Illiterate America

Illiterate America PDF Author: Jonathan Kozol
Publisher: Doubleday
ISBN: 0307800571
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 409

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Book Description
It is startling and it is shaming: in a country that prides itself on being among the most enlightened in the world, 25 million American adults cannot read the poison warnings on a can of pesticide, a letter from their child’s teacher, or the front page of a newspaper. An additional 35 million read below the level needed to function successfully in our society. The United States ranks forty-ninth among 158 member nations of the UN in literacy, and wastes over $100 billion annually as a result. The problem is not merely an embarrassment, it is a social and economic disaster. In Illiterate America, Jonathan Kozol, author of National Book Award-winning Death at an Early Age, addresses this national disgrace. Combining hard statistics and heartrending stories, he describes the economic and the human costs of illiteracy. Kozol analyses and condemns previous government action—and inaction—and, in a passionate call for reform, he proposes a specific program to conquer illiteracy. One out of every three American adults cannot read this book—which is why everyone else must.

Illiterate America

Illiterate America PDF Author: Jonathan Kozol
Publisher: Doubleday
ISBN: 0307800571
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 409

Get Book

Book Description
It is startling and it is shaming: in a country that prides itself on being among the most enlightened in the world, 25 million American adults cannot read the poison warnings on a can of pesticide, a letter from their child’s teacher, or the front page of a newspaper. An additional 35 million read below the level needed to function successfully in our society. The United States ranks forty-ninth among 158 member nations of the UN in literacy, and wastes over $100 billion annually as a result. The problem is not merely an embarrassment, it is a social and economic disaster. In Illiterate America, Jonathan Kozol, author of National Book Award-winning Death at an Early Age, addresses this national disgrace. Combining hard statistics and heartrending stories, he describes the economic and the human costs of illiteracy. Kozol analyses and condemns previous government action—and inaction—and, in a passionate call for reform, he proposes a specific program to conquer illiteracy. One out of every three American adults cannot read this book—which is why everyone else must.

Illiteracy in America

Illiteracy in America PDF Author: Edward F. Dolan
Publisher: Franklin Watts
ISBN: 9780531111789
Category : Literacy
Languages : en
Pages : 128

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Book Description
Covers the rise and decline of literacy in the United States, educational and social explanations, literacy programs in the United States and other countries, and volunteer efforts and how to take part in them

Unscientific America

Unscientific America PDF Author: Chris Mooney
Publisher: Basic Books
ISBN: 0786744553
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 224

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Book Description
Climate change, the energy crisis, nuclear proliferation—many of the most urgent problems of the twenty-first century require scientific solutions, yet America is paying less and less attention to scientists. For every five hours of cable news, less than one minute is devoted to science, and the number of newspapers with science sections has shrunk from ninety-five to thirty-three in the last twenty years. In Unscientific America, journalist and best-selling author Chris Mooney and scientist Sheril Kirshenbaum explain this dangerous state of affairs, proposing a broad array of initiatives that could reverse the current trend. An impassioned call to arms, Unscientific America exhorts Americans to reintegrate science into public discourse—before it is too late.

Thresholds of Illiteracy

Thresholds of Illiteracy PDF Author: Abraham Acosta
Publisher: Fordham Univ Press
ISBN: 0823257126
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 292

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Book Description
Thresholds of Illiteracy reevaluates Latin American theories and narratives of cultural resistance by advancing the concept of “illiteracy” as a new critical approach to understanding scenes or moments of social antagonism. “Illiteracy,” Acosta claims, can offer us a way of talking about what cannot be subsumed within prevailing modes of reading, such as the opposition between writing and orality, that have frequently been deployed to distinguish between modern and archaic peoples and societies. This book is organized as a series of literary and cultural analyses of internationally recognized postcolonial narratives. It tackles a series of the most important political/aesthetic issues in Latin America that have arisen over the past thirty years or so, including indigenism, testimonio, the Zapatista movement in Chiapas, and migration to the United States via the U.S.–Mexican border. Through a critical examination of the “illiterate” effects and contradictions at work in these resistant narratives, the book goes beyond current theories of culture and politics to reveal radically unpredictable forms of antagonism that advance the possibility for an ever more democratic model of cultural analysis.

Literacy in American Lives

Literacy in American Lives PDF Author: Deborah Brandt
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521003063
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 276

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Book Description
This book addresses critical questions facing public education at the twenty-first century.

Uncovering the Logic of English: A Common-Sense Solution to America's Literacy Crisis

Uncovering the Logic of English: A Common-Sense Solution to America's Literacy Crisis PDF Author: Denise Eide
Publisher: Logic of English, Inc
ISBN: 1936706075
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 204

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Book Description
"English is so illogical!" It is generally believed that English is a language of exceptions. For many, learning to spell and read is frustrating. For some, it is impossible... especially for the 29% of Americans who are functionally illiterate. But what if the problem is not the language itself, but the rules we were taught? What if we could see the complexity of English as a powerful tool rather than a hindrance? --Denise Eide Uncovering the Logic of English challenges the notion that English is illogical by systematically explaining English spelling and answering questions like "Why is there a silent final E in have, large, and house?" and "Why is discussion spelled with -sion rather than -tion?" With easy-to-read examples and anecdotes, this book describes: - the phonograms and spelling rules which explain 98% of English words - how English words are formed and how this knowledge can revolutionize vocabulary development - how understanding the reasons behind English spelling prevents students from needing to guess The author's inspiring commentary makes a compelling case that understanding the logic of English could transform literacy education and help solve America's literacy crisis. Thorough and filled with the latest linguistic and reading research, Uncovering the Logic of English demonstrates why this systematic approach should be as foundational to our education as 1+1=2.

Poverty and Literacy

Poverty and Literacy PDF Author: Nathalis Wamba
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317978323
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 130

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Book Description
There is a mutual dependence between poverty and academic achievement, creative pedagogies for low-income pupils, school models that ‘beat the odds’, and the resiliency of low-income families dedicated to the academic success of their children. This book examines the connection between poverty and literacy, looking at the potential roles and responsibilities of teachers, school administrators, researchers, and policymakers in closing the achievement gap and in reducing the effects of poverty on the literacy skill development of low-income children. There are numerous suggestions about how to improve schools so that they respond to the needs of low-income children; some argue for school reform, while others advocate social reform, and yet others suggest combining both educational reform and social reform. Without a strong foundation in literacy, children are all too often denied access to a rich and diverse curriculum. Reading and writing are passports to achievement in many other curricular areas, and literacy education plays an important role in moving people out of poverty toward greater self-sufficiency post-graduation. Schools and home environments share responsibility for literacy skill development; in school, literacy equals the acquisition of reading and writing skills, but it is also a social practice key to social mobility. The achievement gap between low-income, middle-class, and upper middle-class students illustrates the power of socioeconomic factors outside school. This book was originally published as two special issues of Reading & Writing Quarterly: Overcoming Learning Difficulties.

Illiteracy in America

Illiteracy in America PDF Author: Gary E. McCuen
Publisher: G E M/McCuen Publications, Incorporated
ISBN:
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 160

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Book Description
A collection of essays presenting a variety of, often conflicting viewpoints concerning the problem of illiteracy and what can be done about it.

Cultural Literacy

Cultural Literacy PDF Author: E.D. Hirsch, Jr.
Publisher: Vintage
ISBN: 0394758439
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 273

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Book Description
A must-read for parents and teachers, this major bestseller reveals how cultural literacy is the hidden key to effective education and presents 5000 facts that every literate American should know. In this forceful manifesto Professor E. D. Hirsch, Jr., argues that children in the United States are being deprived of the basic knowledge that would enable them to function in contemporary society. They lack cultural literacy: a grasp of background information that writers and speakers assume their audience already has. Even if a student has a basic competence in the English language, he or she has little chance of entering the American mainstream without knowing what a silicon chip is, or when the Civil War was fought. An important work that has engendered a nationwide debate on our educational standards, Cultural Literacy is a required reading for anyone concerned with our future as a literate nation.

Condition of Education 2009

Condition of Education 2009 PDF Author: William J. Hussar, Thomas D. Snyder, Michael Planty
Publisher: Government Printing Office
ISBN: 9780160876134
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 359

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Book Description
NCES 2009-031. By Michael Planty, et al. To ensure reliable, accurate, and timely data, which are necessary to monitor the progress of education in the United States, Congress has mandated that the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) produce an annual report, The Condition of Education. This year’s report presents 46 indicators of important developments and trends in U.S. education. These indicators focus on participation and persistence in education, student performance and other measures of achievement, the environment for learning, and resources for education.