Literacy in Michigan City

Shame, Frustration, Fear. About 700,000 adults in Indiana cannot read these words......but they feel those emotions everyday. After telling her daughter, Alicia, that she was too busy to help her with the homework she brought home from school, Connie felt ashamed for lying to her child; she wasn’t all that busy, but she just couldn’t bring herself to tell her daughter that she couldn’t read.

Robert claimed that his vision was impaired, so he couldn't read the instructions on his prescription bottle. His wife noted his frustration, but she didn't tell him that she knew the real problem was that he couldn't read.

Claudia's friends often commented that she always ordered whatever they did when they went out to lunch. They were unaware that she couldn't read the menu.

Larry's boss asked him to pick up some equipment from a shop on Delaney Street on the east side of town. After nearly an hour of searching for the street, Larry finally asked directions from a man at a service station. “Just tell me how many blocks to go…I'll never remember street names,” Larry said. His memory wasn't the problem. Larry couldn't read the street signs.

Mike had worked at the same job for years, but after a reduction in the work force, he had to look for a new job. His supervisor at the old place had been a long-time friend, so Mike hadn't had to complete an application form to get hired. Three weeks after losing his job, Mike still hadn't begun looking for a new job, and his wife was becoming concerned about their financial future. She thought Mike was depressed. The real problem was that Mike couldn't read and was afraid that he wouldn't be able complete a job application.

Alicia sits in the back row of her class. She often forgets her book, doesn't read her assignments, and says the class is boring. Her expression tells the teacher, “don't call on me. I'm invisible.” Alicia isn't invisible. She just can't read.

In its 1991 National Literacy Act, Congress defined literacy as:
An individual's ability to read, write, and speak in English, and compute and solve problems at levels of proficiency necessary to function on the job and in society, to achieve one's goals, and develop one's knowledge and potential.

If you think low literacy doesn't affect you - think again. Low literacy skills cost our nation $225 billion each year - in workplace accidents, lower productivity and lost tax revenue. As parents, poor readers are more likely to raise children who become poor readers themselves. That may explain why 40% of school children in Indiana recently failed the State Board of Education's essential skills test.

The National Institute for Literacy conducted assessments of literacy skills in adults, and their recent findings were that 50% of those tested read below (levels 1 & 2) the national average of literacy, 32% read at the national average (level 3), and only 18% read above the national average of literacy skills (levels 4 & 5).

Skills of Adults at Level 1
The impact of low literacy:

Poverty: 43% of adults at Level 1 were living in poverty, compared to 4% of those at Level 5.

Welfare: The likelihood of being on welfare goes up as literacy levels go down. Three out of four food stamp recipients performed in the two lowest literacy levels

Income: Adults at Level 1 earned a median income of $240 per week, compared to $681 for those at Level 5.

Employment Status: Adults at Level 1 worked an average of 19 weeks per year, compared to 44 weeks per year for those at Level 5.

Crime: Seven in 10 prisoners performed in the lowest two literacy levels.

All of us can and should be doing much more to address our nation's literacy needs. Nationally, fewer than 10 percent of adults who could benefit from literacy programs are currently being served.

Without an education, people are in serious trouble. Everything moves more quickly today than it did in years or decades past, and without an education you will be moving nowhere.

When you cannot read, it is difficult to use a phone book, complete a job application, understand street signs, or help your child with homework. When a community's citizens cannot read, the challenge of bringing new businesses to the community is even greater. The ability to read and to understand information is crucial to both individual and community success.

FACTS ABOUT LITERACY

The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) 2000 national reading assessment of fourth-grade students found that reading for fun had a positive relationship to performance on the NAEP reading scores. The 87% of students who reported reading for fun on their own time once a month or more performed at the Proficient level, while students who never or hardly ever read for fun performed at the Basic level. Students who read for fun every day scored the highest.

The Early Childhood Longitudinal Study assessed children's reading skills as they entered kindergarten in the fall of 1998, kindergarten in the spring of 1999, and first grade in spring 2000. They found that at the start of kindergarten in the fall:

• 67% had letter recognition skills; this increased to 95% of children in the spring of their kindergarten year, and 100% by the spring of their first grade year


• 31% could understand the letter-sound relationship at the beginning of words, this increased to 74% of children in the spring of their kindergarten year, and 98% by the spring of their first grade year


• 18% could understand the letter-sound relationship at the end of words; this increased to 54% of children in the spring of their kindergarten year, and 94% by the spring of their first grade year


• 3% had sight-word recognition skills; this increased to 14% of children in the spring of their kindergarten year, and 83% by the spring of their first grade year


• 1% could understand words in context; this increased to 4% of children in the spring of their kindergarten year, and 48% by the spring of their first grade year

According to the 1999 National Household Education Survey, 50% of the population aged 25 and over read a newspaper at least once a week, read one or more magazines regularly, and had read a book in the past 6 months.

The Early Childhood Longitudinal Study found that of the children who were read to at least three times a week as they entered kindergarten:

• 76% had mastered the letter-sound relationship at the beginning of words, compared to 64% of children who were read to fewer than 3 times a week


• 57% had mastered the letter-sound relationship at the end of words, compared to 43% who were read to fewer than 3 times a week


• 15% had sight-word recognition skills, compared to 8% who were read to fewer than3 times a week


• 5% could understand words in context, compared to 2% who were read to fewer than3 times a week.

In a 1993-94 study conducted at two public hospitals, 23.6% of patients with inadequate functional health literacy did not know how to take medication four times a day compared to 9.4% with marginal functional health literacy, and 4.5% with adequate functional health literacy.

A number of national and state organizations in the U.S., including the National Governor's Association, have identified Level 3 proficiency as a minimum standard for success in today's labor market. Findings from the International Institute for Literacy assessment indicate that only half of the U.S. adult population 16-65 years of age reached Level 3.

The 2001 American Management Association Survey on Workplace Testing found the following:

• 34.1% of applicants tested by respondent firms lacked the basic skills necessary to perform the jobs they sought in 2000


• 84.6% of the respondent firms did not hire skill-deficient applicants


• 3.5% hired skill deficient applicants and assigned them to obligatory remedial training


• 3% hired them and offered voluntary remedial training


• 8.2% took other action.

The National Center on the Educational Quality of the Workforce found that productivity increases in the manufacturing sector for each of the following factors:

• 10% increase in the average education of all workers* is associated with an increase of 8.6% in productivity


• A 10% increase in hours worked results in an increase of 5.6% in productivity


• And a 10% increase in capital stock results in an increase of 3.4% productivity.

*Equivalent to slightly more than one additional year of schooling.

In the 1992 National Adult Literacy Survey

• 31% of welfare women had minimal skills (similar to high school dropouts/NALS Level 1), compared to 13% of non-welfare women


• 37% had basic skills (similar to below average high school graduates/NALS Level 2), compared to 25% of non-welfare women
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• 25% had competent skills (similar to people with some postsecondary education/NALS Level 3), compared to 37% of non-welfare women


• 7% had advanced/superior skills (similar to people with a bachelor's degree or more/NALS Level 4/5), compared to 25% of non-welfare women.

How Literacy Levels Affect Income In 1992, with the exception of persons without a high school diploma or GED, annual earnings rose continuously across the literacy levels. The mean annual earnings of the employed population with less than 12 years of education were: $8,580 at Level 1 $9,320 at Level 2 $10,360 at Level 3 $12,420 at Level 4 The mean annual earnings of the employed population with a high-school diploma were: $14,570 at Level 1 $15,880 at Level 2 $17,530 at Level 3 $19,300 at Level 4. The mean annual earnings of the employed population with some postsecondary education were: $17,120 at Level 1 $17,580 at Level 2 $19,670 at Level 3 $21,110 at Level 4 $23,020 at Level 5

The LaPorte County Literacy Council and the NW Indiana Regional Literacy Task Force are seeking volunteers to help others learn to read and compute mathematics.

The Michigan City Public Library's Literacy Center needs volunteers to work with adults and children who are learning to read and improving their reading skills. “Helping someone learn to read or to read better makes life better for the entire community,” Mayor Oberlie said. “I urge you to volunteer your skills at the Library.”

Volunteers and people of all ages who want to learn to read or to read better can call the Learning Center at 219/873-3043.

Additional Links

National Institute for Literacy
http://www.nifl.gov

Literacy Online
http://www.literacyonline.org/

The National Center for Family Literacy
http://www.famlit.org/site/c.gtJWJdMQIsE/b.1204561/k.BD7C/Home.htm

Literacy Connections
http://www.literacyconnections.com/

The Literacy Site - visit this site daily and help get FREE books to children
http://www.theliteracysite.com/cgi-bin/WebObjects/CTDSites.woa

Center for Media Literacy
http://www.medialit.org/

Literacy Center Education Network - English, Spanish, German and French Curriculum
http://www.literacycenter.net/

PBS Literacy Link - with GED Assistance
http://litlink.ket.org/begin.aspl

Literacy Matters - what matters most in today's classrooms
http://www.literacymatters.org/

Literacy Campus - share the love of reading!
http://www.literacycampus.org/

The Literacy Project - a resource for teachers, literacy organizations and anyone interested in reading and education
http://www.google.com/literacy/

Early Literacy
http://www.earlyliterature.ecsd.net/

The Environmental Literacy Council
http://www.enviroliteracy.org/

Jumpstart Coalition for Personal Financial Literacy
http://www.jumpstart.org/