American Literacy Rates

Sat Apr 19 17:05:43 UTC 2008

Well, see
http://www.sltrib.com/midvalley/ci_8877834 and

http://nuenglish.org/1-en-Testimonials.htm

Cleckler turns out to be another spelling-reform nut, peddling a book that he 
has worked on for 23 years (or is it half a century?), and which is designed 
to cure the "illiteracy problem" (sound familiar)? 

Note that no source is given for verifying the methodology or accuracy of the 
study reported below. The website incidated (
http://www.jff.org/pressreleases/nelliemae.htm) does not exist, according to my web browser. The idea that 96% 
of Americans in the 1880s were literate at the same level as today seems very 
unlikely. For one thing, there were still a huge number of former slaves 
still alive in those days. Again, though, no source is given for this. But see 
Cambridge History of American Literature (2005), vol. 3, p582: "By 1880, the 
American illiteracy ratre had dropped to 17%. ..."

According to one US Government wesbite, 99% of Americans over the age of 15 
in 2003 were literate; see

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/print/us.html

Obviously, it all depends on what one means by "literacy" and how one 
interprets the figures. If you are trying to prove that American education is better 
than Cuba's you will go with the 99% figure. If you are trying to sell a book, 
the 50% figure for current American "illiteracy" is a lot more dramatic. 
Without looking at the undocumented source on which Cleckler's assertions are 
based, the 50% figure seems suspect.

In a message dated 4/17/08 10:08:54 PM, wuxxmupp2000 at YAHOO.COM writes:

> Hard for me to argue with those figures.
> 
>   JL
> 
> Tom Zurinskas <truespel at HOTMAIL.COM> wrote:
>   ---------------------- Information from the mail header 
> -----------------------
> Sender: American Dialect Society
> Poster: Tom Zurinskas
> Subject: Re: Noah Webster's American Spelling Book (UNCLASSIFIED)
> -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
> --
> 
> A lot depends on what "functional illiteracy" is. But checking my files on 
> USA literacy, I have below.
> 
> http://www.educationnews.org/An_Interview_with_Bob_Cleckler.htm
> An Interview with Bob Cleckler: About Our Literacy Crisis
> Thursday, December 15, 2005
> The most extensive study of adult illiteracy ever commissioned by the U.S. 
> government was a five-year, $14 million study involving lengthy interviews of 
> 26,700 adults, statistically balanced for age, sex, ethnicity, and 
> location-whether urban, suburban, or rural-in several states across the U.S. The study 
> proved that more than 92 million people (more than 47% of U.S. adults) cannot 
> read and write well enough to hold an above-poverty-level-wage job. This 
> study also proved that more than 40% of employees in U.S. businesses are 
> functionally illiterate.
> 
> The National Reading Panel in 2000 found that about 70% of minority fourth 
> graders were sub-par readers. The Nellie Mae Education foundation found in 
> 2002 that “About 41% of all adults in New England lack the skills they need to 
> succeed in today's knowledge-based society.” See 
> http://www.jff.org/pressreleases/nelliemae.html.
> 
> Tom Zurinskas, USA - CT20, TN3, NJ33, FL5+
> See truespel.com - and the 4 truespel books plus "Occasional Poems" at 
> authorhouse.com.
> 
> > Date: Thu, 17 Apr 2008 14:26:20 -0500
> > From: Bill.Mullins at US.ARMY.MIL
> > Subject: Re: Noah Webster's American Spelling Book (UNCLASSIFIED)
> > To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> >
> > ---------------------- Information from the mail header 
> -----------------------
> > Sender: American Dialect Society
> > Poster: "Mullins, Bill AMRDEC"
> > Subject: Re: Noah Webster's American Spelling Book (UNCLASSIFIED)
> > 
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
> > Caveats: NONE
> >
> >
> >
> >> -----Original Message-----
> >> From: American Dialect Society
> >> [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf Of Tom Zurinskas
> >> Sent: Thursday, April 17, 2008 1:48 PM
> >> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> >> Subject: Noah Webster's American Spelling Book
> >>
> >
> >>
> >> Synthetic phonics is going back to this form of phonetics
> >> first teaching. It works. It was said in the late 1800's
> >> that maybe 4 in 1,000 couldn't read. Now its about 100 times that.
> >>
> >
> >
> > You think 400 people out of a 1000 can't read? You're kidding, right?
> > Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
> > Caveats: NONE
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
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