For my final project I have chosen a topic that centers around my interests in education. In 2004 the United States was forty-ninth in the rankings of international literacy with only ninety-nine percent of our population as being literate. In order to help the literacy levels of our country we must understand why the problem exists. We need to start by address the issues that exist in children so they don’t become illiterate adults.
In my paper I will address how gender, ethnicy/race, and social class impact an individuals literacy. I will explain why a significant gap that exists between male and female students, and why boys have lower literacy rates, lower grades, and higher drop-out rates. Why Hispanics and African Americans score the lowest in literacy while whites score the highest and why so many many indivividual who make up the lower class score twenty-seven points below the average reading level.
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I'd be very interested to see what the literacy rates in this country look like. I was looking around for some material to comment with, and came across this: http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=130002
ReplyDeleteKind of interesting, if you haven't already seen it.
One question I'd like to see answered would be, what's being done to correct this? What kind of solutions are being presented for the public education systems, and are they working? A side-by-side comparison of private and public schools might be nice. Maybe a list of individual states' literacy rates and a comparison of federal funding for public education in each, maybe a bit about public versus private enrollment rates (state by state).
ok, the first question that popped into my mind was, how are we rated 49th with a literacy rate of 99%? in my opinion a 99% is a pretty good percentage number. so it just seems weird that that number is being a problem...
ReplyDeletebut anyways, it is an important issue, definitely in 3rd world countries. though since 3rd world countries probably won't be encompassed into your paper, i'm wondering how do we fair with the 1st world countries. if our rate is 99% and we're 49th; how high are the countries above us? do their percentage ratings go up to 99.5%, 99.9%, etc. ?
I had the same reaction as Phylip to your numbers, Amanda. Only 99%? Such a percentage means that 5 million people are illiterate in this country. A quick internet search I conducted found that the real number is 6-8 times higher than that. I think perhaps you meant to write 90%.
ReplyDeleteI'd keep hooks' notion that race, gender, and class are interconnected phenomenon in mind when writing your essay. I imagine you'll find that a combination of factors lead to high illiteracy rates.
I think that this a very interesting topic and should be easy to write because I think there would be a lot of information on the internet. I think that you should add statistics in your paper, because it will be good evidence to see the illiteracy rates in our country. I think that you comparing Hispanics and African Americans to Whites reading levels is a very good idea. I would figure out the average age that they start reading, if they ever really get the chance to read.
ReplyDeleteI think that your paper is going to be very informative. I was in the Education Program at NKU for a few year, so I have a special place in my heart concerning education. I never even really considered looking at the literacy rates in America. I think you will find a ton of useful information for your papers topic.
ReplyDeleteI would be particularly interested in differences between the sexes and the conclusions you could draw from information obtained. I really would like to know some reasons why there is this difference. Could it be that our values are changing? Are men being emasculated?
ReplyDeleteThis is a good topic to write about because it is extremely important to our education and maybe people look over it. I would have never thought to compare the reading levels in different races or social classes. I would be interested to see if there is a gap or how big of a gap there is between races.
ReplyDeleteI'm really interested to understand the reason that there is a gap between males and females when it comes to literacy. I could have guessed that there would be differences between races, with african americans and hispanics falling below caucasions in rates of literacy. I would like to know more about any implications that age has on the ability to read. By that I mean, are you less likely to be literate if you gain access to education later?
ReplyDeleteOnce again, the differences between the sexes sounds very interesting and I would love to read about the reasons that males have lower literacy rates. My mom is a retired reading teacher, and I've heard her discuss the differences in teaching practices that she used between boys and girls. She implied that a lot of the time, it was harder to get the young boys interested in reading - and one thing that she felt attributed to this was the fact that they weren't interested in the material. She found that when she changed up the material to be geared more towards boys, that they were more likely to enjoy the reading, and subsequently developed more interest in reading - therefore developed a better chance at becoming and remaining literate.
Sounds like an excellent paper topic - I live in a very rural area and in my hometown literacy and dropout rates are causes for concern, and I believe you're giving this issue very needed attention.
You have an amazing topic. It is something that is occuring all around us in our daily lives but not many people stop to think about. I agree that half of the problem with our uneducated citizens is that no one ever stopped to help them or look at their situation. As Americans, we seem to be every man for himself. We have discussed many of the topics you brought up in psychology classes so I know you will have great examples to back up your research! I would love to read your paper when you finish :) GOOD LUCK
ReplyDeleteI'm glad all of you are interested in my topic on literacy and I appreciate all the suggestions. I never anticipated the amount of info I could obtain on this subject and may find it hard to include it all in my paper. I will definitely include the most relevant information I find relating to my topic of race, gender and class. I plan to share how we can address and help close the gaps that exist also. While talking about social class I could include and look into the difference that exist between students at pubic vs. private schools.
ReplyDelete