ProLiteracy's Latest Reaction to the National Assessment on Adult Literacy.

To the Editor:

The release of the 2003 National Assessment of Adult Literacy (NAAL) on Dec. 15, 2005 and its news that the literacy skills of adults in the U.S. have not changed in ten years was not encouraging.

We should not be complacent about the fact that adults’ ability to read, write, and do math in English is no worse than the last time they were tested. In 10 years literacy rates in this country may have stayed the same but the world around us has not stood still. Managing the increased complexities of economic, social, and political life in the U.S. requires greater literacy skills, not less nor the same as ten years ago.

The NAAL showed that 14% of the individuals age 16 and over in this country — some 30 million individuals — read so poorly, they could not calculate a five cent per gallon deduction on a heating oil bill. They had difficulty filling in the name and address on a certified mail receipt. Adults at the bottom of this below basic literacy level could not even find a straightforward piece of information in a very simple pamphlet. Difficulties with these tasks can be explained for the 7 million individuals in this group for whom English is not their native language, but that leaves some 19 million English speakers who exhibit no more than the simplest literacy skills.

We also should not be content with the fact that 63 million adults fall into the basic literacy category. While adults in this category were able to find simple facts in a newspaper article, they had difficulty understanding articles about differing political systems and evaluating information in legal documents. And less than one-third of all individuals tested could use the math skills taught in third and fourth grade to compute gas mileage since a previous fill-up.

How can we expect our citizens to be informed voters when they cannot compare and contrast news articles about different political systems or make well-reasoned decisions as jurors when they don’t understand legal documents? How can we expect them, as parents, to oversee the education of their children when they themselves cannot solve the simplest of math problems? How can we expect them to find jobs that pay them enough to support their families unassisted when they can’t read well enough to fill out an application? How can we expect the U.S. to maintain a competitive position in the global marketplace if employers can’t find adequately educated unskilled labor, not to mention the engineers and scientists they currently seek? We cannot and we must not!

If the U.S. is to remain competitive in the increasingly globalized economy, if we are to ensure stable and responsive government, and if we expect to leave no child behind in education, we cannot afford to leave behind a substantial number of adults either.

The NAAL survey results suggest a major challenge to our country. National education policies need to be consistent with the economic, social, and political needs of our population. How we accomplish this should be at the top of our national agenda.

Robert Wedgeworth
President and CEO
ProLiteracy Worldwide

Note: ProLiteracy Worldwide is the largest organization of community-based adult literacy programs in the world. Its 1,200 affiliates provide one-on-one and small group instruction to adults in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.