1. Club 34/22

2. Reading Stastistics
Many of the following reading statistics are taken from:

3. Thirty-four million adults function at below basic literacy levels, meaning they are unable to complete simple literacy tasks such as filling out a job application, fill out a deposit slip or read a prescription label. (National Assessment of Adult Literacy, 2003)

4. The U.S. is the only country among 20 OECD free-market countries where the current generation is less well educated than the previous one.  (National Commission on Adult Literacy, 2008)

5. Approximately one in eight children in the United States never graduates from high school. Based on calculations per school day (180 days of seven hours each), one high school student drops out every nine seconds.  (Lehr, Johnson, Bremer, Cosia & Thompson, 2004)

6. Every year, one in three young adults — more than 1
Every year, one in three young adults — more than 1.2 million people — drop out of high school.  (National Commission on Adult Literacy, 2008)

7. Writing is a skill in particular demand in business and higher education, yet only 41 percent of white students, 16 percent of black students, 18 percent of Hispanic students and 15 percent of low-income students reached proficiency on the 2007 National Assessment of Education Progress. (Salahu-Din, D., Persky, H., & Miller, J. (2008))

8. WORKFORCE IMPACT

9. According to Tough Choices or Tough Times, the report by the New Commission on the Skills of the American Workforce: Over the past 30 years, one country after another has surpassed us in the proportion of their entering workforce with the equivalent of a high school diploma, and many more are on the verge of doing so. Thirty years ago, the United States could lay claim to having 30 percent of the world’s population of college students. Today that proportion has fallen to 14 percent and is continuing to fall. (National Center on Education and the Economy, 2007)

10. National surveys of our adult population indicate that large numbers of our nation’s adults, 16 years of age and older, do not demonstrate sufficient literacy and numeracy skills needed to fully participate in an increasingly competitive work environment.  (Kirsch, Braun, Yamamoto, & Sum, 2007)

11. The U.S. Census Bureau reports that adults 18 and older with a master’s, professional or doctoral degree earned an average of $79,946, while those with less than a high school diploma earned about $19,915. Adults with a bachelor’s degree earned an average of $54,689 in 2005, while those with a high school diploma earned $29,448.  (Census Bureau, 2007)

12. HEALTH LITERACY

13. In 2001, low functional literacy resulted in an estimated $32 to $58 billion in additional health care costs. (Center for Health Care Strategies, 2007)

14. Reading fluency is a more powerful variable than education for examining the association between socioeconomic status and health.  (Baker, Wolf, Thompson, Gazmararian & Huang, 2007)

15. A study from Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine shows that older people with inadequate health literacy had a 50 percent higher mortality rate during a five-year period than people with adequate reading skills. Inadequate or low health literacy is defined as the inability to read and comprehend basic health-related materials such as prescription bottles, appointment slips, and hospital forms… Low health literacy was the top predictor of mortality after smoking, also surpassing income and years of education, the study showed. Most of the difference in mortality among people with inadequate literacy was due to higher rates of death from cardiovascular disease.  (Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine, 2007)

16. INCARCERATION
One in every 100 U.S. adults 16 and older is in prison or jail in America (about 2.3 million in 2006). About 43 percent do not have a high school diploma or equivalent. (National Commission on Adult Literacy, 2008)

17. READING
If daily reading begins in infancy, by the time the child is 5 years old, he or she has been fed roughly 900 hours of brain food! Reduce that experience to just 30 minutes a week, and the child’s hungry mind loses 770 hours of nursery rhymes, fairy tales and stories. A kindergarten student who has not been read to could enter school with less than 60 hours of literacy nutrition. No teacher, no matter how talented, can make up for those lost hours of mental nourishment.  (USDOE, 1999)

18. ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNERS
Hispanic students now make up one in five public school students, but these students as well as other minority students are disproportionately clustered in high poverty schools. More individuals of all races are enrolling in college, and more bachelor’s degrees have been awarded than in the past. However, gaps in achievement and high school and college graduation rates between white and minority students continue.  (NCES, 2008)

19. More than a quarter of Hispanic students (28 percent) live in poverty, compared with 16 percent of non-Hispanic students.  (Frey & Gonzales, 2008)

20. Roughly one-fourth of the nation’s kindergartners are Hispanic, evidence of an accelerating trend that now will see minority children become the majority by  (Yen, 2009)

21. As of July 1, 2007, Hispanics constituted 15 percent of the nation’s total population, and it is projected that as of July 1, 2050, Hispanics will constitute 30 percent of the nation’s population. (U.S. Census Bureau, 2008)

22. About 2 million immigrants come to the U. S
About 2 million immigrants come to the U.S. each year seeking jobs and better lives — the promise of America. About 50 percent of them have low literacy levels and lack high school education and English language skills, severely limiting their access to jobs and job training, college and citizenship.  (National Commission on Adult Literacy, 2008)

23. Nationwide, 70 percent of adults with the lowest literacy skills are unemployed or work in part-time jobs. (Kirsch, Jungeblut, Jenkins, & Kolstad, 1993)

24. Following Slides Pirated from:
about-literacy-america

25. 2/3 of students who cannot read proficiently by the end of 4th grade will end up in jail or on welfare. Over 70% of America’s inmates cannot read above a 4th grade level. (Write Express Corporation. "Literacy Statistics." Begin to Read. Accessed February 24, 2015.)

26. Nearly 85% of the juveniles who face trial in the juvenile court system are functionally illiterate, proving that there is a close relationship between illiteracy and crime. More than 60% of all inmates are functionally illiterate. (Blankenship, John. "Functional illiteracy continues to grow, but there is help." The Register-Herald. Accessed April 16, 2014.)

27. 53% of 4th graders admitted to reading recreationally “almost every day,” while only 20% of 8th graders could say the same.
(National Center for Educational Statistics. "The Condition of Education, 2009." U.S. Department of Education. Accessed February 24, 2015.)

28. 75% of Americans who receive food stamps perform at the lowest 2 levels of literacy, and 90% of high school dropouts are on welfare.
(WriteExpress Corporation. "Literacy Statistics." Begin To Read. Accessed February 24, 2015.)

29. Teenage girls between the ages of 16 to 19 who live at or below the poverty line and have below average literacy skills are 6 times more likely to have children out of wedlock than girls their age who can read proficiently.
(WriteExpress Corporation. "Literacy Statistics." Begin To Read. Accessed February 24, 2015.)

30. The Following Slides Were Pirated from:
Each of the statistics come from: National Institute for Literacy, National Center for Adult Literacy, The Literacy Company, U.S. Census Bureau.

31. 50% of adults cannot read a book written at an eighth grade level
The Nation
In a study of literacy among 20 ‘high income’ countries; US ranked 12th
Illiteracy has become such a serious problem in our country that 44 million adults are now unable to read a simple story to their children
50% of adults cannot read a book written at an eighth grade level
45 million are functionally illiterate and read below a 5th grade level
44% of the American adults do not read a book in a year
6 out of 10 households do not buy a single book in a year

32. 3 out of 4 people on welfare can’t read
The Economy
3 out of 4 people on welfare can’t read
20% of Americans read below the level needed to earn a living wage
50% of the unemployed between the ages of 16 and 21 cannot read well enough to be considered functionally literate
Between 46 and 51% of American adults have an income well below the poverty level because of their inability to read
Illiteracy costs American taxpayers an estimated $20 billion each year
School dropouts cost our nation $240 billion in social service expenditures and lost tax revenues

33. Impact on Society: 3 out of 5 people in American prisons can’t read
To determine how many prison beds will be needed in future years, some states actually base part of their projection on how well current elementary students are performing on reading tests
85% of juvenile offenders have problems reading
Approximately 50% of Americans read so poorly that they are unable to perform simple tasks such as reading prescription drug labels

34. OUCH! Impact on Society:
3 out of 5 people in American prisons can’t read
To determine how many prison beds will be needed in future years, some states actually base part of their projection on how well current elementary students are performing on reading tests
85% of juvenile offenders have problems reading
Approximately 50% of Americans read so poorly that they are unable to perform simple tasks such as reading prescription drug labels
OUCH!

35. The Following Facts are pirated from:
tml

36. Literacy statistics and juvenile court
85 percent of all juveniles who interface with the juvenile court system are functionally illiterate.

37. Literacy statistics and juvenile court
More than 60 percent of all prison inmates are functionally illiterate.

38. Literacy statistics and juvenile court
Penal institution records show that inmates have a 16% chance of returning to prison if they receive literacy help, as opposed to 70% who receive no help. This equates to taxpayer costs of $25,000 per year per inmate and nearly double that amount for juvenile offenders.

39. Literacy statistics and juvenile court
Illiteracy and crime are closely related. The Department of Justice states, "The link between academic failure and delinquency, violence, and crime is welded to reading failure." Over 70% of inmates in America's prisons cannot read above a fourth grade level.

40. Again:
66% of students who cannot read proficiently by the end of the 4th grade will end up in jail or on welfare.

41. The 4th grade is the watershed year
The 4th grade is the watershed year. We can predict that if a child is not reading proficiently in the 4th grade, he or she will have approximately a 78% chance of NOT catching up.

42. Club 34/22
In other words, 34% of students who don’t read at grade level by the 4th grade will NOT end up in jail or on welfare. And, 22% of students who are not reading proficiently by the 4th grade WILL catch up.
JOIN THE CLUB! READ!

43. What students can do:
1) Read. The more you read, the more your vocabulary improves. Vocabulary is one of the number one things getting in the way of your comprehension. 2) Talk about what you read. Try to have conversations about what you are reading with an adult, a friend, a relative, whomever. The more you interact with what you are reading, the more you are requiring your brain to complete the reading process. 3) Use strategies. All of that stuff you are learning in class is actually worth something. Make your brain wonder as you read. Ask questions. Summarize what you have read. Clarify the meanings of words and text. Make predictions and connections. Visualize what you have read. Reread. Break words apart to sound them out. The list can go on. But, it doesn’t do you any good if you don’t use it. 4) Talk your folks in to taking you to the library or a book store. Spend time shopping for the perfect books for you. 5) Stop saying, “I hate to read!” There is something out there for everyone. You just hate reading what you have been forced to read in life so far. 6) Stop saying, “I’m not good at reading.” Reading is difficult, but if there is any skill you have to be good at, it is reading. Be positive. You can say, “I am not good at reading now, but, I WILL be sometime soon!” 7) Pass it on. As you become a better reader, read with younger siblings, relatives, friends, etc. The best way to learn something is to teach it to someone else. Read to someone else to become a better reader yourself.

44. What parents can do:
1) Be positive! Your child can be a better reader. Any time you see your child reading, throw out a compliment. 2) Talk to your child about what is being read. Talk to your child about the book being read for fun. Talk to your child about the text being read in history class. Talk to your child about the supplemental articles assigned in science. Talk. Talk. Talk. Give your child a chance to interact. 3) Don’t accept boundaries and obstacles. Even dyslexic children can learn coping skills and can become better at reading than they were before. Your child can become a better reader. Of course, it may take more patience and determination than it does with other children, but it is possible. Monitoring your child’s proficiency at reading is part of parenting. Parenting is the toughest job in the world. But, it is well worth it. 4) Communicate with your child’s teachers. Use , the phone, notes, carrier pigeon, whatever it takes. Constantly keep up to date on your child’s reading progress. Keep asking what more you can do now to help your child achieve. 5) If necessary, look for outside resources. There are plenty of tutoring services around. There might even be some free resources available through local libraries, churches, etc., that might be able to help. 6) Model reading yourself. Some adults don’t care much for reading themselves. BUT… if it means the difference in a child’s future, we can all sacrifice a few moments to sit down and read to model for them that reading is not a bad way to spend our time. 7) Get your child to the local library or a bookstore consistently. Make it a weekly or bi-weekly event to just go and browse. Try to inject their life with the possibilities that being a reader present.

45. What teachers can do:
1) Make students read. Too much of the time, we find ourselves at the end of a class period realizing that the students didn’t read all that much. Even in READING classes… We get so caught up in teaching the curriculum and teaching the standards and teaching this and teaching that, that we never take the time to have the students actually read. 2) Use rewards. Rewards are what cause habits. It is a simple concept. You want your students to develop the habit of reading, use rewards. 3) Talk to your students about what they are reading. Interact with them. Give them a chance to be excited about what they are reading. 4) Explain the purpose of the strategies. Constantly remind them WHY they are doing what you are instructing them to do. Don’t let them just see the strategies as assignments. Teach them to see the strategies as tools to making them better readers. 5) Provide high interest materials to read independently. Provide rigorous materials to read dependently (with the teacher- Read Alouds, group reading, etc.). 6) Keep positive. As challenging as it is, you are making a difference. Allowing your frustration to show from time to time may enlighten them on how passionate you are about what you do, but allowing it to show the majority of the time will only turn them off. 7) Communicate. Talk a lot with your students and their parents about how reading proficiency is improving. Let parents know what they can continue to do to help.