Around 14 percent of American adults and 19 percent of high school graduates read below a basic level (U.S. Dept. of Ed., 2015). Only 13 percent of American adults read at a “proficient” level (U.S. Dept. of Ed., 2015).Functional illiteracy, defined as an inability to “read well enough to manage . . . tasks that require reading skills beyond a basic level” (Schlechty), has many detrimental effects on society. Functional illiteracy may be correlated with poverty and with crime rates. Adults at the lowest level of literacy are more “almost ten times more likely” to live below the poverty line (Illiteracy, 2011). Perhaps part of why illiteracy still exists in America is that schools are failing to inspire a habit of daily reading (“History of Literacy”,
Around 14 percent of American adults and 19 percent of high school graduates read below a basic level (U.S. Dept. of Ed., 2015). Only 13 percent of American adults read at a “proficient” level (U.S. Dept. of Ed., 2015).Functional illiteracy, defined as an inability to “read well enough to manage . . . tasks that require reading skills beyond a basic level” (Schlechty), has many detrimental effects on society. Functional illiteracy may be correlated with poverty and with crime rates. Adults at the lowest level of literacy are more “almost ten times more likely” to live below the poverty line (Illiteracy, 2011). Perhaps part of why illiteracy still exists in America is that schools are failing to inspire a habit of daily reading (“History of Literacy”,