CRISIS IN LITERACY

Part 1 of 5

Sidebars:
* Tutoring for dyslexic children.
* `I'm proud of my learning disability,' says cartoonist Mike Peters.
* Literacy program helps inmates.
* Jeff Bruce's column.

Series index

Welfare reform motivated Janet Malott to resume her education.

Janet Malott is 21 and reads at a level expected of fifth-graders.

"I can read small words," said Malott, a student in a local adult literacy program, "but when they get to those big fancy words, there's no way."

Angela Edwards, 36, is further along in her schooling: She passed a GED practice test, then took the actual General Educational Development exam last month. If she passes, it's on to college, and goodbye to a string of dead-end jobs.

"I guess I just got tired of not doing anything," said Edwards, who dropped out of high school when she was 17. "I think (education) will open doors for me."

Literacy experts say the two Dayton women are typical of a lot of people in the Miami Valley, people whose lack of education is holding them back in life. But unlike Malott and Edwards, not everybody with a literacy problem is doing something about it.

Greater Dayton, often considered the archetypal American city, closely reflects the state of literacy in the United States. A disturbing percentage of adults are ill-prepared for modern life.

A Portland State University study released two weeks ago by the National Institute for Literacy estimates that 19 percent of Montgomery County residents 16 and older are in the lowest of five levels of literacy. That mirrors national estimates that one in five people is functionally illiterate.

Another 25 percent of Montgomery County adults are estimated to be in the second-lowest level. That means 44 percent of adult county residents, almost 170,000 people, function below the ninth-grade educational level, the minimum requirement for many jobs.

"If you're not functioning at Level 3, you're going to have a hard time with some basic everyday tasks," said Karla Hibbert-Jones, executive director of Project READ (Reading Education for Adults in Dayton), the local umbrella group for literacy programs.

Dayton's statistics are particularly troubling. Nearly a third of Dayton residents are estimated to be at the lowest level, with 62 percent below the ninth-grade level.

"I hate to say it, but that's almost a crime against nature," said Phillip Parker, executive director of the Dayton Area Chamber of Commerce and chairman of the Dayton Mayor's Commission on Literacy. "From a productivity standpoint, (literacy has) a huge impact. A lot of businesses are starving for good, skilled workers - and they're crying the blues."

The Miami Valley isn't unique. The area's literacy levels are in line with those of the state, the Midwest and the nation.

"It's really a crisis that we have in our country that needs to be attended to," said Carolyn Staley, deputy director of the National Institute for Literacy. "We hope (the new study) moves policy makers and the public to take (literacy) seriously as a policy issue."

A much-publicized survey of employers released last month by Wright State University and the University of Dayton found 48,700 jobs are going unfilled in an eight-county area. "There is a real possibility people remain out of the labor force because they lack the qualifications to function as effective employees," the study concluded.

While experts say the problem cuts across all income levels, literacy deficits and poverty are closely linked. A 1992 study, Adult Literacy in Ohio, found that people at the highest literacy level earned almost three times as much as those at the lowest level.

A high school diploma isn't a guarantee of literacy, either. About 25 percent of the 7,600 people in Project READ programs in Montgomery, Greene and Preble counties are high school graduates.

Defining literacy

"When people talk about literacy, they're usually talking about the adult who can't read beyond the fifth-grade level," said Kettering Adult School Director Dan Fowler. "That's only one small part of the problem. When you talk about literacy, it's from birth to death. It's going to take a change in the mindset of society, industry and, believe it or not, schools."

In this age of mandatory public schooling, fewer young and middle-aged people are truly illiterate, unable to read even menus and street signs. But the literacy standard has been raised as the workplace becomes more complex and good-paying jobs that don't require academic skills become fewer and fewer. Even basic computer keyboarding skills are part of what it means to be literate today.

"It's sort of a moving target as far as how we're defining it," Hibbert-Jones said.

Experts break literacy into three scales: prose literacy, document literacy (the ability to fill out forms and applications) and quantitative literacy (math). For each of those scales, there are five levels, depending on how a person scores on standardized tests.

"Everybody's got more to learn," Hibbert-Jones said. "This is a continuum, and wherever you're at, hop on, because the 21st century is coming."

Educators believe many people are reluctant to "hop on" the literacy wagon because they don't want to be labeled by others, or think of themselves, as illiterate.

"The word `literacy' is such a turn-off to people," Hibbert-Jones said. "I wish we could come up with a new word to describe what we're doing here."

Experts say many people with literacy problems are accustomed to their lot in life and are either too intimidated or too apathetic to make a commitment to learning. Many grew up in homes in which education wasn't a priority, have learning disabilities or had family or social problems that distracted their attention from school.

Fowler, himself a GED grad, said the schools bear some of the responsibility for adult literacy problems.

"I don't want to blame the educators," he said, "but we haven't changed anything since the agrarian calendar."

`Equipped for the Future'

Other experts say the schools are moving in the right direction, but that they can't do it alone.

"People think schools are the answer to all the problems of the world," said John Maxwell, associate director of adult and continuing education for the Dayton city schools. "There are so many problems in society that divert students' attention from learning."

Added Hibbert-Jones: "If it was just one problem, our society would probably be able to lick this, but it's a lot of things."

Literacy officials here and nationwide are trying to appeal to would-be students with an "Equipped for the Future" campaign that stresses how improved literacy skills benefit a person as a parent, worker and citizen.

Officials also are trying to get more businesses involved in promoting literacy.

"Business sees literacy as a charity issue," Hibbert-Jones said. "They don't think it affects their bottom line."

Parker, of the chamber of commerce, agrees but sees signs that "businesses are starting to get more enlightened."

He said businesses can help by encouraging employees to improve their skills without condemning them, encouraging other workers to become volunteer tutors and financially supporting literacy awareness campaigns.

People have varying goals for participating in literacy programs. Many are seeking a GED, which translates to a sort of societal recognition of one's literacy. For others, it's enough to learn to fill out a job application, balance the checkbook or read to a child.

"`Success' is hard to define," Hibbert-Jones said. "Some successes are very small. As long as people are learning, moving ahead, chopping away at those goals, I call that success."

`I think (education) will open doors for me,' said Angela Edwards, shown with sons Douglas (left) and Deangelo. JIM WITMER / DAYTON DAILY NEWS

`I've got a kid to raise'

When she was a sophomore at Dayton's Patterson Cooperative High School, Malott and a friend adopted what might be called an accelerated school day.

"Go in, sign in, then go back out," Malott said. "That's what we did."

By the time school officials and the girls' parents got wise, Malott was pregnant by her boyfriend, a man in his 30s. She didn't go back to school.

Now, at 21, she's had a taste of low-paying jobs, her 3-year-old son's father is in prison for auto theft and her welfare benefits will run out in a couple of years.

"I've got a kid to raise," she said. "I've got to do something."

Since February, Malott has been studying two mornings a week at a Volunteers of America adult learning center near her home in East Dayton. Her goal is to get a GED, like her older sister, then go on to nurse's training.

She knows she has a hard road ahead: Her tutor says she reads at the fifth-grade level and is at the second- or third-grade level in math.

Edwards takes her GED exam at Career Academy.

"My mom worked two jobs raising us. My mom graduated and she's disappointed in us because we didn't," Malott said. "I wish I didn't (drop out of school), but there's nothing I can do about it now."

Angela Edwards dropped out of Dayton's Colonel White High School in 1979 after her mother died of a heart attack. She got a fast-food job and rented a cheap apartment.

The mother of two boys decided to finish her education about three years ago. Her younger son, Deangelo, went to Head Start at the same building that houses Kettering Adult School, and Edwards decided to take GED-preparation classes while Deangelo attended Head Start. She'll find out the results of her GED test in a couple of weeks.

Her older son, Douglas, is now 17 and a sophomore, just like Angela was when she dropped out.

"I try to encourage him to finish school," she said. But Edwards was troubled by the fact that she didn't finish school herself.

That was the motivation Edwards needed to resume her education.

For her, the explanation is simple: "A lot of times when we're raising kids, our actions speak louder than our words."