The High Cost of Low Literacy:
A Presentation to the Literacy Campaign for
Monterey County
Willard Lewallen
Superintendent/President
Hartnell Community College District
March 25, 2014
www.hartnell.edu
411 Central Avenue Salinas, CA. 93901
831-755-6700
LITERACY DEFINITIONS
Complete illiteracy means a person cannot read or write at all. Of
equal relevance is the concept of functional illiteracy,
which means an individual may have basic reading, writing and
numerical skills but cannot apply them to accomplish tasks
that are necessary to make informed choices and participate fully
in everyday life. Such tasks may include:
• Reading a medicine label
• Reading a nutritional label on a food product
• Balancing a checkbook
• Filling out a job application
• Reading and responding to correspondence in the workplace
• Filling out a home loan application
• Reading a bank statement
• Comparing the cost of two items to work out which one offers
the best value
• Working out the correct change at a supermarket.
www.hartnell.edu
411 Central Avenue Salinas, CA. 93901
831-755-6700
LITERACY DEFINITIONS
Poor literacy also limits a person’s ability to engage in
activities that require either critical thinking or a solid base of
literacy
and numeracy skills. Such activities may include:
• Understanding government policies and voting in
elections
• Using a computer to do banking or interact with
government agencies
• Using a computer or smartphone to look up and access
up-to-date news and information; communicate with
others via email or social networking sites
• Completing a higher education degree or training
• Analyzing sophisticated media and advertising messages,
particularly for get-rich-quick scams
• Assisting children with homework.
www.hartnell.edu
411 Central Avenue Salinas, CA. 93901
831-755-6700
SOME SOBERING STATISTICS
April 2013 – U.S. Department of
Education and the National Institute of
Literacy
• 32 million adults in the U.S. can't read
14% of adults
• 21% of adults in the U.S. read below a
5th grade level
• 19% percent of high school graduates
can't read
www.hartnell.edu
411 Central Avenue Salinas, CA. 93901
831-755-6700
SOME SOBERING STATISTICS
• Two-thirds of students who cannot read
proficiently by the end of 4th grade will
end up in jail or on welfare.
• 1 in 4 children in America grow up without
learning how to read.
• As of 2011, America was the only freemarket OECD (Organization for Economic
Cooperation and Development) country
where the current generation was less
well educated than the previous.19%
percent of high school graduates can't
read
www.hartnell.edu
411 Central Avenue Salinas, CA. 93901
831-755-6700
SOME SOBERING STATISTICS
• Nearly 85 percent of the juveniles who
face trial in the juvenile court system are
functionally illiterate.
• 90 percent of high school dropouts are on
welfare.
• Teenage girls ages 16 to 19 who live at or
below the poverty level and have below
average literacy skills are 6 times more
likely to have children out of wedlock than
the girls their age who can read
proficiently.
www.hartnell.edu
411 Central Avenue Salinas, CA. 93901
831-755-6700
SOME SOBERING STATISTICS
• Black and Hispanic adults in the United
States are three to four times more likely
to have poor literacy skills than white
adults.
• About 35 percent of black adults and 43
percent of Hispanic adults score low in
literacy, compared to 10 percent of white
adults. In numeracy, 59 percent of black
adults and 56 percent of Hispanic adults
score low, compared to 19 percent of
white adults.
www.hartnell.edu
411 Central Avenue Salinas, CA. 93901
831-755-6700
SOME SOBERING STATISTICS
• 44 million adults in the U.S. can't read
well enough to read a simple story to a
child.
• About 35 percent of black adults and 43
percent of Hispanic adults score low in
literacy, compared to 10 percent of white
adults. In numeracy, 59 percent of black
adults and 56 percent of Hispanic adults
score low, compared to 19 percent of
white adults.
www.hartnell.edu
411 Central Avenue Salinas, CA. 93901
831-755-6700
SOME SOBERING STATISTICS
Literacy rates have not changed in 10 years
U.S. Adult Literacy Rates
ILLITERATE
BASIC READING LEVEL
100%
80%
60%
40%
29%
20%
14%
29%
14%
0%
2003
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2013
411 Central Avenue Salinas, CA. 93901
831-755-6700
SOME SOBERING STATISTICS
National
Assessment
of Education
Progress
www.hartnell.edu
411 Central Avenue Salinas, CA. 93901
831-755-6700
SOME SOBERING STATISTICS
Public School Enrollment by Race/Ethnicity
U.S.
California
Monterey
County
16%
6%
2%
American
Indian/Alaska Native
1%
1%
1%
Asian/Asian
American/Pacific
Islander
5%
10%
3%
Hispanic/Latino
23%
58%
76%
White
52%
26%
15%
2%
2%
2%
African
American/Black
Multiracial
www.hartnell.edu
411 Central Avenue Salinas, CA. 93901
831-755-6700
SOME SOBERING STATISTICS
www.hartnell.edu
411 Central Avenue Salinas, CA. 93901
831-755-6700
SOME SOBERING STATISTICS
ILLITERACY RATES BY COUNTY
CALIFORNIA
CALIFORNIA 23%
ORANGE
ORANGE 26%
FRESNO
FRESNO 27%
MONTEREY
TULARE
MADERA
LOS ANGELES
COLUSA
IMPERIAL
MONTEREY 28%
TULARE 29%
MADERA 32%
LOS ANGELES 34%
COLUSA 34%
IMPERIAL 42%
0%
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5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
411 Central Avenue Salinas, CA. 93901
30%
35%
40%
45%
831-755-6700
SOME SOBERING STATISTICS
2007 California Academic Performance
Index
• What percentage of students failed the
California Standards Test in English?
57%
www.hartnell.edu
411 Central Avenue Salinas, CA. 93901
831-755-6700
WHAT ARE THE COSTS OF
LOW LITERACY RATES?
• It is estimated that more than $2 billion is
spent each year on students who repeat a
grade because they have reading
problems.
• Over one million children drop out of
school each year, costing the nation over
$240 billion in lost earnings, forgone tax
revenues, and expenditures for social
services.
• It is estimated that the cost of illiteracy to
business and the taxpayer is $20 billion
per year.
www.hartnell.edu
411 Central Avenue Salinas, CA. 93901
831-755-6700
WHAT ARE THE COSTS OF
LOW LITERACY RATES?
• International studies have estimated that
illiterate individuals earn 30-40% less than
their literate counterparts.
• Illiteracy limits a person’s ability to pursue
additional training and education to improve
earning capacity.
• 60% of America's prison inmates are illiterate
and 85% of all juvenile offenders have
reading problems.
• More than 20 percent of adults read at or
below a fifth-grade level - far below the level
needed to earn a living wage.
www.hartnell.edu
411 Central Avenue Salinas, CA. 93901
831-755-6700
WHAT ARE THE COSTS OF
LOW LITERACY RATES?
• Income of a person with poor literacy
stays about the same throughout the
working life.
• Individuals with good literacy and
numeracy skills can expect their incomes
to increase at least two to three times
what they were earning at the beginning
of their careers.
• Young people who do not complete
primary schooling are less likely to obtain
jobs good enough to avoid poverty.
www.hartnell.edu
411 Central Avenue Salinas, CA. 93901
831-755-6700
WHAT ARE THE COSTS OF
LOW LITERACY RATES?
www.hartnell.edu
• Illiteracy significantly limits a person’s
ability to access, understand and apply
health-related information and messages
resulting in poor household and personal
health, hygiene and nutrition.
• Illiterate individuals, particularly mothers,
are more likely to adopt poor nutritional
and hygiene practices in their homes.
• In developing countries, a child born to a
mother who can read is 50 percent more
likely to survive past age five.
• .
411 Central Avenue Salinas, CA. 93901
831-755-6700
WHAT ARE THE COSTS OF
LOW LITERACY RATES?
• Approximately 50 percent of the nation's
unemployed youth age 16-21 are
functional illiterate, with virtually no
prospects of obtaining good jobs.
• More than three out of four of those on
welfare and 85% of unwed mothers are
illiterate.
www.hartnell.edu
411 Central Avenue Salinas, CA. 93901
831-755-6700
WHAT ARE THE COSTS OF
LOW LITERACY RATES?
www.hartnell.edu
411 Central Avenue Salinas, CA. 93901
831-755-6700
WHAT ARE THE COSTS OF
LOW LITERACY RATES?
ENGLISH SECTIONS AT HARTNELL COLLEGE
160
141
140
120
100
80
61
2013-14
60
40
20
0
COLLEGE LEVEL
www.hartnell.edu
UNPREPARED FOR
COLLEGE LEVEL
411 Central Avenue Salinas, CA. 93901
831-755-6700
SPENDING PER STUDENT IN K-12
Where does California rank?
46
out of 50 states
www.hartnell.edu
411 Central Avenue Salinas, CA. 93901
831-755-6700
WHAT IS NEXT – CALL TO
ACTION
?
www.hartnell.edu
411 Central Avenue Salinas, CA. 93901
831-755-6700