More (not so) fun facts:

54% of American adults read below a 6th grade level.

21% read below a 5th grade level, which is considered functionally illiterate.

High immigration numbers don’t fully explain it either, as first gen immigrants only make up about 1/3 of those with low literacy.

  • Artisian@lemmy.worldEnglish
    2·
    18 days ago

    I agree bad teaching practices can have knock-on effects (though I don’t think knowledge of phonetics was at real risk of dying out?). But so can bad health outcomes, learning environments, etc?

    I think, especially in education, that effect sizes are difficult to judge. And I can’t find good data for reading ability over time. So I am very interested in what we are sure about/evidence is.

    • Hisse@programming.dev
      2·
      17 days ago

      Something that I did find is this. Its US-only and doesn’t actually provide the numbers, but it tells you the general trend.

      Ah, found one that does. 2022’s decline seems pretty significant, in both mentioned subjects.

      But so can bad health outcomes, learning environments, etc?

      Yeah that’s possible. Maybe in a few years, if the statistics stay the same, it’s a teaching failure.