Montenegro, a country that has been in transition for the last two decades, is trying intensively to restructure its socioeconomic system and reform the main social systems, such as the education system, health care, the judicial system, the social welfare system, etc. Numerous strategic documents have been adopted in the past decade emphasising…

Once upon a time, Americans identified illiteracy among high school graduates as a national crisis. The solution, almost everyone agreed, was to teach every child to read by the end of third grade. If students could read well by then, the reasoning went, they would read even better in all the grades that followed. However, the 2005 results of the…

Discusses illiteracy in Canada and describes the steps that have been taken to improve this problem at the national, provincial, and local levels. (CHC)

The assessment records detailing the reading and spelling performance of a group of male juvenile justice detainees admitted over a 3-month period were examined in an attempt to quantify the basic literacy levels of juvenile offenders. Results of student self-ratings of their reading ability were also analysed. The participants comprised 68 males…

According to studies using the Degrees of Reading Power system for estimating readability, most high school graduates cannot read at a level enabling them to understand much of what they read in newspapers, periodicals, work-related documents, or many high school texts or tests. (PGD)

Trained volunteers tutored youth and adults who were reading below fifth grade level. Pre- and posttest measures of reading, verbal language, listening comprehension, and locus of control were taken. Experimental subjects, but not controls, made significant gains in general reading and discrete reading subskills. Trained volunteers can ameliorate…

Reviews research on the average reading level in the United States, on how well the average American needs to read, and on what the average American can and does read. (MKM)

This article proposes a four-component framework for understanding the literacy of individuals with visual impairments, and defines two levels of literacy--basic (or academic) and functional (or practical) literacy. Implications are drawn for development of self-advocacy skills, development of standards for judging literacy in this population, and…

Data generated through the National Assessment of Educational Progress's regular and special reading assessments during the 1970s indicate that the reading performance of historically lower-achieving students has risen considerably. Unfortunately, the significance of the data has not been fully explored by the news media. (PGD)

This paper summarises findings and lessons from a recently conducted evaluation of an adult functional literacy program in Ghana. The study attempted to assess learners' literacy and numeracy skills, and ascertain participants' knowledge and skills in various development aspects as well as their impact. The literacy and numeracy skills assessment…

Examines the relationship between level of schooling and literacy attainment in four rural communities in Guatemala. The authors first identify the grade at which most children become literate and then estimate the net contribution of schooling to literacy. They found that most children became literate with between three and four years of…

Evaluates "The Reading Report Card" and application of Reading Proficiency Scale to that report with 1984-85 data on reading ability in adults between ages 21 and 25. Also discusses reading trends in relation to different segments of population and in terms of where decreases and increases in reading ability have occurred between 1974…