America Is Sliding Toward Illiteracy

[Fillerguy]

The article mentions something the Coli has discussed before: the success Mississippi has had by returning to phonics-based teaching. I'm baffled more states, specifically blue states, refuse to move in that direction.

I also think a major aspect here is that white people are no longer reading to their children. A major reason white reading levels have been high is simply because white parents read to their kids on average more than non-white parents. You can immediately tell when listening to a 3-4 year old talk. My girl sees a specialist who shares a lobby with a peds office. So whenever we're in the lobby chilling, we see the little kids everywhere. And few things pain me more than listening to 3-4 year old white children speaking clearly while most of the 3-4 year old black children are using one word sentences or grunting/yelling/crying. That shyt has everything to do with parental involvement, specifically reading. Children need to hear you pronouncing words. A lot.

Now we're in a dynamic where white parents aren't reading, black parents aren't reading...and the result are a bunch of kids who get tablets shoved in their face multiple times a day, who can't speak well and struggle to learn anything.

If forget the page but some nose ringed Black woman in archivist field said the same. Modern adults have stunted literacy rates because we stopped teaching phonics based reading. Because, copy writers are paid to dumb down customer literature. From 11th grade to 6th grade reading levels. In every industry.

Heres the original sources

Do More Than Half of Americans Read Below 6th-Grade Level?

<meta charset=utf-8;utf-8">A keen reminder to analyze data with a careful eye.

www.snopes.com

49 Adult Literacy Statistics and Facts for 2025 | National University

Explore dozens of recent statistics about U.S. adult literacy and dive into the factors affecting adult literacy rates in America.

www.nu.edu

 

[Turtle]

Someone of you only speak one language and you still can’t spell correctly.

AND, you have autocorrect

 

[Elim Garak]

It ain't just the children lol.

 

[DraymondT]

It ain't just the children lol.

This right here the shyt very noticable when ya in other developed countries

 

[Piff Perkins]

If forget the page but some nose ringed Black woman in archivist field said the same. Modern adults have stunted literacy rates because we stopped teaching phonics based reading. Because, copy writers are paid to dumb down customer literature. From 11th grade to 6th grade reading levels. In every industry.

There's also an issue with certain administrators deciding that learning phonics was problematic or harmed black/POC students. Schools in California and many other states leaned on whole word reading, which basically means you have kids guess words until they memorize them. So for instance you "read" a book about a character kicking a ball. And the teacher points to the illustration of the ball, then the word "ball" and the kid guesses. Needless to say this is a terrible learning process lol.

We need parents reading to kids, and teachers emphasizing phonics. My parents made me read a lot of books to them too, and they would listen out if I was skipping words or guessing. For instance my mom had me read Newbery Award books, which are children's books that win an award for best books for children. And they have some diverse books including novels with predominantly black characters like MC Higgins The Great. When I have kids I'm definitely going to do the same thing. If you become a great reader it makes school way easier.

 

[010101]

0 1 2 3 4 5..........*

 

[Tupac in a Business Suit]

No Child Left Behind

This is the one right here. When they begin to analyze and unpack this… Man listen. People on here talk about the CIA and Crack Cocaine & gangster rap but NCLB will have destroyed a nation. That right there is fact.

 

[TAYLONDO SAMSWORTHY]

To, two, too. There, they’re , their.

word to @TAYLONDO SAMSWORTHY

Bought / Brought
Lose / Loose
Woman / Women
All of a sudden / All of the sudden

 

[Majestyx]

started inthe 80's, then no child left behind, then social media, then covid spead up the idiocracy timeline

GG's

 

[Afro]

No Child Left Behind

Maaaaaan, someone needs to do a doc on that. I was in school during that time, it was a fukking MESS. That and the D.A.R.E program.

 

[VegetasHairline]

This is the one right here. When they begin to analyze and unpack this… Man listen. People on here talk about the CIA and Crack Cocaine & gangster rap but NCLB will have destroyed a nation. That right there is fact.

Maaaaaan, someone needs to do a doc on that. I was in school during that time, it was a fukking MESS. That and the D.A.R.E program.

Trump makes people forget just how awful of a president George W. Bush was.

 

[WIA20XX]

No Child Left Behind

NCLB is being rehabbed these days in education and political circles, and all of the problems with it are being forgotten. (teaching to the test, and high stakes testing with the penalties on the schools and teachers)

Although one of the inconvenient things about NCLB was that it pushed phonics. (old school phonics. When the twin towers came down, he was actually doing a phonics reading with kids, you've seen the photo)

The Teachers hated Bush, and so they didn't want to adopt phonics because they associated it with him

So they had politically motivated (female, democrat, many of whom were Black) teachers who were "resisting" by not teaching kids with tried and true methods.

That's when "whole language" started popping off - and now generations of kids can't read.

 

[DrBanneker]

If your kids can’t read from an early age they either have a disability or you are a bad parent.

It ain’t the schools fault.

What frightens me the most isn't the kids of uneducated/illiterate parents that can't read---I'm not thrilled by that but I understand their struggle.

What is nuts was when my mom taught she said some of her worst performers were kids with educated and middle class parents that didn't lean in or didn't care about their kids' education first and foremost.

There is no reason why Black kids in PG, Cobb, parts of DeKalb, etc. shouldn't have top quartile reading scores.

 

[Shogun]

American culture doesn't value education. It views it at as job training. Being well-read doesn't pay the bills, so it's not worth the effort.

 

[LadyJ2]

American culture doesn't value education. It views it at as job training. Being well-read doesn't pay the bills, so it's not worth the effort.

Great point!