(Media) Literacy in The United States
Communication, comprehension, and the downward spiral of American education
Many of us take our ability to read for granted. Many of us probably believe that we are good readers. From social media captions and news headlines to the nutrition labels on our food, text messages, notifications, street signs, and yes, even bedtime stories, we’re always reading. But the unfortunate reality is that millions of adults in the U.S. struggle with literacy.
Literacy is “the ability to understand, evaluate, use and engage with written texts to participate in society, to achieve one’s goals, and to develop one’s knowledge and potential (OECD 2013).”
To simplify, literacy is what most of us recognize as reading comprehension. It’s the ability to read something, understand the key takeaways, and when necessary, apply that information to the task at hand. A basic example would be following directions to build a piece of furniture or the steps for a new recipe. More complexly, we can read a news headline and draw connections between other current events, make inferences about the implications of said event, and conclude the overall meaning of the information. Again, for many of us, this may sound like second nature. But while it may seem so, the harsh reality is that for most adults and increasing numbers of school-aged children, this skill is rapidly diminishing .
In studies conducted over the last few years, researchers found that 54% of adults read at or below a 6th-grade level. Furthermore, half of the American workforce cannot read and process information beyond the level of 11-year-olds.
To put this in perspective, every other adult you converse with is probably absorbing information from the news, social media, and emails at the same level as a middle schooler - making personal and professional communication a challenge.
So, while 79% of U.S. adults are functionally literate, the majority of them are not so on an adult or advanced level. And what’s even more troubling is the fact that 21% of adults in America, 130 million individuals, are not literate at all. While many may look to increased immigration rates, this is not a large contributing factor as 66% of illiterate adults are born in America with English as their first language. As a result, 1 in 5 adults regularly struggle to complete basic forms. This is especially prevalent in the medical and business fields. In fact, the overlap between areas with low levels of literacy and areas with poor health in America map exactly.
By improving adult literacy rates, the U.S. could save up to $238B in healthcare costs each year.
Helping all adults reach the equivalent of a sixth-grade reading level could generate an additional $2.2T—or 10% of GDP—annually.
- Barbara Bush Foundation
An element of particular concern for combatting literacy issues is the rise of digital media. Where our information historically came via print sources and therefore relied on traditional modes of reading and comprehending, the media now asks us to expand our notion of what literacy is.
Media Literacy is defined as “a set of competencies that enable us to interpret media texts and institutions, to make media of our own, and to recognize and engage with the social and political influence of media in everyday life.”
Today’s information and entertainment technologies communicate to us through a powerful combination of words, images, and sounds. As such, we need to develop a wider set of literacy skills helping us to both comprehend the messages we receive and effectively utilize these tools to design and distribute our messages.
- National Association for Media Literacy & Education
Through media literacy education, people learn to fact-check claims, cross-reference information across multiple sources, and recognize common propaganda techniques and biases. By fostering a skeptical and discerning mindset, media literacy enables individuals to better navigate the complex media landscape, identify misinformation, and make informed decisions based on accurate and reliable information. Ultimately, media literacy promotes a more informed and resilient society capable of resisting the spread of misinformation and fake news.
- National Association for Media Literacy & Education
The added element of the media, which kids have increased access to every day, means that traditional literacy teaching methods are under-preparing them for the adult world. That being said, the American education system is now struggling to maintain even basic reading skills among students. More than 64% of fourth graders cannot read proficiently. Reading levels have actually regressed by 33 years and are on par with where they were in 1992. At that point, Present George H.W. Bush and First Lady Barbara Bush had already established literacy as a major area of national concern. The National Literacy Act and The Barbara Bush Foundation For Family Literacy were founded in 1989 and 1991, respectively.
The biggest drop in literacy scores occurred after the COVID-19 pandemic when schools moved to a virtual teaching style. Little recovery has been seen in the five years since students returned to the classrooms, demonstrating long-term consequences and an inability to make up for the lowered levels of education students received during that time. Teachers cite underfunding and lack of parent participation as two of the largest factors in lowered levels of literacy. Others blame media technologies such as smart devices which they fear have been used to replace reading as a mode of entertainment.
Studies have shown that children who are read to regularly are more likely to develop early literacy skills, such as rhyming, letter recognition, and phonemic awareness (hearing the sounds in spoken words). These skills are essential for becoming a skilled reader and success in school.
- Reading Rockets, Launching Young Readers
Organizations such as The Barbara Bush Foundation and other programs it supports have developed programs to aid adult literacy efforts, but are mainly focused on the 21% of the population that identifies as illiterate. Ensuring everyone has a basic level of literacy is hugely significant to overall factors in the U.S. but does little to raise the poor level of literacy held by 42.7% of adults.
In conclusion, 63.7% of U.S. adults have only elementary or no literacy skills at all. While great strides were made in the early and mid-2000s to raise the overall reading level of Americans, things have reverted to where they sat at the end of the 1980s during the first Bush presidency. As a result, The United States ranks 36th in the world for adult literacy.
If you’re interested in finding out your own reading level, The Oxford English Dictionary provides a free sample exercise and assessment you can take here: