More Florida adults lack basic reading skills than national average, study shows
Treasure Coast fares better than state average

Looks like basic reading and writing skills are suffering everywhere. Florida is in the lead it seems.

Americans need to start assuming some responsibility for themselves. We cannot prosper as a nation without an educated workforce.

Other countries are increasingly understanding that and are educating their children in not just the basics like reading and writing but in areas like science, engineering and medicine.

People on these boards like to talk about the "dumbing down" of America...no I take that back...they don't talk about it or even question it...they just use the catch phrase.

Let's really look at the reality and the cost of our national idiocy.

Being a dolt, a functional illiterate or an anti-intellectual should not be cool, a political advantage or an attractive trait in a mate.

If we do not demand a higher standard in education and teach our children to reason, explore, question and be proud of intellectual performance our country will keep up it's steady slide downwards.

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By Kelly Tyko (Contact)
Originally published 12:12 p.m., January 8, 2009
Updated 12:20 p.m., January 8, 2009


Roughly 20 percent of adults in Florida lack basic literacy skills like being able to read a newspaper article, according to data released Thursday.

The National Center for Education Statistics of the federal Department of Education released state and county data on adult literacy for the first time. The study used information from the National Assessment of Adult Literacy and the Census from 1992 and 2003 and is the only available snapshot of adult literacy rates for individual states and counties.

While the national "illiteracy" rate improved slightly, in Florida it got worse.

But all three Treasure Coast counties had better rates than the state average and only St. Lucie County was above the national average of 14.5 percent.

Only two other states — New York and California — had higher rates of illiteracy than Florida in the latest survey. But in 1992, the three states had lower rates — 15 percent for Florida and California — and were in the middle of the pack nationally.

For the study, the National Center for Education Statistics gathered data from the 2003 National Assessment of Adult Literacy, a nationally representative sample of more than 18,000 Americans age 16 and older, and the 2000 Census.

The study shows the percentages of adults lacking basic prose literacy skills, which ranges from being unable to read and understand any written information in English to being able to locate easily identifiable information in short, commonplace prose text, but nothing more advanced.

Martin County’s rate was 11 percent in both the 1992 and 2003 survey and Indian River County’s rate was 12 percent both years.

St. Lucie County had a rate of 17 percent in 1992, which improved to 16 percent in 2003.

To read the report and see county and state estimates, go to http://nces.ed.gov/naal/estimates/Index.aspx.

i spend more time checking out your bust then reading your posts - perhaps a more serious pic would incline more people to read your posts

You know here's what I say to anyone that remarks on the pic ...meet me for the girls and you'd love me for my mind!

hahah

good attitude

Does being anti-intellectual mean not caring or just not knowing? And its hard to get a higher education anymore because the cost goes up every year. Its impossible for me to even think about going to collage at this time. O_O

The library is free.