5 ms·

50% of the population in the US is below average.

by psychlops 5y ago

OJFord 5y ago
And you're happy with average being 'just barely literate'?
- psychlops 5y ago
  Not sure what 'just barely literate' means. The literacy rate in the the US is greater than 96% and is comparable to other first world countries. None of the statistical numbers above are surprising and, call me cynical but, I don't think there will be much change coming. I'd love to be proven wrong.
  - HarryHirsch 5y ago
    * The literacy rate in the the US is greater than 96%* Even the government would disagree with you: https://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=69 https://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=69
    - rkk3 5y ago
      > Even the government would disagree with you Actually, like the OP said it depends on how you define literacy. Using the definition of <3 on NCES it would be around 50% but if they were using a more liberal definition like CIA world factbook it would be almost 100%.
      - unishark 5y ago
        If someone is referring to that rating system they should use its definitions. Below level 1 is functionally illiterate. Levels 1 and 2 are not functionally illiterate, they are low literacy.
    - ABCLAW 5y ago
      In case readers are interested in what the levels mean: https://nces.ed.gov/surveys/piaac/litproficiencylevel.asp https://nces.ed.gov/surveys/piaac/litproficiencylevel.asp
  - OJFord 5y ago
    In the UK I believe it's defined in terms of 'reading age' (12?) which, if you don't have that either, is a sort of expected standard of reading ability at certain ages; so teachers can say at parents' evenings 'oh little five year old Bobby already has a reading age of 14, doing really well', or 'I'm afraid 10yo Sam needs some extra help, with a reading age of six currently...' etc. So, in short, I think literacy level is reasonably quantifiable, and by 'just barely literate' I meant 'sufficient to be called literate but no higher', right on that boundary. I don't know and wasn't suggesting anything about the current actual make up of literacy in the US; I was just replying to '50% are below average' which is of course always going to be true in a relative sense, but you can shift the absolute values up; it doesn't mean 50% must be illiterate or anywhere close, or any at all even. (Unless you define it as less lettered than average I suppose!)
syspec 5y ago
Always has been

50% of the population in the US is below average.

OJFord 5y ago

And you're happy with average being 'just barely literate'?

psychlops 5y ago
Not sure what 'just barely literate' means. The literacy rate in the the US is greater than 96% and is comparable to other first world countries. None of the statistical numbers above are surprising and, call me cynical but, I don't think there will be much change coming. I'd love to be proven wrong.
- HarryHirsch 5y ago
  * The literacy rate in the the US is greater than 96%* Even the government would disagree with you: https://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=69 https://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=69
  - rkk3 5y ago
    > Even the government would disagree with you Actually, like the OP said it depends on how you define literacy. Using the definition of <3 on NCES it would be around 50% but if they were using a more liberal definition like CIA world factbook it would be almost 100%.
    - unishark 5y ago
      If someone is referring to that rating system they should use its definitions. Below level 1 is functionally illiterate. Levels 1 and 2 are not functionally illiterate, they are low literacy.
  - ABCLAW 5y ago
    In case readers are interested in what the levels mean: https://nces.ed.gov/surveys/piaac/litproficiencylevel.asp https://nces.ed.gov/surveys/piaac/litproficiencylevel.asp
- OJFord 5y ago
  In the UK I believe it's defined in terms of 'reading age' (12?) which, if you don't have that either, is a sort of expected standard of reading ability at certain ages; so teachers can say at parents' evenings 'oh little five year old Bobby already has a reading age of 14, doing really well', or 'I'm afraid 10yo Sam needs some extra help, with a reading age of six currently...' etc. So, in short, I think literacy level is reasonably quantifiable, and by 'just barely literate' I meant 'sufficient to be called literate but no higher', right on that boundary. I don't know and wasn't suggesting anything about the current actual make up of literacy in the US; I was just replying to '50% are below average' which is of course always going to be true in a relative sense, but you can shift the absolute values up; it doesn't mean 50% must be illiterate or anywhere close, or any at all even. (Unless you define it as less lettered than average I suppose!)

syspec 5y ago

Always has been