My Mother Read to Me The job I just finished took me into the
world of literacy again and it triggered so many thoughts and emotions as I
looked at background research on this topic. I was preparing a grant packet for
a company whose product was ideal for the
Striving Readers Comprehensive Literacy Grant. That’s a federal grant that
was awarded to a handful of states for the creation and strengthening of
literacy programs that begin in early childhood, continuing through high school and extending
to adult learners through family literacy programs. As I began to research and delve deeper for
this grant packet, I uncovered many disturbing statements and statistics on the
low literacy rate for adults in this country. When I was growing up, illiteracy was a
term that usually cropped up in social studies or geography lessons and it was
always associated with underdeveloped countries. “Senegal is a very poor
country in western Africa where most of the people are unable to read, i.e.
illiterate”. Up until I entered the field of education in the 80’s I never
associated illiteracy with the adult population of the United States but now I
do. And the problem seems to be growing. Rates of literacy
in the United States depend on which of the various definitions of
literacy is used. The U.S. Department of Education classifies the population
into 4 categories of literacy. Below Basic (sometimes called “functionally
illiterate”), Basic, Intermediate and Proficient. The last national data on
this was released in 2009 and it showed that 14% of Americans are below basic
and 29% are reading at only a basic level. In our increasingly complex and
digital society, I doubt that even a basic level will enable someone to reach
their life goals and function well at home and work. I’m concerned. “But why am I so focused on adults who can’t read?” you
might ask. Why not children? Isn’t it most important to start with young
children? After all, I’ve spent my entire career focused on K-12 teaching and
learning. Well I came across these research findings in my work and it really
got me to thinking. A mother’s literacy level is one of the most significant
predictors of a child’s future success in school. 70% of mothers receiving public assistance have
literacy skills in the lowest two proficiency levels. Children of adults who participate in literacy programs improve their grades and test scores, improve their reading skills, and
are less likely to drop out of school. (Reder, 1996).
And so I’ve
been a volunteer in a local adult literacy program in my city. My learners have
been sincere, genuinely motivated, and deserve the ability to enjoy a good book
or help their kids with their homework. A house painter wanted to be able to
read the names of paints that his customers chose so he could order them from
the paint store. A grandmother wanted to be able to read the Bible both for
herself and to her grandchild. In 2012, I’m going to commit myself even further
to working to eradicate the problem of adult literacy where I live through my
volunteer work. I will definitely write about it again in this blog. I hope you
will also think about getting involved in your own community’s literacy
program. You can impact so many lives in a far-reaching way. I’ll leave you
with the words of Rev. Martin Luther King since we honored his life and his
great American contributions last week: "Our lives begin to end the day we become
silent about things that matter." |
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