Literacy and reading performance in the United States, from 1880 to the present
TL;DR: The authors reviewed literacy and reading achievement trends over the past century and place current debates in a historical perspective, and suggested that students' reading performance at a given age remained stable until the 1970s and much of it can be explained by the changing demographics of test-takers.
Abstract: THE AUTHORS review literacy and reading achievement trends over the past century and place current debates in a historical perspective. Although then-and-now studies are methodologically weak, they suggest that students' reading performance at a given age remained stable until the 1970s. The test score decline that then occurred was not as great as many educators think, and much of it can be explained by the changing demographics of test-takers. The decline pales when compared to the tremendous increase in the population's educational attainment over the past 40 years. However, the strategy of ever-increasing schooling to meet ever-increasing literacy demands may have run its course. High school dropout rates are increasing, and educational attainment has leveled off. Researchers have identified substantial mismatches between workers' skills and job demands, and between job and school literacy skills. In spite of their flaws, functional literacy tests suggest that 20 percent of the adult population, or 30 million people, have serious difficulties with common reading tasks. Upgrading literacy skills now requires new initiatives by coalitions of educators, community groups, employers, and government agencies.
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Journal Article•
TL;DR: Three items for use in a simple screening instrument for parental low literacy were identified and had favorable characteristics but must be further tested for generalizability.
Abstract: BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES The association between functional illiteracy and poor health has led to pediatric literacy promotion programs in the primary care setting. These interventions do not address linked parental literacy needs. An obstacle to referring adults to literacy services is the lack of an instrument that can efficiently identify individuals who could benefit from such programs. We sought to identify screening items sufficiently simple to use in clinical practice. METHODS This cross-sectional study examined 98 adult primary caregivers of preschool children seen in an inner-city primary care setting. Literacy level and 17 variables predicted to be associated with low literacy were assessed. RESULTS Three items were independently associated with a 6th grade reading level: (1) less than 12th grade completion, (2) not living with the child's other parent, and (3) not reading for pleasure. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis indicates that, used together, these variables have discriminant capacity, with an area under the ROC curve of.76. CONCLUSIONS Three items for use in a simple screening instrument for parental low literacy were identified. Used together, they had favorable characteristics but must be further tested for generalizability.
44 citations
01 Jul 1998
Abstract: Executive Summary iv 1. Acknowledgements xii Introduction 1 One. From Campaign to System: The Historical Context 4 Societal changes-economic and social 5 Governmental changes 7 Education system changes 9 Adult education system changes 10 Concept of literacy 10 Purpose of education 12 System development 14 Two. Unpacking the Terms: Accountability and Performance 16 Accountability 16 Performance accountability 19 Performance accountability initiatives 23 Performance 26 Literacy as competency 27 Literacy as social and cultural practices 29 Perspectives on performances 32 Three. Capacity to Count and to Perform 36 Capacity to perform 36 Capacity for accountability 38 Building capacity for accountability: state experiences 39 Connecticut 40 Arkansas 42 Pennsylvania 44 Measuring performance 46 What to measure 48 Measuring learning 50 Standardized tests 51 Performance assessment 54 Four. Building for the Future 56 Defining "Performances" – What does success look like? 56 Developing mutual accountability relationships: Who is accountable to whom? 59 Building capacity for accountability: Systems that learn 63 iii Designing accountability technologies – Learning to measure 66 Next steps: Ways forward 71 Step 1: Agree on performances 72 Step 2: Develop mutual accountability relationships 73 Step 3: Build capacity for learning and system improvement 74 Step 4: Design and develop accountability technologies 75 Conclusions 77 References 79 Illustrations: Box 2.1 An ESOL teacher 17 Box 2.2 A teacher in a community-based program 17 Box 2.3 A data clerk 17 Box 2.4 Reading between the lines: literacy as competency 29 Box 2.5 Key terms in New Literacy Studies 31 Box 3.1 Connecticut 40 Box 3.2 Arkansas 42 Box 3.3 Pennsylvania 44 Box 3.4 Indicators, measures, and data 49 Box 4.1 Some mutual accountability relationships 60 Box 4.2 Pyramid data systems 62 Box 4.3 Information flows for mutual accountability 63 Box 4.4 Summary of next steps 77 iv EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Adult basic education (ABE) has long been viewed by many educators and policymakers as a tool for addressing social and economic problems. Now, in a context of global economic restructuring, changes in work and employment, and the largest immigration to the USA since the early 1900s, ABE must demonstrate its success in terms of student and societal outcomes. In short, ABE is facing demands to be accountable for its performance. A focus on results is new for adult education, and potentially transforming. Performance accountability offers the chance to re-focus on what learners accomplish by participating in ABE and to reorient every aspect of …
44 citations
Cites background from "Literacy and reading performance in..."
...Early definitions of literacy as reading and writing simple text shifted slowly to seeing literacy as related to “functioning” in society (Stedman & Kaestle, 1987)....
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...That concept changes over time, and there is now a substantial literature on historical changes in the concept of literacy (e.g. Cook, 1977; Stedman & Kaestle, 1987)....
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TL;DR: A variety of important life consequences for literacy are widely assumed in the contemporary discourse on adult literacy with little, if any empirical research to support them as discussed by the authors, and they have been variously labelled as ‘myths' (Coombs 1985), ‘doubtful promises' (Hinzen 1983), proclamations of ‘faith' (Winchester 1990) and ‘claims in search of reality’ (Wagner 1992).
Abstract: A variety of important life consequences for literacy are widely assumed in the contemporary discourse on adult literacy with little, if any empirical research to support them. As a result, they have been variously labelled as ‘myths’ (Coombs 1985), ‘doubtful promises’ (Hinzen 1983), proclamations of ‘faith’ (Winchester 1990) and ‘claims in search of reality’ (Wagner 1992). Part of the problem here is that the effects of literacy are often identified without first defining what literacy is. Naturally, if literacy is ambiguously or broadly defined, virtually any consequence can be attributed to it. Thus, the first task of any researcher, educator or policymaker involved with issues of adult literacy is to make his or her definitions of literacy and the scope of each definition's applicationsexplicit. Within the field of adult literacy education, Lytle and Wolfe (1989) provide a useful conceptual categorization for literacy in terms of four metaphors: literacy as skills, tasks, practices and critical reflec...
40 citations
TL;DR: The authors assesses the Sandia report and concludes that the report is generally right about steady trends, but that it is seriously flawed by errors in analysis, insufficient evidence, mischarac-terizations of the international data, and a failure to consider the evidence that U.S students are performing at low levels.
Abstract: The author assesses the Sandia Report, a controversial analysis of U.S. education by the Sandia National Laboratories that challenges popular views of an educational decline. The report, titled “Perspectives on Education in America”, was finally made public in the May/June 1993 issue of The Journal of Educational Research (Carson, Huelskamp, & Woodall, 1993). The assessment focuses on the Sandia Report's contentions about K through 12 performance, specifically the SAT decline, NAEP achievement, and the international assessments. The author concludes that the report is generally right about steady trends, but that it is seriously flawed by errors in analysis, insufficient evidence, mischarac-terizations of the international data, and a failure to consider the evidence that U.S students are performing at low levels. In spite of its findings, fundamental school reform is still warranted.
40 citations
TL;DR: The Computer-based Academic Assessment System (CAAS) as mentioned in this paper is a reading diagnostic system based on cognitive developmental theory, which can be used to identify potential sources of reading problems.
Abstract: After a brief review of current reading diagnostic practices, the article presents a cognitive developmental theory and indicates how the theory can be used to identify potential sources of reading problems. Four criteria for a reading diagnostic system based on cognitive developmental theory are then identified: (1) the system must provide reliable and valid assessments, (2) performance on the diagnostic system must be consistent with cognitive developmental theory, (3) the diagnostic procedures must provide specific information about the nature of the reading difficulty the student is experiencing, and (4) diagnoses provided by the procedures must lead to prescriptive procedures that alleviate to a demonstrable degree the reading problems the student is experiencing. The Computer-based Academic Assessment System (CAAS) is then introduced, and evidence from three studies is used to examine the extent to which the CAAS system can satisfy the four requirements for a theory-based reading diagnostic system. The article closes with a discussion of the empirical evidence and with suggestions for future research.
37 citations
Cites background from "Literacy and reading performance in..."
...However, approximately 20-25% of students do experience moderate to severe difficulties in learning to read (Stedman and Kaestle, 1987)....
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References
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Book•
01 Jul 1983TL;DR: In this article, the piedmont: textile mills and times of change, and the teaching of how to talk in Trackton and Roadville, are discussed, as well as the teachers as learners and the townspeople.
Abstract: Photographs, maps, figures, tables, texts Acknowledgments Prologue Note on transcriptions Part I. Ethnographer Learning: 1. The piedmont: textile mills and times of change 2. 'Gettin' on' in two communities 3. Learning how to talk in Trackton 4. Teaching how to talk in Roadville 5. Oral traditions 6. Literate traditions 7. The townspeople Part II. Ethnographer Doing: 8. Teachers as learners 9. Learners as ethnographers Epilogue Epilogue - 1996 Notes Bibliography Index.
4,564 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the piedmont: textile mills and times of change, and the teaching of how to talk in Trackton and Roadville, are discussed, as well as the teachers as learners and the townspeople.
Abstract: Photographs, maps, figures, tables, texts Acknowledgments Prologue Note on transcriptions Part I. Ethnographer Learning: 1. The piedmont: textile mills and times of change 2. 'Gettin' on' in two communities 3. Learning how to talk in Trackton 4. Teaching how to talk in Roadville 5. Oral traditions 6. Literate traditions 7. The townspeople Part II. Ethnographer Doing: 8. Teachers as learners 9. Learners as ethnographers Epilogue Epilogue - 1996 Notes Bibliography Index.
4,208 citations
Book•
01 Jan 1981
TL;DR: The Mismeasure of man was immediately hailed as a masterwork, the ringing answer to those who would classify people, rank them according to their supposed genetic gifts and limits, and yet the idea of innate limits-of biology as destiny-dies hard, as witness the attention devoted to The Bell Curve, whose arguments are here so effectively anticipated and thoroughly undermined by Stephen Jay Gould.
Abstract: When published in 1981, The Mismeasure of Man was immediately hailed as a masterwork, the ringing answer to those who would classify people, rank them according to their supposed genetic gifts and limits. And yet the idea of innate limits-of biology as destiny-dies hard, as witness the attention devoted to The Bell Curve, whose arguments are here so effectively anticipated and thoroughly undermined by Stephen Jay Gould. In this edition Dr. Gould has written a substantial new introduction telling how and why he wrote the book and tracing the subsequent history of the controversy on innateness right through The Bell Curve. Further, he has added five essays on questions of The Bell Curve in particular and on race, racism, and biological determinism in general. These additions strengthen the book's claim to be, as Leo J. Kamin of Princeton University has said, "a major contribution toward deflating pseudo-biological 'explanations' of our present social woes."
3,879 citations
Book•
16 Nov 1972
TL;DR: Most Americans say they believe in equality. But when pressed to explain what they mean by this, their definitions are usually full of contradictions as mentioned in this paper. But most Americans also believe that some people are more competent than others, and that this will always be so, no matter how much we reform society.
Abstract: Most Americans say they believe in equality. But when pressed to explain what they mean by this, their definitions are usually full of contradictions. Many will say, like the Founding Fathers, that “all men are created equal.” Many will also say that all men are equal “before God,” and that they are, or at least ought to be, equal in the eyes of the law. But most Americans also believe that some people are more competent than others, and that this will always be so, no matter how much we reform society. Many also believe that competence should be rewarded by success, while incompetence should be punished by failure. They have no commitment to ensuring that everyone’s job is equally desirable, that everyone exercises the same amount of political power, or that everyone receives the same income.
2,315 citations