Welcome to the Solution to English Illiteracy.
The Desperately Needed Idea Whose Time Has Come.








Are We having a U.S. literacy crisis?
Accept the challenge of these 18 questions
to check your literacy awareness.


Your Name:

1. According to statistics on front page newspaper articles on September 9, 1993, reporting on "the most comprehensive literacy study ever done by the U.S. government,"—a $14 million, five year study involving lengthy interviews of 26,700 U.S. adults—approximately what percentage of U.S. adults "read and write so poorly that it is difficult for them to hold a decent job" [an above-poverty-level-wage job] as Mary Jordan, a writer for the Washington Post reported?

17%
27%
37%
47%

2. The U.S. adult functional literacy rate was shockingly low in 1993. How has the U.S. adult functional literacy changed since 1993?

significantly improved
slightly improved
improved in some ways, worse in other ways, no provable overall improvement

3. The study in question 1 divided the interviewees into five categories, depending upon how well they responded to material they were given to read—a test of their functional literacy. Twenty-one to 23 percent of the interviewees, equivalent to 40 to 44 million U.S. adults, were Level 1, the lowest competency level. Was the below-poverty-level-wage jobs in question 1 for Level 1 adults slightly below or significantly below poverty level? In 1993, according to U.S. census figures, the poverty threshold level for an individual was $7363 per year. What was the average yearly income for Level 1 adults?

$2105
$3105
$4105
$5105
$6105

4. Twenty-five to 28% of the interviewees in queston 1, equivalent to 50 million U.S. adults, were Level 2 competency. Was the below-poverty-level-wage jobs in question 1 for Level 2 adults slightly below or significantly below poverty level? (As stated in question 3, according to U.S. census figures, the 1993 poverty threshold level for an individual was $7363 per year.) What was the average yearly income for Level 2 adults?

$3225
$4225
$5225
$6225
$7225


5. Skeptics will claim that a study can prove almost anything if you sample incorrectly. Which—if any—of the following groups were oversampled in the study in question 1 to make functional illiteracy seem much worse than it really is?

people too old to work
immigrants who do not speak English well
people who cannot work full-time because of physical or mental handicaps
all of the above
none of the above

6. In a 1998 study of job applicants to major U.S. firms by the American Management Association, what percentage of applicants "lacked sufficient reading and math skills to do the job they sought"?

16%
26%
36%
46%

7. According to the most extensive and statistically accurate study of U.S. adult literacy ever commissioned by the federal government, at least what percentage of employees in U.S. businesses is functionally illiterate?

10%
20%
30%
40%
50%

8. The average U.S. taxpayer pays at least what amount each year for (1) taxes for government programs that illiterates use, (2) taxes to pay for police, court, and jail or prison costs directly related to truancy, juvenile delinquency, or crimes committed by illiterates, and (3) increased costs for consumer goods because of the cost of recruiting, training in basics that should have been learned in school, prevention of mistakes and correction of mistakes and inabilities of illiterates in the U.S. work force?

$1700
$2700
$3700
$4700

9. An October 28-31, 1998, poll by Pew Research Center asked the importance of various national issues to those polled. More people chose education as "very important" than any other national issue. What percentage of people named education as "very important"?

58%
68%
78%
88%

10. What was the ranking (1st being best and 21st being worst) of the U.S. in international competition with 20 other nations in science and math as reported in newspapers on February 25, 1998?

1st
7th
13th
19th

11. U.S. Department of Education figures from December 1995 show that what percentage of inmates in U.S. prisons are functionally illiterate?

45%
55%
65%
75%

12. In a July 5, 1990 report in The Washington Times, Albert Shanker, President, American Federation of Teachers, is quoted as saying that what percentage of "the kids who go to college in the United States would not be admitted to college anywhere else in the world."?

65%
75%
85%
95%

13. According to a Washington Post article on Nov. 25, 1982 and a Foundation News report, Jan./Feb. 1983, what was the U.S. literacy ranking among the 158 nations of the U.N. (in 1983)? (The "Supporting Facts and the Sources of Information," which follows, shows a more recent comparison of worldwide literacy—facts hard to put into question form.)

9th
19th
29th
39th
49th

14. According to Carmen Hunter's and David Harman's book, Adult Literacy in the United States, published in 1985, what percentage of adult illiterates complete enough training after leaving elementary or high school to achieve the equivalent of eighth grade or higher reading ability?

0.6%
1.6%
11.6%
21.6%
31.6%

15. According to a February 21, 1988 newspaper report, the number of functionally illiterate adults is growing by how many every year?

1 million
1.5 million
2 million
2.5 million
3 or more million

16. Frank Laubach taught adults to read in 300 languages. He found that in 295 languages other than English (98% of them), his students could learn to read fluently in what period of time?

less than 3 months
less than 6 months
less than 9 months
less than 12 months
less than 24 months

17. What is the average amount of time required for most of those who learn to read well enough in U.S. schools to become functionally literate?

3 to 6 months
6 to 9 monthsk
9 to 12 months
1 to 1-1/2 years
1-1/2 to 2 years
2 to 4 years

18. Following the April 6, 1983 Nation At Risk report there "was a movement to raise standards, improve schools and hold educators and students accountable for academic performance" according to Fredreka Schouten of Gannet News Service. Ms. Schouten studied the results of twenty years of improvement effort following the Nation At Risk report. Her study was reported in newspapers on April 20, 2003. The following is a list of items that she may or may not have included in her report.

1. More than one third of college freshmen and sophomores in the 1999-2000 school year had taken at least one remedial class in college.

2. Reading scores of 9-year-olds are flat (essentially unchanged since 1983).

3. High school seniors recently ranked near the bottom in a 23 nation comparison of math and science scores.

4. Almost 60% of high school seniors scored below basic levels in recent U.S. history tests.

5. Average scores on the verbal portion of SAT college entrance tests were 503 in 1983 and 504 in 2002.

6. Average ACT college entrance tests were 19.9 in 1983 and 20.5 in 2002.

7. Manufacturers recently claimed that about half of their employee training costs are for remedial work.

8. Seventy-eight percent of high school teachers presently believe high school graduates have the skills needed to succeed in the workplace.

9. Forty-one percent of employers presently believe high school graduates have the skills they need to succeed in the workplace.

10. Forty-seven percent of college professors believe high school graduates are ready for college.

How many of these items were included in her report?

only some of them
all of them, but some results are exaggerated or wrong
all of them, exactly as she reported