If the CWRU literacy study is not a wake up call, we don’t know what it.
The other week, Case Western Reserve University’s Center of Urban Poverty and Community Development issued a report that should make us all give pause.
There are five levels of national literacy standards, with Level 1 being the lowest. These standards define literacy as an ability to read for knowledge, write coherently and think critically about the written word.
Experts say that to function successfully in the 21st-century, an individual must have at least Level 3 literacy skills. Only persons at Level 3 or above are capable of using an RTA bus schedule of write a simple letter.
According to the CWRU findings, 43.8 percent of Cuyahoga County residents 16 and older lack those skills.
In Cleveland, 65 percent of the population has Level 1 or Level 2 skills. In East Cleveland, it’s nearly 80 percent.
These statistics don’t bode well on a myriad of levels.
If an individual has dropped out of high school, they may just forget about becoming a productive member of society unless they really have something to bring to the table on a genius or business level.
Let’s face it; those who cannot read, write, comprehend or compute in the 21st century are going to be left behind.
This should be particularly disturbing to those in urban enclaves and inner-ring suburbs.
Long story short is that if “momma or daddy can’t ready, then baby won’t fare much better.
It has been shown that parents with higher educations produce children with higher learning capacities.
Somewhere along the way, our community has not made this coloration.
If the CWRU literacy study is not a wake up call, we don’t know what it.
As we’ve said numerous times on this page, education is the key to success.
