Reading Matters

This week our students took the Reading Inventory test and we have a first look at where they are in regards to reading growth. This is something that we pay careful attention to in Greene County in all grade levels. My own second grade child can quickly tell you her lexile and growth from the previous test. It's something all Greene County kids know. If you know me, you know that I'm always looking for an angle and a purpose on why we test. So how much does reading really matter? Consider these statistics:

In a study of literacy among 20 ‘high income’ countries; the US ranked 12th

Illiteracy has become such a serious problem in our country that 44 million adults are now unable to read a simple story to their children

50% of adults cannot read a book written at an eighth grade level

45 million are functionally illiterate and read below a 5th grade level

44% of the American adults do not read a book in a year

6 out of 10 households do not buy a single book in a year

3 out of 4 people on welfare can’t read

20% of Americans read below the level needed to earn a living wage

50% of the unemployed between the ages of 16 and 21 cannot read well enough to be considered functionally literate

Between 46 and 51% of American adults have an income well below the poverty level because of their inability to read

Illiteracy costs American taxpayers an estimated $20 billion each year

School dropouts cost our nation $240 billion in social service expenditures and lost tax revenues

There is a correlation between illiteracy and income at least in individual economic terms, in that literacy has payoffs and is a worthwhile investment. As the literacy rate doubles, so doubles the per capita income.

3 out of 5 people in American prisons can’t read

To determine how many prison beds will be needed in future years, some states actually base part of their projection on how well current elementary students are performing on reading tests

85% of juvenile offenders have problems reading

Approximately 50% of Americans read so poorly that they are unable to perform simple tasks such as reading prescription drug labels

Statistics like this do not just highlight just how serious our situation is, they are literally depressing. But there is hope. Over time, our students have started to get better at this. 40% of our students read at or above the proficient mark and another 30% are at the basic level. This leaves 30% below the basic level and by the measure of the statistics above, that means that we are making ground on the problem. While we should be proud and celebrate our achievement, this is something that we can never be satisfied with, no matter what the score may be. Keep pushing your students for growth at every level. Teach kids to never be happy with where they are and to always want more and better. Then teach them how to work for it. One day, your students will have children of their own and we will need them to be able to read to them, and to push them as well. Changing the literacy problem in our area and in our country will not happen overnight, but we can make it a little better every day.