Being Literate Is True Freedom. Instead, We Are Enslaving Our Children

by Erin Geary

July 28, 2023

What qualifies as being literate in the United States? It all depends on your measurement. According to the Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC), literacy is defined as, “understanding, evaluating, using and engaging with written texts to participate in society, to achieve one’s goals, and to develop one’s knowledge and potential.” This seems quite broad, yet is used to show the Literacy Gap Map on the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy site. It is here that the map details where 36 million of U.S. population doesn’t meet the threshold for even basic literacy. However, there is no description of basic literacy.

Then there is the Flesch-Kincaid Score, which determines the grade level that someone is capable of reading based on sentence length and the amount of syllables within the words. The mathematical formula is thus: FKRA = (0.39 x ASL) + (11.8 x ASW) – 15.59. Using this method, it is determined that The New York Times is at a college age reading level, which would only meet the most elite of readers. Whereas, the BBC is more at a 6th grade reading level (readable.com).

You may, also, recall that during President Obama’s second term there was high interest in Cuba and its ability to raise their literacy rates to 99%. Cuba’s success was highlighted, the State Department loosened tensions, and the administration eventually promoted “educational” tourism to the communist island. The problem is that we don’t really know the reading level of the 99% of “literate” Cubans.

Additionally, Gary Marx of the Chicago Tribune wrote the article “Mixed marks for Cuban education” in 2002 that questioned what kind of literacy the Cuban government was bestowing on its pupils as they aged. He wrote, “Instead of stock market clubs, Junior ROTC and debate teams, the Cuban government imparts its values to older students through required classes that teach sacrifice, patriotism, collectivism and a militant defense of national sovereignty, all in the context of glorifying the Cuban Revolution.” So as much as our politicians and educators touted Cubans ability to read and write, Cuba is not allowing the employment of critical thinking skills.

It is within this context that the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) released it’s draft literacy plan last month. Credit is due to those who devised this plan. They, finally, want to lay the groundwork for a more streamlined approach to teaching reading and writing throughout the state. The ISBE believes teachers shouldn’t have to juggle several different curricula to get to the end goal. Overall, education has been lopsided, tilting more toward science, technology, engineering, art, and math (STEAM) for about a two decades instead of a more balanced approach promoting all core subjects.

Thus, our students’ abilities to read, write, and communicate orally have diminished. Kudos to those who are now rushing to plug the dike, but red flags go off when any report uses the word “equitable” repeatedly. Also, one has to question how we let literacy droop to begin with. Every subject area requires reading, writing, and oral skill. But somehow we’re failing?

Illinois has expectations of its “stakeholders.” First, we need to look at its definition of literacy. The ISBE defines literacy as “the ability to identify, understand, interpret, evaluate, create, compute, and communicate effectively through using visual, audible, and digital materials across disciplines and in any context.” In other words, students who are literate should be able to read and comprehend text, critically think about what they are reading, draw conclusions, and articulate their thoughts in a variety of ways. By the time they are adults (starting at age 16), PIACC expects that readers can answer simple comprehension questions found in articles, graphs, or paychecks. For example after reading a few paragraphs about a 23-year-old championship swimmer, readers have to answer at what age this swimmer started their competitive swimming, which will be found farther down in the article. Or they will ask a reader to review a pay stub and locate much the person has earned year to date.

For sure, these skills are important. How to get there, however, is up for debate. Those who are scoring lowest on basic skills are from poor areas, may also be minorities, and many of those tested have a primary language that is not English.

Furthermore, the ISBE report lays out a clear plan for parents of even the youngest children. These stakeholders should have a literacy rich household and access to libraries. In a perfect world this would be great. But the stakeholders in impoverished areas of Chicago may not be literate themselves, may not have access to libraries, and may not have many books on the shelves. Are there ways around these hurdles? Of course, but they are not in the report.

Here are some tips: If a parent or grandparent is lacking in reading abilities, older children can help younger children with basic alphabet letter recognition, phonemic sounds, and by reading aloud; any print material can be read from items like a recipe to the back of a cereal box; and oral storytelling is always an avenue. There are online resources like Storyline Online where celebrities read aloud. Reading is all around us from street signs to labels. The ability to write, at minimum, requires a stick and dirt. Retelling a story underscores listening and verbal skills.

Thus, excluding those needing extra services for a diagnosed learning disability, the only excuse for illiteracy is apathy.

But Mayor Brandon Johnson’s education plan is more focused on ideas beyond the purview of best educational practices for children. For example, he wants to hire students to create a youth council to “guide school decisions,” he wants to secure low income housing, he wants to provide free college tuition for those who decide to become teachers, and he emphasizes equitable access to education for illegal immigrants (Chalkbeat Chicago). How to pay for these worthy causes is never discussed (other than to point out that Covid monies have ceased to exist) nor is there a discussion connecting Johnson’s goals and Illinois’ plan to increase literacy.

Agreement between the ISBE and Mayor Johnson is found with those whose primary language is not English. These children are to be catered to. Yet studies have proven that if you want to learn a new language, you must be immersed in that foreign language. “Speak, listen, respond – communicate!” as Maija Kozlova of Cambridge said in the article “The benefit of immersive language-learning experiences and how to create them.” Yet for every study found supporting immersive language learning, there are equal that support teaching in both primary and secondary languages.

Admittedly, there are studies that can support any argument. And this is why we see cycles in education with new ways to teach curriculum. These bandwagons are financial boons for text book companies but do little to raise scores.

For example, in the 1980s literacy education shifted away from separate areas of study within reading. It was becoming taboo to have actual phonics books and spelling books. Instead, the idea of whole language by Kenneth Goodman took the country by storm. His ideas coupled with linguist Noam Chomsky’s (and others’) theories of acquiring language challenged traditional teaching methods. Whole language was more engaging by allowing texts, themselves, and creative teachers to become all that was needed to guide children’s literacy.

Why this was and is a radical idea is really quizzical. After all, how did people learn to read prior to text book companies? They used the Bible and nursery rhymes.

Regardless, the idea behind whole language was to teach based on theme. If, for instance, a teacher chose to tell the biblical story of “Jonah and the Whale,” social studies lessons could be about the oceans. In science, students could study whales. Goldfish crackers could be used as counters to add or subtract in math. Reading would be centered on phonics, spelling, and vocabulary drawn from the story itself. Depending on their age students would then write a sentence and draw a picture about their favorite part of the story, or, if older, the students would write a retelling or summary. Class discussions could go deeper about various themes of the story—obedience, punishment, second chances. Students could even create their own plays.

If done correctly, immersing students in the same theme for a week before moving on to a new theme was productive and enjoyable for students and teachers. However, now that whole language is verboten, the pendulum of literacy studies is swinging back towards allocating separate times for spelling, phonics, reading, and writing in hopes it will aid our literacy problem.

But one thing that never goes away in the ISBE report is the amount of assessments students are subjected to annually, which makes reading and writing less pleasurable and eats up considerable classroom time. Are we teaching literacy to create lifelong, curious readers? Or are we merely looking for numerous receipts when only one will do.

What is most amusing is the ISBE’s emphasis on having “high-quality literacy resources including physical materials.” The ISBE is also encouraging handwriting! After having kids stuck online during Covid and switching most physical reading materials to computerized texts, Illinois districts will be spending millions on text books while at the same time Mayor Johnson is committed to providing free laptop computers and Wi-Fi to Chicago’s students. Gov. Pritzker and Mayor Johnson better get in sync.

To be clear, there is a literacy problem plaguing our country, Illinois, and, in particular, Chicago. But using someone’s race, color, and primary language as excuses for low performance is cowardly. Pouring billions of dollars into a broken system will not help children read. And the expectation that teachers must “implement curriculum equitably and with fidelity to combat the barriers that may exist outside the classroom environment” is ridiculous. Teachers can only control what is inside their classrooms. Compassion of a student’s unique situations doesn’t mean teachers should allow some students to slide while the rest are held to standards.

First, we need a definitive definition of literacy in America. Studies show 79% of Americans are literate. But what is the threshold? A third grade reading level? A sixth grade reading level?

Next, we need to stop comparing ourselves to countries whose population consists of monoethnicity. How many different ethnic groups are in Japan, for example? Having said that, we need to return to being a melting pot and calling ourselves American all having the same values regardless of where we first arrived from. Thus we need to end the DEI movement that is splitting us apart. Lastly, we need to end the zeal for educational bandwagons.

If we really want literate children, then do what has always worked: Teachers and/or parents who could read a story aloud with such fluidity and expression that children are begging for more; provide physical books that can be reread over and over again with a literate guide to help with phonemic awareness, phonics, spelling, and vocabulary; create a thirst for reading by emphasizing that books can take you anywhere in and out of the universe; demand that reading and writing is cross-curricular; and promote the fact that writing is the one thing children control in the school day. After all, they choose the direction their story or essay will go, they make words choices, they choose the proper voice for their audience, they add or subtract sentences for clarity, etc. If parents and teachers continue failing to engage children in these areas, our illiteracy rate will continue to grow.

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Erin Geary is a writer, consultant, mother, wife, and volunteer. After thirty years of teaching, she left the profession to pursue her dream of writing. Her twice weekly articles on American culture and politics can be found at Commonfolk365.substack.com. She recently celebrated her first year writing and is thrilled to be a guest writer for John Kass. 

Comments 33

  1. We were raised on “Songs and stories,” as the Dublin -Irish ditty goes. Shared tales of faith, family, fables and fortune were keys to literacy. After which came rote-learning which was applied to the formation of words with appropriate pauses and conclusions.

    Oral tradition is fading. Oral tradition gave us Milton, Shakespeare, the Brontes, Thackeray and Longfellow. Mark Twain and Brett Harte were students of the oral tradition.

    We no longer have the patience to share stories. We have too many interruptors(devices and trolls) and interruptions.

    Erin Geary’s caveat offers a solid cure – “If we really want literate children, then do what has always worked: Teachers and/or parents who could read a story aloud with such fluidity and expression that children are begging for more; provide physical books that can be reread over and over again with a literate guide to help with phonemic awareness, phonics, spelling, and vocabulary; create a thirst for reading by emphasizing that books can take you anywhere in and out of the universe; demand that reading and writing is cross-curricular; and promote the fact that writing is the one thing children control in the school day. ”

    Thank you, Ms. Geary!

    1. I remember having a math teacher in middle school who would read her favorite book aloud to us in the remaining minutes of class–Tarzan of the Apes. We thought she was a bit kooky, especially when she cried at the end. But it has remained with me. Or the 5th grade social studies teacher who would take us out on a nice day to sit under the trees, gave us lyrics, and played his guitar for us to have a sing a-long.

      It’s not that they didn’t do their regular teaching. They wanted to add even more to our classes, and I’ll never forget them.

  2. Thank Ms. Geary,

    Our children are not literate because it is not valued in the general culture. Further, education has become politicized and has turned into a jobs and patronage program as most other sectors the government handles.

    Reading, writing well, thinking critically, making connections, takes practice. Thus is something even our athletes do not do like they used to. Time on task has been reduced. Our host Mr. Kass, has written about his own explorations in literature, and has mentioned some of the teachers that impacted him. People interact very little with literature anymore.

    You have to make them do it! Anyone can learn to read and write, add, subtract, multiply, divide. But too many kids cannot do these things well and efficiently. No one makes them do it. Teachers who try to be task masters are hated, complained about, and administrators do not back them.

    Our politicians make curriculum decisions based on politics and donors, not based on what’s best for the students. You have push the kids to work. It takes work to get good at anything.

    Hard work is missing. As Kass has said, Joe many kids have books readily available and a summer day to sit under a tree and read and dream?

    You want your kids to be successful students? Teach them yourself. Don’t expect the schools to teach them much depth.

    With all the money spent in Illinois, our schools should be on par with any other. But you have to make the kids work. No one does that anymore. Also, the environment must be conducive to learning. Teachers don’t have the respect and authority they used to either.

    Kids rush form activity to activity, and those are the lucky ones. Others live in poverty with poor nutrition and run a gauntlet full of neglect, violence and poor role models.

    It ain’t Leave it to Beaver out there anymore. If it ever really was at all, those days sees through.

    Let a mom send her son to Leo High School if she wants.

    1. I’ve personally worked with literature teachers who push play so kids only listen and follow along with a book on tape, then answer written questions that never get graded or read. Active reading and class discussion are needed. WRITING about themes is so important. We are losing a battle with technology.

      1. Erin, if parents don’t support you and weak admin doesn’t have your back, it’s just survival mode, path of least resistance. We have score of people with teaching degrees not teaching, even where the pay and benefits are decent.

        The job is a neat grinder and will beat you down if you let it.

        It’s not easy, especially if you care about the kids and really want to be effective.

  3. John Kass,

    Please use your big megaphone to weigh in on Illinois’ politicians letting the INVEST IN KIDS program sunset (disappear) at the end of this year,

    Over 9,000 minority kids are enrolled in parochial, private and charter schools with support from INVEST IN KIDS. They are thriving!

    The teachers unions (and their failed results) demand this program not be renewed. At this point our politicians are silent. INVEST IN KIDS will sunset and the “Springfield class will continue to send their kids to private and parochial schools.

    The 9,000+ minority kids will be returned to Chicago public schools and their bright futures forever dimmed.

    Dan Jorndt – Northbrook (Amundsen High School alum and classmate of your coach
    Gary Korhonen)

  4. Our kids are poorly educated and its sad as it negatively impacts minorities more. Its not a lost cause though I as have seen so many young men and women despite all the odds succeed, we need to support and encourage them.

    1. 100%. But they also need to be shown role models that have made it. Contemporaries like Thomas Sowell, Justice Thomas, Tim Scott, Dr. Carson, etc. are thought of as Uncle Toms or worse. Police officers are disrespected. You don’t have to like their politics to see their path in escaping poverty and making something of themselves.

      1. We grew up with coaches who read Coleridge, Milton and Austen and teachers who could thread pipe, make Sicilian beef bone gravy and sing like Ella Fitzgerald. Everyone seemed to read five Chicago newspapers a day and could articulate the problems with LBJ’s Great Society as well as Daniel Patrick Moynihan. Today, people stare at screens.

        Don’t get me started on the schools.

        1. I grew up in a house full 0f books with no television. I remember my father coming quietly into my room when I was supposed to be doing my homework. I was reading a novel and was paddled. The novel, by the way was one of my parents favorites, a book from The Forsyte Saga. Times have changed. You become literate by reading. There is no other way.

  5. This is an informative article. One correction: It is within this context that the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) released its draft literacy plan last month. Its without the ‘

  6. This story took me back to my old grade school. We had SRA, Weekly Reader, phonics, spelling, story time, and penmanship. (Remember the alphabet in cursive that was at the top of the chalkboard in every classroom?) In 5th grade, we had to have our parents sign a slip verifying that we spent a half hour every night reading.

    I will never forget the book that instilled in me the love to read, “The Woodshed Mystery”, which was read to us at story time.

    I’m so grateful to all those old school-marm teachers at Sward School in Oak Lawn who pushed us to learn and gave us both a book and moral education. Things sure have changed.

  7. Recently was discussing students behavior in school with a friend of 60 years. Recently in St Charles a teacher has a student who stands on his desk in class, teacher told to just let him be. In Addison a kid punched a teacher in the head. The Old Days: Bartlett teacher tied up and gaged a girl who continued to disrupt the class. Elgin teacher throwing a student around in the wrestling room and it wasn’t training! Or maybe I’m just making these stories up? Point is 2 generations ago teachers were able to stop students misbehaving, we need to allow that again!

  8. Thank you Ms. Geary for a wonderful column!

    Allowing children to access a variety of topics to read engages them. My teachers and parents encouraged me to read anything I could get my grubby mitts on: Antigone to Prisoner of Zenda. Then they encouraged me to debate and discuss what I read; especially at the dinner table. That set the foundation of what my wife and I did with our daughter with reading. It is a part of what she and I call “family education”. Where did we get all these books? At the library!

  9. Great column. Makes good points on how basic education principles have been corrupted by political indoctrination and socialism. During the last mayoral election the Secretary of State offices were receiving busloads of Chicago Public high school students to issue them state ID’s so they could vote. Im sure they were given no instructions on how to vote. Ignorant people are easily led. I’m reminded of Monty Python’s movies where the public were depicted as dirty, stupid peasantry who spoke in unison and were led by idiots. No critical thinking in the mob depicted in these movies. Very, very prophetic. Assisted by social media and government censorship we have now reached this level of stupidity among the masses. If there was any upside to the Covid “crises” it enabled parents to actually become grounded enough to observe what trash their kids were being indoctrinated with. I’m pretty sure that side effect was an unintended consequence of the manufactured “crisis”. As people have now returned to their normal routines of work/survival hopefully they don’t go back to sleep. Hopefully…

  10. I know that people always whine about how much better things were, but I went to a CPS grammar school, and I remember having to read both the “Illustrated Man”, and “Tale of Two Cities* in 7th and 8th grade. And this was 1973/74, so there was no such thing as Advanced placement. We even had to go home for lunch every day.
    And that’s what changed. No more families with a stay at home whatever, we have allowed the schools to become pseudo parents, nobody has time to read. Sure, we were always told to get out of the house and play, but we also had books. Because TV sucked, and computers were a dream.

  11. By the way, Riga Tony. Baloney, Phony is living proof we have to overhaul our education system. He was passed through public schools without ever having ONE intelligent thought. He was fast tracked through public schools to qualify him to work various fast food outlets. Yet in his vast empty cranium he imagines he owns various fine drinking establishments and high rises in Beloit Wisconsin! His life is a tragic example of the worst public school education designed to make the already stupid even stupider. He should be pitied, not ridiculed….ok let’s be honest HE SHOULD BE RIDICULED.

    1. Actually I attended private schools, my parents felt religion and theology were important. After I studied abroad for two years before coming home, never attended a public school in my lifetime. What shall I do with all the space I’m renting in your head Mr Diaz?? Sad space, sure is empty in here..

      1. No one believes anything you say, because you are a documented liar. By the way, Tony, you still haven’t explained how falsely claiming to be the owner of Tony’s Tap in Mineral Point WI is somehow not a lie. Nor have you explained how pointing out this documented lie is somehow slander. Eagerly waiting your explanation.

        1. Bruce! Again with the hurtful slander! Correction: not ‘no one’, just you. I see you’ve adapted the Trump Defense: Repeat a lie over and over and over again until you’ve exhausted everyone around you. Any thoughts on the substance of what I felt is a well written article?? Certainly a step up from the occasional ‘Fox Light’ dribble, don’t you think Bruce?? Oh! Wait! I hear children playing nearby! Better run off and make sure they aren’t stepping on your lawn! Let me guess-you are the neighbor who won’t give the ball back when it comes over the fence, aren’t you?? Damn kids! Amiright?? Ha! Again, you have my pity. I genuinely feel anger toward whoever hurt you.

          1. I figured you’d ignore my question. Fact: YOU on your prior FB page said YOU were the bartender, bouncer, cook and PROPRIETOR of Tony’s Tap in Mineral Point WI. Yet, you never ever owned that establishment. That was a lie. David Pearling documented your perfidy via a screen shot and posted your lie for all to see. This is indisputable. Rather than slander, what we have here is denying the obvious. That is called gaslighting. As far as pity? Clearly you are a failure in life as judged not by others but by yourself … the ultimate dismissal of one’s legacy. How else to explain your attempt to assume the identity of a successful restauranteur in an historic town? That my friend is sad. So I in fact pity you.

        2. FYI Scroll down Mr Bruce GrumpyPants. I responded to the substance of the article, have you? Now, you are certainly free to challenge my POV, that’s what content sections are for! You know what they are NOT for? insults, accusations and lies. Remember, I only respond to you, I never initiate. When you are done being humiliated you may consider being courteous and focusing on the author’s POV. When you aren’t screaming at the kids playing in the street that is.. (:

          1. Another lie: “Remember, I only respond to you, I never initiate.” Really? If you recall genius, when I posted my displeasure with Mr. Maitino, YOU responded with your usual BS … “You truly are a bitter old crank, aren’t you??” … he did not. You know something, the more I have the unpleasant experience to interact with you, the more I believe a former poster who claimed he was your classmate in HS. If you recall, he stated you were intensely disliked by virtually everyone. I can see why.

  14. Well said and well written. My 30+ [and continuing] years teaching experience has taught me the same. For the next 3-5 years every LAL teacher should spend 40-50% of their time having the students read and very low performers [eg. more than a year below grade level] should have an intensive reading program [there are several good ones] each week. It’s very needed remediation resulting from lock-down. This should be 3rd to 10th, higher if needed. No extra teachers are needed, others can pull them on their duty or prep periods. Otherwise, we are just writing off the majority of six or eight year classes of students.

  15. If I had taken the money I spent on a couple thousand books over the last 40 years and purchased Intel, Microsoft, and other high-quality stocks, I’d be a richer man, but a poorer human being.
    Closing Passage:
    If we really want literate children, then do what has always worked: Teachers and/or parents who could read a story aloud with such fluidity and expression that children are begging for more; provide physical books that can be reread over and over again with a literate guide to help with phonemic awareness, phonics, spelling, and vocabulary; create a thirst for reading by emphasizing that books can take you anywhere in and out of the universe; demand that reading and writing is cross-curricular; and promote the fact that writing is the one thing children control in the school day. After all, they choose the direction their story or essay will go, they make words choices, they choose the proper voice for their audience, they add or subtract sentences for clarity, etc. If parents and teachers continue failing to engage children in these areas, our illiteracy rate will continue to grow.

  16. Amazing substance here, particularly the portion that suggests “a definitive definition of literacy in America..what is the threshold?” But I would caution against those taking the “these darn kids don’t read anymore!!” They do. On tablets, on iPhones and eBooks. Just because your grandkid is staring at the screen, doesn’t mean they aren’t reading. Our kids grew up walking down to the library where they could spend hours browsing and socializing in the glow of topics that interested them. Regrettably that same library has become a flash point in the GOP culture wars, where well meaning but ignorant adults, drunk on grievance and conspiracy theories, protest content and push for book bans. Some even leave threatening notes and bullets so parents no longer feel safe sending kids to the library. Don’t believe me?? This from DuPage county. https://patch.com/illinois/downersgrove/bullet-homophobic-slur-found-threat-library-over-drag-show

  17. You raised very important points critical to our nation’s survival. The bottom line is being able to clearly and rationally express oneself and likewise develop skills for reading comprehension. How best to do it? My experience in the journey you raised had to do with the consent documents related to clinical research trials. The rule of thumb – as mandated by our head of the IRB (Institutional Review Board for the Protection of Human Subjects) was that the consent document to which a research volunteer affixes their signature must be written in “8th grade English.” That meant that those of us on the Board – all highly educated with MDs and PhDs – who edited those consent documents had to actually translate difficult subjects, avoid jargon and largely avoid words with many syllables, into something most lay people could understand. It was an exercise on our part in true comprehension in that we could not hide behind jargon or medical gibberish. I learned that in order to truly understand “8th grade” English you had to truly understand “college grade” English and vice versa … sorta analogous to translation from English to French: in order to do this you got to understand in depth both French and English. It was an interesting lesson in comprehension and “translation”. I also came away with the following epiphany: writing laws in 8th grade English would be enormously beneficial to our country rather than the incomprehensible gobbledygook legalese in which they are now written which remains obtuse even to the most knowledgeable amongst us. It would force law makers to really think through what they mean, avoid jargon and gibberish … “mean what they say, and say what they mean”.

  18. Excellent article, Erin, especially your last paragraph.
    There is a time and place for laptops but nothing compares to a book in hand.
    Reading and handwriting are brain training.
    Watching a teacher explain math on a chalkboard, then a student getting up in front of the class and doing it the problem. It is one of the many human touches of teaching that children today are missing out on.

    I cringe when I see small children in strollers and car seats playing on a cell phone or iPad,
    distracted by cartoons. Why can’t they be allowed to look at life and the world around them.
    Communication skills come from actually talking with another person,
    not looking at youtube all day.

    God Bless all of teachers and children, education today is not easy.

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