#10 54% of Adults Read Below a 6th Grade Level

Hello everyone, and welcome to the Golden Table podcast. Here we talk about the intersections of knowledge, from pop culture, to personal experiences, to history and research. It's all a part of the table, but it's on us to pull up a chair. Today we are broadly discussing reading—but if I am being honest, we are truly analyzing what contributes to creating readers or fostering a reading life in people. Literacy is often touted as being in crisis—and for good reason. 54% of US adults are cited as reading at or below a 6th grade level. If this is true, then we are perhaps in a literacy crisis... But is it that simple? How are these numbers created? Who does the research? What does it mean to be literate vs proficient in literacy? And more specifically, how do schools, parents, and socio-economic factors play into how literate a life someone lives? I use my life as its own example for part of this episode, and then open it up to broader questions. Did I connect the dots? Do we solve the literacy crisis in under an hour of the podcast? I suppose you'll have to listen to find out. Whatever your thoughts, write in and let me know. Join the discussion.