Literacy rates troubling in the Tri-Cities

Last year, an open poll conducted by YouGov.com reported that 28%, over a fourth, of those polled did not read a single book in the last 12 months. This data does not come to much of a surprise when correlated with data collected by the National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP) that reported only 31% of all Michigan students and only 19% of low-income students are reading proficiently in fourth grade in 2013.

NAEP field staff go into schools across the nation to administer assessment exercises to students who are part of the NAEP sample. Teachers and principals are asked to complete questionnaires to provide context for student results. The average scores and percentages presented are estimates because they are based on representative samples of students rather than on the entire population of students.

The Michigan Educational Assessment Program (MEAP) runs additional assessment on the literacy rate of Michigan students yearly. MEAP is based on Michigan's Grade Level Content Expectations in reading, writing, mathematics, science, and social studies in grades 3 through 9. Students are assessed in the fall of each year on the prior year's expectations.

The results for the Tri-City public school area were disappointing. Of those who tested proficient in reading (and math) in grades 3 through 8: Only 36.6% in Bay City, 57% in Midland, and an unsettling 20% in Saginaw. Currently, the state has no strategy to combat the literacy issue. For now, unproven for-profit charter operators will guide the lowest-performing districts.

The lack of structured literacy education boils over into Delta College’s campus. Currently, in the semester of Winter 2014, according to the Delta College website's "Search for Classes" total, there are approximately 300 students in remedial reading courses at Delta College. These students must pass this prerequisite course before they are able to enroll in the first of two college composition classes. Because of their lack of academic reading experience, they now must take extra steps to earn their degree.

The Michigan League for Public Policy reports that nearly 400,000 working-age adults lack a high school diploma or equivalent and that one in every 12 Michigan adults lacks basic literacy skills. We cannot allow the comprehension of the written word to be neglected.

We are failing the past generations who are in need of retraining. We are failing our current students who lack the proper comprehension. And we are failing the future generations who are in danger of never receiving a sound, literate education. We must remember that our brain is a muscle, and muscles require repetition to maintain their strength. All it takes is reading twenty-minutes a day to keep fit.