I do advocate free tuition through junior college. I also advocate that students graduate from high school able to read at a 12th-grade level. However, research proves that over half of American adults (54%) read below a sixth-grade level.
If over half of Americans do not take advantage of a free public education and emerge literate, what is wrong? What do Andorra, Luxembourg, Norway and Liechtenstein — with nearly 100% literacy rates — do that we do not?
Mississippi has the fourth-lowest literacy rate in the United States. Mississippi’s poverty rate is 19.6%, the highest in the nation. There is a correlation there.
There are people who cannot read road signs, prescription labels, forms such as medical, employment or instructional workplace documents, notices from their child’s school or even their mail.
The average American reads at a 7th or 8th grade level, according to The Literacy Project. That lack of reading ability precludes the doctor-lawyer-Indian chief occupations.
Those Americans can get entry-level jobs. They can work at manufacturing jobs but probably would not be able to move up to supervisory or administrative positions. They can work at fast-food restaurants. They are mostly limited to jobs in the service industry.
Being a carpenter or plumber or mechanic requires a certain mathematical literacy, and, statistically, math scores in America are falling. In most studies, the United States ranks about 36th of the 79 developed nations. LPNs, physical therapists, mechanics, and many other occupations depend on knowledge of mathematics.
A young man with whom I recently debated the value of education is not alone in his low opinion of the importance of reading and writing. I would venture to guess that at least half of the students that I have taught in my career would agree with him. It is very difficult to motivate schoolchildren who do not “buy into education.”
Many of them have parents or other family members who had bad experiences in school. Still others live in generational poverty and their families rely on transfer payments (Social Security, welfare, disability) rather than on income from a job. Some have learning disabilities that make reading and math difficult. None of those excuses make getting an education impossible, just a little more work.
My mother dropped out of high school because she was pregnant with me. My father only had a high school education and worked at Ford; however, he did move up in the organization because of his willingness to learn.
Because the UAW went on strike every three years, we were on and off welfare and in and out of projects. But, there were expectations for us to do well in school.
Teachers only teach reading through the third grade. That is why the third-grade Reading Gate test is so important. If a child is not reading on grade level before he or she enters fourth grade, they will not generally be taught to read in class after that.
They will learn reading strategies and how to find main ideas. They will learn figurative language and story elements. They will learn about suffixes, inflectional endings, and Greek and Latin prefixes. The saying goes that in kindergarten through third students learn to read; after that, they read to learn.
Therefore, parents must stress how important reading is and strongly encourage their children to read. Again, my favorite Frank Smith quote is: “You learn to read by reading. The more you read the better you read; the better you read, the more you read. America needs to read more.
