ABSTRACT
Across the nation, anxiety about education runs deep, none more powerful than the issue of literacy. Schools are the institution set up to teach reading and writing and the subjects rooted in these activities, including science, social studies, literature, and mathematics. Despite intense effort, schools are seen as failing to meet these obligations. Witness front page headlines such as the following:
• It’s Official: OUR KIDS CAN’T READ (New York Post, 1999, story on the failure of the majority of New York State fourth graders on a new achievement test) and
• Students Taking Test Crucial to Schools “We’ve been gearing (up) to this for the entire year.” (San Diego Union-Tribune, 1999, story on the massive effort in California’s schools to raise achievement scores.)
Although the difficulties may have been overblown by the media, the statistics are dismaying. A comprehensive U.S. government report conducted by the National Institute for Literacy (State of Literacy Report, 1992) found that on a scale of I to V, over 45% of adults in our country fall into categories I and II-categories that reflect a “quite limited repertoire” of literacy skills, which render them unable to deal with many tasks considered essential for daily life.
