US children are struggling with reading — and so are adults

Learning to read can become exponentially more difficult for older students and adults who have fallen behind, creating grave concerns as the number of individuals struggling with literacy into high school and adulthood is increasing.  

Data released in recent months shows K-12 schools are seeing more older students who cannot read at their grade level, coupled with an international study showing an increase in U.S. adults who cannot read past simple sentences.   

“We are really taking a family literacy approach to understand this issue and to recognize that this is a multi-generational challenge. If the parents and caregivers struggle with literacy, the children are more likely to also struggle with literacy,” said Sarah Cacicio, the director of Adult Literacy and Learning Impact Network, which was convened by the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy. 

“Socioeconomic status and parents' literacy levels are bigger [...] indicators for how well a child is going to do, even more so than quality instruction. Although quality instruction is super important,” Cacicio added. “That's why it's so important to address this issue of literacy at multiple generations.” 

The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), part of the Department of Education, released data earlier this month showing 28 percent of adults in the U.S. ranked at the lowest levels of literacy, compared to 19 percent in 2017. 

NCES Commissioner Peggy Carr said in a news conference the increase was “substantial.” 

Studies have shown that low literacy rates exacerbate everything from poverty and health care to low civic engagement. And while there are programs to help adult learners, concerns about time and money can prove problematic.  

“We connected with individuals who could enroll in adult education services but have not, and what we found is that 80 percent of the adults surveyed didn't know about available programs in their area, but 84 percent said they would like to continue learning and enroll in a program. So, what that tells us is it's less about time and more about awareness. We really think that lack of awareness about free programs and access to resources and services is the No. 1 barrier, as well as perceived costs,” Cacicio said.

Federally funded adult education programs “are only serving, really, fewer than 10 percent of all of those who need literacy services,” she added.  

Adult literacy problems are tricky to resolve and lack a one-size-fits-all solution. When adults join reading programs, they can be at literacy levels ranging from those of third graders to high school seniors.

"I think one of the interesting things about adult learning is that you can't really design a standard curriculum," Cacicio said.

"Some people are more looking for work-based learning, or if they're an English learner, they're trying to learn specific language and vocabulary that connects to their workplace," she added.

And the problem isn't limited to adults.

Earlier this year, a study was released by the Educational Testing Service and the Advanced Education Research and Development Fund showing more than 20 percent of students in fifth through seventh grades stumble over words they can’t recognize or sound out. Experts aim to have children reading proficiently at their own level by third grade.

Over the summer, education firm NWEA published data showing eighth graders are a full year behind in reading and math.  

“So, fourth grade is when you start to see significant gaps in reading, and many times, these comprehension gaps are actually due to more foundational skills, so something that students didn't get either in phonics instruction or they're lacking vocabulary or background knowledge to be able to comprehend the text, or they just haven't been taught comprehension strategies,” said Erin Bailey, vice president of literacy and content at Reading Is Fundamental. 

Students struggling with reading have become a top concern, with multiple states switching to the science of reading for young students in an attempt to help them meet standards before leaving third grade. 

Part of the difficulty once a student falls behind is teachers in higher grades haven't been trained to help students with the building blocks of reading.

“For most students, in most places around grade six, definitely by grade eight, students no longer have a reading teacher unless they're in an intervention or there’s some data that indicates they need some additional services, but your majority of kids, they're not in a reading class anymore,” said Miah Daughtery, NWEA vice president for content advocacy. 

“Your average English teacher is no more prepared to teach reading than your average physics teacher. Your English teacher does not go to school to learn how to teach reading; they go to school to learn how to teach the humanities in English,” Daughtery said.  

This leads to a common reading problem between older students and adults, which is lacking context or background knowledge to understand the text in front of them.  

“We have adolescents, young adults and adults who are still growing in their reading journey, either from being nonreaders to rudimentary readers to readers, even readers like me, who are good readers but really still need help with technical text and science text. The brain is such a phenomenal organ you can really learn how to read, for most people, throughout the course of your life,” Daughtery said.