 |
|
News
12.14.05--
New Report Measures Nation’s Progress With Adult Literacy
Buffalo, NY [December 14, 2005] The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) releases its 2003 National Assessment of Adult Literacy (NAAL) report on December 15, 2005.
Buffalo was one of the participating cities in the 2003 NAAL Survey that measures the English language literacy skills of American adults age 16 and older. The NAAL focuses on a range of tasks adults perform in order to function at work, at home, and in the community. It describes the status and progress of literacy throughout the U.S. and in each of six participating states (Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Missouri, New York, and Oklahoma). It is the first assessment of the nation's progress in adult literacy since 1992.
The last national report on adult literacy issued in 1992 found that twenty percent (20%) of Erie County’s adult population and thirty percent (30%) of the City of Buffalo’s adult population were reading at or below a 5th grade level. Buffalo Reads, a coalition of over 35 local organizations dedicated to improving literacy; Literacy Volunteers, a local agency focused on helping adults to acquire literacy skills, and the site where the 2003 NAALS survey was administered, and; Good Schools for All, a community partnership for student achievement and convener of the Buffalo Reads coalition, are all anxiously waiting the new adult literacy results. We know that literacy levels are at crisis levels for adults and children in Buffalo. This new NAALS report will help us to measure the extent of the issue for adults as we embark on our Citywide Literacy Campaign with a goal of 100% literacy for every citizen in Buffalo.
A press conference announcing the results will be held at the U.S. Department of Education. A live media-only webcast of the press conference is available on Thursday, December 15 at 9:30 a.m. Media is encouraged to access the web site at least 15 minutes prior to the release in order to ensure setup is correct. Access the webcast by logging onto the following website:
http://www.nifl.gov/nifl/webcasts/20051202/webcast12-15.html.
Good Schools for All is a component program of the Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo.
Back to Top
|
|
|
