I'm not sure of the reading level, but America has a functional literacy rate of 87%. Functional literacy being the ability to read on a daily basis and do general literacy tasks without assistance (recipes, a bank statement, directions, etc). Most developed countries are around 99%. Former or currently socialist countries tend to be the most literate places.
The literacy rate actually lines up really well with the high school graduation rate, which is 88%. There are a lot of models that try to explain why American sucks at education, but I doubt it will surprise you to learn the probable answers are poverty, racism, and capitalism.
Underfunded schools, stressed out kids who con't care, parents who are overworked and don't care, children who are shuffled around any relative who will take them. I used to work in education and knew a lot of kids who were about 8 years old living with a bedridden older relative and no one else. It's also a lot of racist political authorities and real estate developers who box all the non-whites into poorer living conditions and deliberately underfund public services. There are some people who also talk about lead poisoning from paint and water in impoverished areas causing learning disabilities and that sounds reasonable enough to me, but I don't know anything about it for sure. Even if it weren't lead poisoning the racism and poverty would do the job the same. A lot of it also might do with America's hatred of immigrants, since something like a third of illiterate children in the US were born outside the country.
I don't know enough about the history of education in other developed, capitalist countries to know why their literacy rates are higher. Might be something particular to American imperialism and expressions of racism, probably a lot to do with America's history of slavery. Although Brazil didn't outlaw slavery until 1888 and they have a higher literacy rate than America too.
Yeah, if anyone else here also has ideas on what causes this I'd like to hear them
How do other industrial nations compare?
I'm not sure of the reading level, but America has a functional literacy rate of 87%. Functional literacy being the ability to read on a daily basis and do general literacy tasks without assistance (recipes, a bank statement, directions, etc). Most developed countries are around 99%. Former or currently socialist countries tend to be the most literate places.
Thanks. That sucks.
how does this happen?
The literacy rate actually lines up really well with the high school graduation rate, which is 88%. There are a lot of models that try to explain why American sucks at education, but I doubt it will surprise you to learn the probable answers are poverty, racism, and capitalism.
Underfunded schools, stressed out kids who con't care, parents who are overworked and don't care, children who are shuffled around any relative who will take them. I used to work in education and knew a lot of kids who were about 8 years old living with a bedridden older relative and no one else. It's also a lot of racist political authorities and real estate developers who box all the non-whites into poorer living conditions and deliberately underfund public services. There are some people who also talk about lead poisoning from paint and water in impoverished areas causing learning disabilities and that sounds reasonable enough to me, but I don't know anything about it for sure. Even if it weren't lead poisoning the racism and poverty would do the job the same. A lot of it also might do with America's hatred of immigrants, since something like a third of illiterate children in the US were born outside the country.
I don't know enough about the history of education in other developed, capitalist countries to know why their literacy rates are higher. Might be something particular to American imperialism and expressions of racism, probably a lot to do with America's history of slavery. Although Brazil didn't outlaw slavery until 1888 and they have a higher literacy rate than America too.
Yeah, if anyone else here also has ideas on what causes this I'd like to hear them
just at a guess probably decades of institutionally not prioritising education
It's in large part the lack of other social safety nets trickling down to ruining educational outcomes as well.
that too hungry kids can't learn
There's a solution for that :bpp:
just seems like there's quite a big gap between "not prioritising education" and "not teaching kids how to read"
they can read what they can't do is understand and process written information effectively
Employers only need employees to be able to follow precise instructions, not finish a novel.