven’t been around in a while. It’s nice to have you back.


114 posted on 01/11/2009 3:43:05 PM PST by wintertime (Good ideas win! Why? Because people are NOT stupid)
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To: Amelia
Also, sometimes the paperwork requirements at the school level are such that the child has to fail drastically before schools can even begin testing for dyslexia, etc. Unless the parent forces the issue or has testing done privately, it takes a long time for the school systems I'm familiar with to act.

When my son was in first grade, the principal and teacher absolutely refused to adapt the curriculum for my son. He was doing 3rd grade math and reading on the fourth grade level. When I asked the principal about this, he shuffled his feet some, squirmed in his chair, and said, " Maybe we could have him tested in the summer, but I highest priority for testing goes to those with problems." ( Summer was a good 6 months away)>

What a worm! Teachers whine and cry about parental involvement but certainly they don't want parents involved in anything **important**.

I removed him from school. Hey! we were already homeschooling before school anyway, along with his wasting his time in school and one first grade work he had mastered a few years earlier.

115 posted on 01/11/2009 3:53:18 PM PST by wintertime (Good ideas win! Why? Because people are NOT stupid)
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To: Amelia

The current breakdown of the family is causing problems in many areas, not just the schools.
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The problem is the government schools are attempting to apply a method of teaching that will not work. Then when the child doesn’t fit the model the teachers blame the kid and his parents. ( Such as you have just done.)


116 posted on 01/11/2009 3:55:16 PM PST by wintertime (Good ideas win! Why? Because people are NOT stupid)
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To: Mad Dawg

This is no lie. I live in the Redneck Riviera, or thats what they call it. Pensacola.


117 posted on 01/11/2009 4:27:43 PM PST by ritewingwarrior (Just say No to socialism.)
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To: presidio9

Hey, but they can write! So what that they can’t tell the difference between “its” and “it’s”, between “your” and “you’re”, between “affect” and “effect”? As long as they have opinions, and who doesn’t, they can express their illiteracy right here!


118 posted on 01/11/2009 4:30:58 PM PST by Revolting cat! (After all is said and done I'm goodier goodier than you!)
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To: napscoordinator

You need to investigate who the winners are in the last ten years in the national spelling bees. And who comes in second third. I’ll put home school children up against private or public school any day.It’s like running Ferrari’s against Yugo’s, you know who’s going to win.Why do you think the the NEA tried to stop the home school children from competing in the spelling bees.


119 posted on 01/11/2009 4:49:34 PM PST by xero
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To: ritewingwarrior
Well, though born in Indiana and drug up in Noo Yawk, I have been in the souf so long that I can't speak authoritatively about the comparative innerleckshual and general knowledge level of the norf and the souf.

I guess I've been fortunate in the Southerners I hang out with. It's hard for me to believe that some kid going to school in Southie knows a whole lot more than some kid going to school in, say, rural Appomattox County Virginia.

120 posted on 01/11/2009 5:43:18 PM PST by Mad Dawg (Oh Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee.)
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