U.S., global literacy rates terrible and falling
Read it and weep: After decades of reporting five levels of literacy, the largest adult literacy study in the world has dropped the top level.
The reason: Just 2% of adults worldwide — barely enough to count — performed at Level 5. So researchers combined it with Level 4 in their most recent report.
Welcome to the world of literacy today, according to the latest Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies, or PIAAC.
PIAAC is an enormous, every-10-year study of adult literacy, developed and organized by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Education. The study seeks to determine how well adults are prepared to function in today’s society.
The study looks at how well adults use information to get along in their daily lives. Here’s what they learned:
What’s your audience members’ reading level? >>>
How can you reach all of your readers?
Read it and weep. More than half of all Americans have basic or below-basic reading skills, according to the DOE’s latest adult literacy test.
How well are you doing reaching these folks with your messages?
To reach all of your readers — regardless of their reading level — please join me at Rev Up Readability, — our clear-writing workshop that begins on June 20.
You’ll learn to make every piece you write easier to read and understand. You’ll walk away with secrets you can use to reach more readers, measurably improve readability and sell concise writing to management. And you’ll learn to write messages that get more people to read your piece, read more of it, read it faster, understand it better and remember it longer.
Save up to $100 with our group discounts.