5 ms·

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

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!)

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!)