Released on = January 24, 2006, 1:18 pm

Press Release Author = By Martin Chekel, President of The Talking PageT Literacy
Organizationa 501 C 3 nonprofit association, Newport Beach, CA

Industry = Human Resources

Press Release Summary = The failure to implement the National Literacy Act of 1991
and a 30% graduation failure rate of minority students in our schools has lead to
the Retarding of America and the creation of an illiterate workforce in our nation.

National Literacy Act of 1991 was created to help 30 million illiterate adults, over
the age of sixteen, become literate. Today, about 90 million Americans (55% of the
adult population) are functionally illiterate.

Ten years after the passage of the National Literacy Act, which sought to wipe out
the problem of adult illiteracy in the United States by 2000, the problem as
increased, costing US businesses an estimated $140 billion to $300 billion a year in
low productivity, work related accidents and poor product quality, according to
Literacy Volunteers of America (ProLiteracy Worldwide 2003).

Not exactly what the drafters of the Act had in mind.


Press Release Body = Retarding America; the National Illiteracy Crisis

By Martin Chekel, President of The Talking PageT Literacy Organization

Part One of Five

The failure to implement the National Literacy Act of 1991 and a 30% graduation
failure rate of minority students in our schools has lead to the Retarding of
America and the creation of an illiterate workforce in our nation.

National Literacy Act of 1991 was created to help 30 million illiterate adults, over
the age of sixteen, become literate. Today, about 90 million Americans (55% of the
adult population) are functionally illiterate.

Ten years after the passage of the National Literacy Act, which sought to wipe out
the problem of adult illiteracy in the United States by 2000, the problem as
increased, costing US businesses an estimated $140 billion to $300 billion a year in
low productivity, work related accidents and poor product quality, according to
Literacy Volunteers of America (ProLiteracy Worldwide 2003).

Not exactly what the drafters of the Act had in mind.

The National Assessment of Adult Literacy (NAAL), released by the National Center
for Education Statistics (NCES), also found little change between 1992 and 2003 in
adults\' ability to read and understand sentences and paragraphs or to understand
documents such as job applications.

\"One adult unable to read is one too many in America,\" said U.S. Secretary of
Education Margaret Spellings, who today announced plans to coordinate adult
education efforts in 2006 across multiple federal agencies. \"We must take a
comprehensive and preventive approach, beginning with elementary schools and with
special emphasis in our high schools. We must focus resources toward proven,
research-based methods to ensure that all adults have the necessary literacy skills
to be successful.\"

NAAL in 2003 assessed a nationally representative sample of more than 19,000
Americans age 16 and older, most in their homes and some in prisons. NCES, which is
part of the U.S. Department of Education\'s Institute of Education Sciences,
conducted the assessment in both 1992 and 2003.

African Americans scored higher in 2003 than in 1992 in all three categories,
increasing 16 points in quantitative, eight points in document and six points in
prose literacy. Overall, adults have improved in document and quantitative literacy
with a smaller percentage of adults in 2003 in the Below Basic category compared to
1992. Whites, African Americans and Asian/Pacific Islanders have improved in all
three measures of literacy with a smaller percentage in 2003 in the Below Basic
category compared to 1992.

Hispanic adults showed a decrease in scores for both prose and document literacy and
a higher percentage in the Below Basic category. The report also showed that five
percent of U.S. adults, about 11 million people, were termed \"nonliterate\" in
English, meaning interviewers could not communicate with them or that they were
unable to answer a minimum number of questions.

The NAAL divided the results into four proficiency levels based on widely accepted
standards.

NAAL reports literacy in each category using a 0-500 scale score. Scores are then
grouped in four literacy levels: Below Basic, Basic, Intermediate and Proficient.
Below Basic is the lowest level and indicates having \"no more than the most simple
and concrete literacy skills.\" Those who can perform \"complex and challenging\" tasks
are considered at the Proficient level.

While few adults are illiterate in the sense that they can\'t write their own names,
those in the bottom two levels Below Basic and Basic can\'t spell, read, or write as
well as a middle school student. Fully 45% of Americans fell into this category.
Almost half of those, or 20%, scored in the lowest level, which puts their literacy
below that of a 5th grade elementary school student.

Most of the illiteracy problems show up among legal immigrants and minorities. Legal
immigrants accounted for more than 40% of U.S. labor-force growth since 1990. But
because many are unskilled, they rank 74 points behind native-born Americans.

The facts and insights below provide some astounding background to the enormity of
the illiteracy problem in America.
Basic Facts about the Adult Illiteracy Crisis in America
. The National Literacy Act defines literacy as \"an individual\'s ability to read,
write, and speak in English, 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."
. About 90 million Americans (55% of the adult population) are functionally
illiterate. (National Adult Literacy Survey, 1993)
. The National Adult Literacy Survey found that over 40 million Americans age 16 and
older have significant literacy needs. More than 20 percent of adults read at or
below a fifth-grade level -- far below the level needed to earn a living wage.

IMPACT

. Forty-three percent of the people with the lowest literacy skills live in poverty;
17 percent receive food stamps, and 70 percent have no job or a part-time job.
(National Institute for Literacy)
. Approximately 20% of American adults do not have a high school diploma. (U.S.
Census 1990)
. Workers who lack a high school diploma earn a mean monthly income of $452,
compared to $1,829 for those with a bachelor\'s degree.
. Four out of ten job applicants tested in 1992 for basic reading and/or math skills
lacked the mastery necessary for the job they sought. (National Adult Literacy
Survey, 1993)

. Over 50% of surveyed manufacturing companies indicate that more than half of their
front line workers have serious literacy problems. (National Adult Literacy Survey,
1993)
. Parents with low literacy skills often do not have access to written information
that could help them become better parents. (National Adult Literacy Survey, 1993)

IMPACT

. A child who grows up in a home with at least one illiterate parent is twice as
likely to be illiterate. (Laubach Literacy Statistics)
. At least 1/3 of all AFDC (Aid to Families with Dependent Children) mothers are
illiterate. (Laubach Literacy Statistics)
. The single most significant factor influencing a child\'s early educational success
and achievement (first and second grade) is an introduction to books and being read
to at home prior to beginning school. (U.S. Department of Education, A Nation at
Risk, 1985)
. Children who have not already developed some basic literacy practices when they
enter school are three to four times more likely to drop out in later years.
(National Adult Literacy Survey, 1993)

Understanding the Current Adult Literacy Initiatives in America

Before we can address the adult illiteracy issues and solutions, these questions
still remain;

Question One; What is today's concept of adult literacy programs?

Question Two; How can we ensure that low-income Americans are literate enough to
face the economic challenges of the new millennium?

Question Three; How can we improve and reduce the costs of the delivery of adult
literacy instruction in America?


Question One

What is today's concept of Adult literacy practices in America?

The following report summarizes the current thinking and practices of the 1,000's of
literacy programs in America;

Adult Literacy Programs and Practices by Sandra Kerka 1992, summarize strategies and
resources that can be used by literacy practitioners.

Examples of the four types are given here:

Adult's Direct-Children Direct

Programs in this category provide instruction to both adults and children and have a
high degree of interaction. Sayers and Brown (1991) describe an innovative example
that builds upon the language and cultural strengths of participants.

Adult's Indirect-Children Indirect

This form emphasizes short-term literacy enrichment events that present reading as a
fun activity and a means of sharing. Parents are provided information and
assistance in reading to their children and home literacy activities, and the day
care center\'s library was expanded from 40 to 354 books.

Adult's Direct-Children Indirect

Many examples of this type exist, in which adults receive formal literacy
instruction as well as coaching on influencing children\'s literacy. The emphasis is
on literacy in the first language (Spanish) as the foundation for literacy in
English.

Adult's Indirect-Children Direct

Focus of these programs are on teaching pre-reading or reading to children, often in
preschool, elementary, after-school, or summer programs. Parents may be involved in
workshops or recognition ceremonies and may receive information on helping their
children, but do not receive literacy instruction.

These current programs fail to teach adults how (a) to identify letters and speech
sounds, (b) to understand how letters represent speech sounds in regular ways
(linguistic rules), (c) to attach speech sounds to letters in words, (d) to blend
together the sounds so generated so as to produce the pronunciation of recognizable
words, and (e) to spell the words that adults can decode through the application of
linguistic rules.

Additionally, current programs urged illiterate adults to guess at the identities of
words through the use of sentence context cues and pictures. This is an unreliable
practice not proven by scientific research-based methods and that able adult readers
rarely utilize.

End of Part One


Web Site = http://www.talkingpage.org

Contact Details = Martin Chekel
President of The Talking PageT Literacy Organization
A 501 C 3 nonprofit association
1738 Tradewinds Lane
Newport Beach, CA 92660
949 650 8101
www.talkingpage.org
mchekel@dslextreme. com