Adult Literacy in African-American Communities

Adult Literacy in African-American Communities

STATISTICALLY FOURTH-GRADE

The modern definition of literacy extends beyond reading and writing. The Workforce Investment Act of 1998 defines it as "an individual's ability to read, write, speak in English, compute and solve problems at levels of proficiency necessary to function on the job, in the family... And in society." The ability of adult education to "mold a world" has been questioned in the light of complex and current social and economic realities. Sharp decline in employment in major urban centers, poorly performing schools and low educational levels among African-Americans and other people of color are among these.

Surveys show that African-Americans and Hispanics combined account for more than half of all the participants in federally funded adult literacy education programs. African-Americans use their own African-American vernacular English or AAVE as the indigenous expression of their imagination and reality. But American school administrators use it as a criterion for establishing literacy levels and an achievement gap (Ruiz, 2006).

Problem Statement

This study will seek to determine the status of adult literacy in African-American communities and endeavor to answer these questions:

What is the current status of adult literacy and adult education systems in the United States?

What is the status of adult literacy among African-Americans?

What are the obstacles to the low literacy levels among African-American adults?

How have adult literacy programs tackled the problem?

Literature Review

Wagner, Daniel a Toward the Goal of Adult Literacy. National Center on Adult

Literacy: American Psychological Association, 2009. Retrieved on February 24, 2009 from http://www.apa.org/ed/literacy.html

The author takes off from American governors' national educational goals for 2000, specifically the lifelong education of adults. Goal 6 was to make every adult American literate by the year 2000. It explained literacy to mean the possession of knowledge and skills needed "to compete in a global economy and exercise the rights and responsibilities of citizenship." All the goals had in a vocational direction. Specific objectives were to strengthen the link between education and work, enhance worker training, improve mid-career training, promote community colleges, teach critical thinking skills among college graduates, and increase school-based program for parent education. But the focus was fixed on Goal 6.

Wagner notes that, in the 60s, the United Nations listed the United States as one of the most literate countries in the world with an almost 99% literacy rate, compared with that of many developing countries at 50% or lower. The first report drawn from the federally funded 1993 National Adult Literacy Survey showed that close to 95% of adult Americans could read at fourth-grade level or better. But it also said that nearly half of all of them scored way below the level needed by American workers to be globally competitive. The survey found that almost 25% of America's adults with an average of 10 years formal schooling had only fourth-grade literacy skills or lower. This resulted from low school achievement, early dropout, and increased flow of poorly educated immigrants. The study viewed low literacy as a chronic feature of contemporary America. This was related to increased school failures, lower worker productivity, crime and welfare.

A status report on adult literacy in the mid-90s said that gains in basic skills, such as reading, were fairly small. Performance was low because of the limited time spent by the average adult in instruction. A recent national survey on adult mathematical literacy, or numeracy, found that more than 80% of adult students received math-related instruction. But less than 5% of their teachers were certified to teach it or had pre-service training in math. Major reforms have been undertaken to promote K-12 mathematics education but strategies, teaching methods and assessment of adult numeracy have been neglected. Furthermore, literacy problems also plague the workplace. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development listed workplace skills and worker training as major priorities in industrialized countries. Although resources from taxpayers, businesses and unions have increased, literacy education service has been available to only a few of those who need it. The service also requires hundreds of hours and typical classes are short and do not connect to opportunities. The need for English as a Second Language literacy service is also large and constitutes about half of the present provision for adult literacy education in the U.S.

Family and intergenerational literacy programs have been increasing in the past decades. The most popular ones are the Kenan Trust Family Literacy Project, the Missouri Parents as Teachers Program, and Parents as Partners in Reading. These programs' major features are provision for education in infancy; language development and interactive play, books, print materials and lessons; medical, social, and educational services; and creation of self-efficacy in parents and children for successful collaboration. These programs have remained limited despite their growing popularity and increased legislative funding. They offer some hope in low-income communities of African-American and other families of color in overcoming many and chronic socio-economic problems. But research also showed that the desired change in these communities would not come easily or quickly. Rather, it large depended on their abilities to accept and assimilate these programs as their own. The programs also needed the support mechanisms that would make these work for the families.

Wagner perceived the success of adult literacy as largely determined by the motivation of the individuals to learn. Specialized training methodologies for family instructors need to be taught and learned for instructing both young children and adults and for the interaction activities, which must go with the instruction. The reported increase in participation in adult literacy was that of those seeking postsecondary training and not the disadvantaged, who were the appropriate recipients.

Powell, Angiline and Anderson, Celia Rousseau. Numeracy strategies for African-American Students: Successful Partnerships. Childhood Education: Childhood Education

International, 2008. Retrieved on February 24, 2009 at http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3614/is_200712/ai_n25137678

The authors trace the impressive improvement in literacy among African-Americans in the last century. Pre-Civil War laws prohibited the teaching of reading to them, yet illiteracy among them went down from 80% to only 6% in the last century, according to the National Center for Education Statistics in 1993. The same institution reported that between 1991 and 1999, home reading had gone up to 71%, storytelling to 45% and library visitations to 35%. The increases have been attributed to African-American parents' cooperation in pushing their children's level of literacy upward.

Literacy is now understood to mean more than the basic ability to read and write. The Workforce Investment Act of 1998 defines it as "an individual's ability to read, write, speak in English, compute and solve problems at levels of proficiency necessary to function on the job, in the family... And in society." This new definition puts much weight on mathematical literacy, also known as numeracy, in everyday living. Civil rights leader Robert Parris Moses argued that it is a new civil right of equal importance to reading. The National Assessment of Education Progress, the nation's so-called report card, said that 40% of African-Americans - as compared with 32% of Hispanics, 10% of white, 32% of American Indians and 10% of Asians - scored below the basic level in the fourth grade math.

Guy, Talmadge C. The Adult Literacy Education Systems in the United States. Literacy for Life. Education for All Global Monitoring Report, 2006. Retrieved on February 24, 2009 at http://unedoc.unesco.org/images/0014/001462/146281e.pdf

Drawing from Sparks and Peterson (2000), Guy points to "adult basic education" as consisting of any fundamental set of skills needed to function as an adult. The skills include reading writing, and operating a computer. The three views or models of adult literacy are school-based, functional and socio cultural or ideological.

School-Based Literacy. This model assumes that skills and competencies learned and assessed in the classroom are directly applicable to other contexts. Reading and writing are considered "autonomous" phenomena, independent of contexts and subjective to the reader or individual. This model or view, then, assumes that literacy skills learned in the classroom can be applied at home, in the workplace or any other public or private setting.

Competency-Based or Functionalist Literacy. The Adult Performance Level study of the 1970s attempted to define and assess literacy competency for the proper adult functioning in society. The California Assessment of Student Achievement System evaluated the knowledge needed to properly function in given life situations. These efforts won wide attention and asserted substantial impact on the way literacy was viewed. People began to see and understand literacy as content-dependent. Neither system, however, still needed to be universally adopted. This model interprets literacy as the ability to comprehend, interpret, analyze, respond and interact within a wide range of varied situations encountered by the adult. School, work, military, civil and family contexts require different kinds of literacy competencies. The model refers to the possession of, or access to, the competencies and information needed to perform activities, which require reading and writing. Simply put, it refers to the purpose of performing some accepted social role. Likewise, literacy skills are not automatically transferred from one context to another.

Socio-Cultural or Ideological Literacy. The importance of the social, political and ideological context is essential to the practice of literacy. This model views literacy as woven into the person's identity, based in turn from his acculturation and participation in his socio-cultural community. Spoken or written communication is understood and appreciated according to who is reading or writing and the context and purpose of the communication. Learners come to the educational setting with individual experiences, perspectives, values and beliefs. They perform tasks subjectively. Their cultural background is, therefore, an essential requirement to teaching functional literacy.

The U.S. Department of Education through the Department of Adult Education and Literacy implements the Adult Education and Family Literacy Act. This legislation provides support money for adult literacy and basic education programs. It perceives adult education as that falling below post-secondary level for persons 16 years old and older. Statistics say there are about 51 million American adults in this category. Eligibility was adjusted from 18 to 16 in 1970; approved funding to non-profit organizations in 1984; and induced local educational agencies, labor unions and businesses to offer literacy programs to the workplace. The National Literacy Act replaced the Adult Education Act of 1966 in 1991. In 1998, Congress passed Adult Education and Family Literacy Act. Section 202 of the Act creates a partnership among the federal government, the States, and local communities. They will offer adult education and literacy services on a voluntary basis. The goals will be to help adults to become literate, gain knowledge and learn skills for employment and self-sufficiency; help adults who are parents to obtain educational skills needed to become full partners in the education development of their children; and in the completion of secondary education for themselves.

The market model, the liberal-welfare state model and the social redistribution model were the basic approaches to formulating social policy. The market model views educational issues at a macro level. The liberal-welfare state model sees social institutions' role in increasing access and expanding opportunity, especially to the least educated and most economically dependent. And the social redistribution model adopts a more progressive or radical stance on social change. The market model is predominant of the three. Nonetheless, the ability of adult education to "mold a world" has been questioned, especially in the light of current and critical social and economic issues. These include the steep decline in jobs in the major urban centers, poor schools and the low educational levels among African-Americans and Hispanics. These people of color reside in those urban centers where urban poverty and the attending conditions of crime, drug addiction and homeless co-occur.

African-Americans and Hispanics together account for more than half of all participants in federally funded adult literacy education programs. The national population is 75% whites, 12.5% Hispanic, 12.3% African-American and 14% for a sprinkling of Asians, Native Americans or Alaskan natives, native Hawaiians and Pacfic Islanders. These figures show that people of color are disproportionately represented (as qtd in D "Amico, 2004). Between 1998 and 2003, more than half of all enrollees in adult literacy programs were Blacks and Hispanics. In the next six years, overall enrollments went down although federal funding was increased. Adult literacy programs from 1995 to 1998 served the economically disadvantaged on account of income, employment, welfare or homelessness. The Department of Education fixed eligibility at age 16 or older and the lack of a high school diploma or equivalent. Official 2000 census reported that approximately 51 million adults or 23% of the adult population had limited literacy skills. Those without a high school diploma had between 9 and 12 years of schooling. More than 15 million adults had 8 years of schooling or less. They were 66% white, 15% African-American, 3% Asian and 3% minor ethnic race groups. According to the U.S. Department of Education, African-American enrollments in Adult Basic Education were 662,109 in 1998; 621,914 in 1999; 614,475 in 2000; 548,562 in 2001; 559,247 in 2002; and 540,200 in 2003.

Ruiz, Yolanda Sealey. Spoken Soul: the Language of Black Imagination and Reality.

Educational Forum: International Honor Society in Education, 2005. Retrieved on February 24, 2009 at http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa4013/is_200510/ai_n15715152?tag=content;col1

Ruiz writes that African-Americans are penalized for their language. She resounds Richardson's (2002, 8) assertion that among the major roots of African-American literacy underachievement are the ideology of white supremacy and the capitalist-based literacy beliefs behind curricula. These, in turn, produce "stratified education" and a "stratified society," which account for African-American literacy underachievement. The author emphasizes that African-American Vernacular English or AAVE should not be considered incorrect or deficient. There are verbal geniuses in the inner cities where these people of color live but who are considered deficient in language. The result is a denial or eradication of part of their identity. Teaching them the rules of language appropriateness and demonstrating the similarities between AAVE and Standard English, they can be encouraged to learn the latter without disrespecting them and their identity. Africanized English certainly has consistent rules, structure and a dictionary. It is not a street slang. Like other languages, it has colloquial phrases, a vocabulary, and grammatical rules. It allows the speaker to move negative helping verbs, such as ain't and can't, to the beginning of sentences for stronger emphasis. For example, "nobody ain't going" can be changed to "ain't nobody going." Negro spiritual readings, jazz, rap, movies and African-American literature offer copious evidence of the inherent structure and vocabulary of AAVE. One such comprehensive dictionary was Major's 1970 Dictionary of Afro-American Slang, later updated in the early 1990s as a 548-page dictionary. Smitherman also compiled an AAVE dictionary called Black Talk in 1994. AAVE vocabulary continues to change and fit the times and the imagination and reality of the African-American people.

Ruiz has taught composition to African-American adult learners. She does not correct their English but discusses their speaking and writing. They acknowledge their incorrect speech and writing and improper English. She only listens and says she sees it differently. By the third week of class, she is able to discuss the 1996 Oakland court case and the Ann Arbor case with them. She lets them read works by Baldwin and Rickford and extracts from English Journal, the publication of the National Council of Teachers of English. Together, they discuss that both languages are equally valid but that one is the language of power. Then they discuss who has the power and who does not and how this happened. Ruiz resounds Moll (2000, 257) that human beings interact with their world through mediational means. These mediational means use cultural artifacts, tools, and symbols, including language. These means, in turn, help form human intellectual capacities. She suggested to experts who teach African-American learners to provide them readings representing the Black experience and language. She stressed that AAVE possesses a distinct syntactical pattern and should not be considered incorrect. Smitherman (1994) also suggested that instructors should underplay their students' bad grammar as this could suppress their natural and rich expressive discourse style.

After their course, most of the author's students get employed and assume positions as transit clerks, administrative assistants, waiters and waitresses, nursing home attendants, and school aides. The research articles they were made to read in class and their class discussions validated AAVE. Soon, they turned in assignments completely written in AAVE. The use of AAVE enhanced their creative writing assignments, consisting of poetry, short stories and informal essays.

The refusal of American school administrators to accept AAVE and their over-zealousness in using language and literacy skills in defining an achievement gap, AAVE will continue to be the language spoken by African-Americans. It is the language of their imagination and reality. It may not be popular but still has a place in American society. It remains essential in developing the writing skills of their native users, the African-American people.

Onwuegbuzie, Anthony J, et al. (2004). Reading Comprehension among African-American Graduate Students. The Journal of Negro Education: Howard University, 2004. Retrieved on February 24, 2009 at http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3626/is_200410/ai_n13506807?tag=content;col1

Studies showed that African-American undergraduate students scored highly in high levels of reading comprehension tests. But African-American graduate students scored at lower levels in reading comprehension and reading vocabulary.

The author describes reading comprehension as the reader's ability to effectively and meaningfully assimilate previously acquired knowledge contained in a text. It consists of skills, including understanding the meanings of words and the ability to connect between what the reader already knows and what he is now learning from the text. The reader uses a wide range of language skills, which interact at different levels of reading ability. Those who find difficulty in performing literacy and comprehension task will find it difficult to cope with the digital age in the 21st century. Statistics say that 21 to 23% - or 40 to 44 million - of 191 million American adults, 16 years old and older, stand at the lowest literacy levels. They are either illiterate or functionally illiterate. Hard realities, such as poverty, welfare and income, are the deterrents. Statistics say that 43% of adults at this literacy level are poor. Three out of four are on food stamps. And their median income is $240 a week.

Literacy is also a major factor in employment. Those in the lower literacy levels are employed for only 19 weeks a year as against 44 weeks for those at higher literacy levels. Crime figures also reveal that approximately 7 out of 10 prisoners belong to the lower literacy level. There is clear need for both students and adults to gain and possess the required ability to read and understand written materials. Education policymakers and other leaders in the field assure that such skills are taught to these disadvantaged groups. Yet education figures state that 60% of students in urban schools do not finish high school. The 40% read only at fourth-grade level.

Findings on low-level academic achievement of African-Americans in general, and literacy and reading comprehension in particular, point to a lack of or inappropriate teaching methods at present. More and more researches acknowledge that learning is more than merely understanding the meaning of words and knowing the rules of grammar. It also considers the person's socio-cultural background and his experiences in the reading process. These two considerations connect the reading activity with the reader's experiences. Merging his socio-cultural background with acquiring literacy and reading will help him better organize, interpret and expand the information he gains. This is what makes for meaningful learning. Wood (1999) emphasizes that effective instruction methods necessarily involve the learner in the process of acquiring meaningful learning.