Campaign for Philanthropy

The definition of literacy from the 2003 National Assessment of Adult Literacy is, “using printed and written information to function in society, to achieve one’s goals and to develop one’s knowledge and potential.” Although Central Texas has one of the highest levels of education in the state, 20% of Central Texans live with limited literacy and in our rural areas the rate can reach 40%.

The future of our workforce hangs in the same balance as the future of our children. There are more than 225,000 Central Texans who are not literate enough to qualify for a minimum wage job. Less than 10% of these citizens are getting the help they need.

The National Assessment of Adult Literacy also found that the lower socio-economic status of a child’s parents may dispose the child to lower educational outcomes. English language proficiency and educational attainment among parents along with their socio-economic status generally correlate with parental involvement and ultimately their children’s success in school and in life.

You can be part of the solution and break the cycle of illiteracy by supporting organizations right here in Central Texas. Austin Partners in Education and ACEE AmeriCorps work to make classroom lessons more effective and to provide one to one and small group tutoring for children struggling to learn to read in the early grades.

A review of 67 research studies on literacy programs shows that as parents spend time in adult literacy programs, they value education more. Consequently their children attend school more regularly, achieve higher IQ scores and are more likely to complete their educations.

Organizations like The Literacy Coalition of Central Texas and LifeWorks in association with Literacy Austin, Reading is Fundamental of Austin and Capital Area Reach Out and Read provide adult literacy and family literacy programs.

The good news is for some non-reading adults, as little as 35 hours of tutoring can improve their literacy skills by one grade level.

Please explore ILIVEHEREIGIVEHERE.ORG for more information about the very complex issue and the many Central Texas nonprofits working to provide solutions.