Graduating from High School without Reading

1326 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Institutions impact on education

The recent statistics that the education system could be producing high school graduates who are functionally illiterate is very worrying. Researchers interested in investigating whether the high school education system is producing illiterate graduates investigate the issue by exploring three types of illiteracies; functional, cultural and moral literacy. The most disturbing news is that the level of functional literacy among high school graduates is wanting. Functional literacy “is the inability to read or write well enough to accomplish everyday tasks in modern society” (Sweet Par. 2). According to Lederman, 14 percent of American adults are “functionally illiterate’’. In addition, 29 percent of American adults just have literacy level of a fifth to seventh grade graduate, while 25 percent of high school graduates just have an eighth grade level or below (Lederman par.2-4). From the above information, it is unfortunate that a huge number of students graduate from graduate from high school successfully regardless of the alarming level of functional illiteracy. Fundamentally, something need to be done to reduce the high number of illiterateness among high school graduate, by considering the factors behind the reality that some high school students graduate from high school without adequate reading skills. Reading John Corcoran book “The Teacher Who Couldn’t Read” shows that there is hope for improving the situation but the fundamental step is to identify the reasons why and how functionally illiterate students are allowed to advance to the next grade. This research paper discusses three factors, social promotion, the use of movies instead of book assignments, and cheating in academic tasks.
Firstly, social promotion has be...

... middle of paper ...

...not read. This implies that despite having gone through the education system, these graduates lack the ability for to perform advanced tasks in reading and writing such as filling out a job application and tax form. The reason identified in this research paper include the practice of social promotion, the use of too many movie assignments and cheating in academic tests and assignments. Obviously, the high level of functional illiteracy among high school graduates is alarming and calls for immediate intervention to prevent the statistics from rising to uncontrolled levels. A literate society is a successful society, thus it is high time that the school administrators and other stakeholders came up with effective measures to prevent cheating, which has been identified as the worst factor that is promoting the level of functional illiteracy among high school graduates.

Show More
Related

  • Literacy In Torgesen's Catch Them Before They Fall

    496 Words  | 1 Pages

    I previously have mentioned, in prior reflection essays, just how important literacy is for a person’s future. Notice how I didn’t say “student’s” future? Literacy fluency effects several aspects of life, not only academically speaking. Ultimately, the literacy level of a child can directly affect their future as an adult. The whole point of Torgesen’s article “Catch Them Before They Fall” is about preventing students with literacy deficits from slipping through the cracks without the best possible, research-based interventions.

    Read More

  • Rhetorical Analysis Of Against School By John Taylor Gatto Against School

    803 Words  | 2 Pages

    As American’s we place a high level of importance on attending school and receiving a certain level of education. Across the world, the recommendations for attending school vastly differ based on the culture of the society. In America, we require our children to attend school until they are almost of legal age, push high school graduates to attend college and we constantly emphasize structured learning. Many children in today’s world lack many skills that would allow them to “teach” themselves outside of school leading to an increased interest in televisions, computers, and phones. Technology has taken away society’s attention away from independent learning such as reading, writing, and outside experiences. John Taylor Gatto’s emotional voice in his writing “Against School” has allowed me reveal my psychological voice regarding the educational system.

    Read More

  • John Gatto Against School Summary

    1168 Words  | 3 Pages

    This article points out the flaws in our modern education systems. Students should enjoy school and feel as though they are learning important things in the subjects offered. The classes can be altered to tend to the interests of children, so they can properly express themselves. School should be preparing children to be mature, how to handle hard situations, and ultimately prepare them for their future lives. Overall, Gatto’s article has its flaws, but it can be used to help improve the education system for upcoming

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Readicide By Kelly Gallagher

    1208 Words  | 3 Pages

    The book Readicide by Kelly Gallagher is the ugly truth of the policies adopted in the school system to prioritized test taking strategies for the most part of the day and killing the enjoyment of students reading. The author points out that students’ reading has shifted negatively and the reading percentage has decreased. Students hate to read and classic novels are slowly vanishing from classrooms. The findings to Gallagher’s discoveries are research based and heartbreaking as the movement of standardized testing has been reinforced in most states. There are too many standards to teach and teachers are held accountable for students testing performance. Therefore, educators are forced to do test preps where students are provided with facts to be memorized and lack of comprehension. The author emphasized that students are no longer able to choose a book for the enjoyment of reading. Students’ interests are no longer taken into consideration. Students are reading less and less at school to make time for test prep. Gallagher says that as an educator and parent young

    Read More

  • I Just Wanna Be Average by Mike Rose

    1433 Words  | 3 Pages

    Literacy, or the capability to comprehend, translate, utilize, make, process, assess, and speak information connected with fluctuating settings and displayed in differing organizations, assumes an essential part in molding a young's persons trajectory in life. The ability to read speaks to a key factor of scholarly, social, and financial success (Snow, Burns, & Griffin, 1998). These abilities likewise speak to a fundamental segment to having a satisfying life and turning into an effective worker and overall person (Snow, Burns, & Griffin, 1999). Interestingly, recent studies have demonstrated that low reading skills lead to critical hindrances in monetary and social achievement. As stated by the National Center for Education Statistics, adults with lower levels of reading skills and literacy have a lower average salary. Another study evaluated that 17 to 18 percent of adults with "below average" literacy aptitudes earned less than $300 a week, though just 3 to 6 percent of adults with "proficient" reading abilities earned less than $300 a week (Snow, Burns, & Griffin, 1998).

    Read More

  • The Human Cost Of An Illiterate Society Rhetorical Analysis

    1365 Words  | 3 Pages

    As the world advances through the modern age of information and connectivity, having a literate society is crucial to being able to work effectively with the outside world. Jonathan Kozol’s book, The Human Cost of an Illiterate Society, portrays the life of illiterates in the modern world and argues that society has an ethical obligation to fix the problem of illiteracy. Kozol believes that illiteracy has the greatest effect on the education of current and future generations, the way food is consumed and wasted, and various economic costs to both illiterates and those around them. Kozol’s main point throughout his book is that society as a whole needs to face the problem of illiteracy, as not one single group or person can do it on their own.

    Read More

  • An Analysis Of John Taylor Gatto's Against School

    1079 Words  | 3 Pages

    Juveniles are being taught that in order to have a nice car, branded cloths and the house of their dreams, by getting into an expensive mortgage, they have to be an employee of a huge corporation. In addition, they have to undergo to a prestigious school, study hard, have excellent grades in order to become popular and respectable in the world. However, many people would not become those super leaders, but these majority of people have a great role in the capitalism society of the US. As Gatto says, “We buy televisions, and then we buy the things we see on the television. We buy computers, and then we buy the things we see on the computer. We buy $150 sneakers whether we need them or not, and when they fall apart too soon we buy another pair” (38). Such results are in part of a wrong education that teenagers have received trough many decades. In addition, Gatto highlights that modern educational system has been working in a six basic functions methods that makes the system strong and unbreakable: The adjustable function, indulge students to respect authorities. The integrating function, which builds the personality of the students as similar to each other as possible. The diagnostic and directive function, which allows a school to set permanent scholar grades in order to determinate his or her future role in society. The differentiating function, which gives to the student a good education and after his or her role is diagnosed, they prevent any educational progress. The selective function, function that the system has used to prevent academic growth for the non-selected students. The propaedeutic function, which works in the selection of specific groups of intellectual adults to keep perpetuating the system all over again making it a continuous sequence. (Gatto 34). Gatto’s facts revealed the survival of the educational system for decades,

    Read More

  • Overview: Kouider Mohktari’s The Impact of Internet and Television Use on the Reading Habits and Practices of College Students

    888 Words  | 2 Pages

    In Kouider Mohktari’s “The Impact of Internet and Television Use on the Reading Habits and Practices of College Students”, he and two other authors (Carla A. Reichard and Anne Gardner) briefly argue and discuss how technology (like television and the internet) effect how the American adult reads. They go further into the subject and decided to study the reading habits of college students in the education system of today.

    Read More

  • The Literacy Of Reading And English 1010

    1548 Words  | 4 Pages

    For many first year college students, the idea of sitting down in an English class and being asked to write an essay conjures up anxiety and stress from their high school experience. Many students bring a secret of reading and comprehension illiteracy with them to college. There is a shifting definition of literacy occurring in the United States with the advent of technology. School districts are assuming that the issue of reading will be addressed in the home and are leaving many students behind in reading goals. Many educators assume that when a student enters the first day of their English 1010 course that their reading level is sufficient to complete their coursework and produce coherent compositions. It is only after the initial class meeting and composition assessment that the instructor is able to view the bigger problem of reading illiteracy in English 1010. How does the instructor address the literacy of each individual student without affecting the learning environment of the students who are able to read and write a coherent composition? The problem in regards to reading levels should be addressed before the student even arrives on campus. There can be many reasons for the cause of reading illiteracy: learning disability, poverty, and education of parents to name just a few. The school systems are placing the burden of reading comprehension in the home and not at the educational level when all parties should be a part of the issue. Administrators are assuming that students are read to from infancy and receive encouragement to read from their parents. The school systems also assume that children have abundance of reading materials in their homes and have initiative to pick up...

    Read More

  • Essay About Moving Away From High School

    649 Words  | 2 Pages

    During my years in high school, I have learned many valuable lessons. I’m proud of the person I am becoming. Life has not been easy, but thankfully I’m a strong hard worker. I started high school with a high GPA, and never intended for it to drop throughout my years. Within the last three years, I’ve moved around, participated in sports, and got a job.

    Read More

  • Illiteracy in A Judgement in Stone, by Ruth Rendell

    1676 Words  | 4 Pages

    In today’s society, a vast number of people are well educated. They have the equal opportunity to choose their own path in life by getting an education. A primary educational aspect of every human being is to learn to read. Being able to read is a primary goal of people in human society, as well as important in itself to society; it takes people far beyond their wildest dreams. A person who is literate has few limitations on what they can do; the world is an open playing field, because a person that is literate has the ability to become very successful in life.

    Read More

  • Higher Education and Society

    1464 Words  | 3 Pages

    Attending public schools as a child, I remember learning the basic skills on how to add and subtract, read, and write. These basic skills are necessary in order to function in our society and work force in the United States. As we all know each child learns differently, some learn faster than others and some slower than others. Our public schools have become overcrowded and we do not have enough teachers to fit the needs of each student. Some students get left behind and are not learning the skills needed to move on to the next level. What these students are not learning they can learn in higher education such as a college or university. In this report, I would like to express the importance of a higher education. I will use the works of John Henry Newman, Jon Spayde and Mike Rose, all three writers believe in having an educated society. Our students’ needs are changing, there are a growing number of immigrants with children coming to the United States from all over the world. They bring with them the language and culture of their country. The age in which they arrive to the United States determines how well they learn English and what skills they will need to acquire to become productive in our society. The task of teaching our children the basic skills is becoming harder and harder each day, making it harder for our education system to achieve their goals. There are a high number of students graduating from high school who does not have the skills needed to meet the needs of the work force in our society. A higher level of learning is needed to make our society literate.

    Read More

  • Life After High School Essay

    1452 Words  | 3 Pages

    “What are your plans after high school?.”, This is a question that everyone is asked multiple times throughout the course of their lives. Sometimes it is just something that they themselves ponder in their own thoughts. What someone does after high school should be something that is not only interesting to that person, but will ultimately lead them into a career that they will loved and enjoy. A great career that is definitely worth considering is that of a paramedic. The job description of a paramedic is very broad and can have many affects on a person's life. But not only is this job greatly fulfilling to someone’s personal life, it is also very fulfilling to someone else’s life as well. It is a fast paced, adrenaline fueled job that requires more than the faint of heart. It requires a person who not only enjoys the thrill of the rush and a hard adrenaline pump, but is also content with

    Read More

  • Education, Change, and Society

    1318 Words  | 3 Pages

    Since the beginning of education there have been many forms, which have been passed on from one generation to the next. Over the years education has evolved and is now seen as the education system all over the world. Today the education system is seen to be much more complex, but it still involves notions that have been around since the beginning of success, achievement and participation. Not only do these three aspects continue to contribute to the success of educating young people who are involved in the ever changing society that we live in. Intelligence and ability does have an impact on the success of individual students and there are also other impacts that can affect the outcome on individual schools and the education system. This essay will provide a brief overview of cultural capital, hidden curriculum, class and socio economic status and discuss the affect the success, achievement and participation has on a student’s education.

    Read More

  • Education as a Social Institution

    847 Words  | 2 Pages

    Education is a vital part of society. It serves the beneficial purpose of educating our children and getting them ready to be productive adults in today's society. But, the social institution of education is not without its problems. Continual efforts to modify and improve the system need to be made, if we are to reap the highest benefits that education has to offer to our children and our society as a whole.

    Read More

More about Graduating from High School without Reading

Open Document