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What is the literacy rate in the United States?
According
to the National Adult Literacy Survey, 40 million adults in the
United States have low literacy skills and struggle with reading
and helping their children with homework.
How
do immigrant families deal with the demands of literacy?
Over
2.1 million public school students speak limited English. Public
schools are working to meet demands, but immigrant parents' options
are more limited. Adult English classes have waiting lists of several
months to several years. This means parents are forced to rely on
friends, neighbors, social services - and even their own children
- to help them meet the family's basic needs.
What
kind of impact does literacy have on poverty?
In economically developing countries, literacy levels are as low
as 30%. Nearly 2/3 of the world's illiterate are women - the primary
caregivers of the family. But even with the US's vast opportunities,
literacy is the ultimate gateway out of poverty. Here, workers without
a diploma earn three times less income than those with a bachelor's
degree. 8 of every 20 Americans with low literacy skills live in
poverty. By contrast, 1 in 20 Americans with strong literacy skills
live in poverty.
What
influence does it have on the family?
Research
shows that childrens' literacy levels and motivation to stay in
school is influenced by their own parents' educational achievement.
Children of parents who are unemployed and have not completed high
school are five times more likely to drop out of school than children
of working parents.
What
are the "hidden costs" of illiteracy for families and
communities?
Finding
good jobs will keep young people off the streets. It is no surprise
that 70% of prisoners cannot perform basic reading and writing tasks,
such as writing a letter explaining an error on a credit card bill,
or understanding a bus schedule.
Low
literate adults and their families also tend to be less healthy
because they lack information of where to go, when to seek help
and are unable to read important information such as medical prescriptions
and directions on baby formula.
What
is the significance of literacy in the "Information Age"?
In
the US, where the Internet plays a key role in the workplace and
news media, becoming "technologically literate" is critical
for economic and educational advancement. This means new types of
literacy need to be taught in schools. Luckily, 95% of America's
public schools can now use the Internet as a teaching tool. But
in terms of public and private access, a "digital divide"
remains between high and low income, rural and urban, and white
and non-white households.
Does
the rest of the world encounter similar challenges?
While
American students actively participate in the information age, more
than 130 million primary school-age children in economically developing
countries are out of school. Few are able to access printed news,
books or computers. For example, only 2% of populations in less
developed countries have access to computers at all. This presents
significant challenges for literacy advocates working to combat
illiteracy and poverty worldwide.
Why
create an International Literacy Network?
Member
organizations of the ILN represent the world's
pre-eminent literacy organizations based in the USA. We realize
the challenge is bigger than any one institution can address. As
a consortium, ILN members felt they could locate the resources needed
to develop a meaningful, multiple-year action agenda. ILN is using
International Literacy Day as a way of rallying the American public
to focus on literacy.
What
do ILN members DO?
ILN
Member's websites provide a wealth of information about major literacy
initiatives in communities, libraries, schools, through to high
levels of government. You'll see that ILN Members are engaged in
numerous partnerships to help ensure children and adults have access
to quality education worldwide. But the success of our journey relies
on the efforts of everyday people. Some of the references below
will help you get involved.
Where
can I find more interesting facts about literacy?
The
US Department of Education (http://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/index.asp
) and the National Institute for Literacy (http://www.nifl.gov/lincs/)
provide comprehensive information about literacy in the US and other
industrialized nations.
Literacy Online (http://www.literacyonline.org/)
is an easy-to-use tool to search information about adult literacy
nationally and internationally.
UNICEF (http://www.unicef.org/infores/)
collects updated information about the state of the world's children
annually, with particular focus on economically developing countries.
Where
can I get more information about continuing education?
There
are multiple options for continuing education. Check out these websites:
Department of Education's Adult and Vocational Education (http://www.ed.gov/offices/OVAE/)
PBS Adult Learning Service (http://www.pbs.org/als/)
NIFL (www.nifl.gov)
Download
Printable version of:
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FAQ - International Literacy Network (MS Word Doc: 44K)
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