• 60% of America’s prison inmates are functionally illiterate and 85% of all juvenile offenders have reading problems.
• Approximately 50% of the nation’s unemployed youth age 16-21 are functionally illiterate, with virtually no prospects of obtaining good jobs.
• 55% of adults with below basic reading comprehension did not graduate high school.1

Reading has been the sine qua non of culture and civilization for thousands of years. The spread of literacy from the upper echelons of society to the middle and lower classes is perhaps one of the most defining characteristics of modernism. According to the United Nations, the presence of illiteracy in the world today among less-developed nations has been connected to continuing cycles of poverty, poor health, and deprivation, and makes democracy in these nations difficult or nearly impossible to achieve ¹. So, the fact that reading scores for American high school graduates are the lowest they’ve been in 40 years should cause worry.

Both the SAT and ACT scores in 2012 show poor reading levels. The SAT showed an average score that was one point lower than last year’s, and the lowest since 1972 ². Only 57% of grads who took the ACT met their benchmark for reading scores, which is much the same result as last year’s tests; in fact, the average composite score for the ACT hasn’t shown much change at all in either direction since 2008 ³. The reason these particular tests are important in evaluating high school graduates is because they’re one of the most important evaluation tools a college uses to determine whether an applicant should be admitted. As such, the tests are widely recognized by colleges as trustworthy in determining whether or not a student is ready for college-level work.

Literacy changes lives, and means much more than the ability to sit down with a novel. Consider the travel, career, school, dietary, or entertainment limitations that would be set by illiteracy in your daily routine. If you couldn’t read the bus sign, compose an email, or understand the menu at lunch, your life would be very different, wouldn’t it?

The best way to overcome illiteracy is to prevent it in the first place. Summer reading, tutors, and early cognitive testing are just a few ways schools, communities, and families can address reading problems before students get overwhelmingly behind or drop out. Although preventative measures are ideal, realistically, there are already many teens and adults who are illiterate and who — without help — are determined to continue fueling the poverty cycle.

Check out the infographic by Project Read for a closer look at the costs and progression of illiteracy in American families. What could our country’s economic, education, and professional future look like if we had more advocates for childhood, teen, and adult literacy? What can you do to help an adult or child improve their literacy skills?

^{1″Literacy vital for beating poverty and disease and reinforcing stability.” 11 September 2011. United Nations News Centre. Accessed on 15 November 2012. http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=39485&Cr=literacy&Cr1#.UKU3jeOe_Bo}

^{2″SAT reading scores hit a four-decade low” by Lyndsey Layton and Emma Brown. 24 September 2012. The Washington Post. Accessed on 15 November 2012. http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/sat-reading-scores-hit-a-four-decade-low/2012/09/24/7ec9cb1e-0643-11e2-afff-d6c7f20a83bf_story.html}

^{3″ACT Takers Make Small Gains in College Readiness, Report Says,” by Timothy Sandoval. 22 August 2012. The Chronicle of Higher Education. 15 November 2012. http://chronicle.com/article/ACT-Takers-Make-Small-Gains-in/133902/?cid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en}

The achievement gap is not an invisible problem. It is one that we can see and one that can be eliminated if we take action. Every summer underprivileged students who don’t have the means for learning resources or experiences will get set behind their more affluent peers. They also are more likely to return to a home environment every day that is not conducive to learning. Low-income families may have illiterate parents, no or limited access to technology, and a lack of literature — all influences that keep the poverty cycle going and the achievement gap strong.

Second and third-grade teacher Justin Minkel teaches to a class of 25 students, 24 of which are at the poverty level and 20 are English language learners. He recently wrote an article for Education Week where he uses his student, Melinda, as an example of how books can change a student’s life. Melinda had one book at home, was abused as a very young child, lives in poverty, and has a mother who is illiterate in English and Spanish. Today, thanks to Minkel, she has a library of 40 books. Over the last two years, she’s also gone from a kindergarten reading level to a 4th grade reading level.

Minkel attacked illiteracy in his classroom with “The 1,000 Books Project.” Each of the 25 students in his 2nd and 3rd grade classes received 3 books a month, which by the end of their two years created a library of 40 books in each student’s home, or 1,000 books in total. Scholastic took care of half the books and Minkel, alongside individuals and organizations, purchased the other half.

He calls his project “simple.” Children had home libraries “ranging from a cardboard box decorated with stickers to a wooden bookcase.” Supplies also only cost $50 per child per year. The results, however, were extraordinary. Students’ language skills improved, their reading scores soared above state expectations, and members of their families became more literate by association.

At LifeBound, we believe providing students with learning resources is key to closing the achievement gap and are working with our partners this summer to bring books to those in need. At La Casa/Quigg Newton Family Center, families are getting our book Study Skills for High School Students to be read by middle school and high school students alongside their parents. Including parents in the learning experience opens up many more opportunities for each family’s future. LifeBound is also launching a summer reading program with the Omaha Public Library this summer to get books in the hands of  1,000 students who otherwise will approach a summer without learning resources that keep their brains engaged and ready to start the next school year strong.

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Sources

“The Home Library Effect: Transforming At-Risk Readers,” by Justin Minkel. 12 June 2012. Education Week. Accessed on 14 June 2012. http://www.edweek.org/tm/articles/2012/06/12/tln_minkel.html?tkn=RNCCFBZesMUu%2FHLFXuXie61FaxwpDAC5G9Cd&cmp=clp-sb-ascd

Summer vacation will be here before we know it, and while it is an exciting time for students to take a break from academia, it is also where students experience the largest learning losses. No student is safe from summer learning losses if their brains aren’t kept active throughout the summer months. However, students in lower-income families are generally at a much higher risk to suffer from learning losses which continues to increase the achievement gap between lower and higher income youth.

According to the National Summer Learning Association:

• More than half of the achievement gap between lower- and higher-income youth can be explained by unequal access to summer learning opportunities. As a result, low-income youth are less likely to graduate from high school or enter college (Alexander et al, 2007).
• Parents consistently cite summer as the most difficult time to ensure that their children have productive things to do (Duffett et al, 2004).

This week, the Campaign for Grade-Level Reading announced more than 100 communities across the country pledged to improve literacy among early learners. This national campaign hopes to close the reading achievement gap by addressing the top issues that keep underserved students from reaching their full potential. The four topics the campaign will focus on are:

• Chronic Absence
• School Readiness
• Summer Learning Loss
• Parent Engagement