Adult Literacy in the United States

U.S. Department of Education ^ | July 2019 | US Government

[Steely Tom]

I couldn't help but notice this rather interesting diagram.

[mewzilla]

Meanwhile, from NYS...

New York State test scores months overdue, leaving educators in limbo

No mention of parents or taxpayers in the headline.

[nonliberal]

Anyone that works a job with the public knows the literacy rate is approximately 10%. The rest don’t bother to/can’t read.ximately

[keats5]

Yep. I’m a nurse and we use those language apps to communicate with some of our patients.

[keats5]

My suspicious eye is attracted to the words “Percent of subpopulation.”
I think there is mischief represented there.

---

Yes. Weird wording for a chart like that. Let’s look at the trickery with some made up numbers.

Say, for example that of 100 adults:
60 are white of which 6 (10%) are illiterate
20 are black of which 2 (10%) are illiterate
10 are Latino of which 1 (10%) is illiterate
10 are Asian of which 1 (10%) is illiterate

But by looking at the “subpopulation” of only illiterate people you would find that:

Of the 10 illiterate people:
6 are white: 60% of subpopulation
2 are black: 20% of subpopulation
1 is Latino: 10% of subpopulation
1 is Asian: 10% of subpopulation

[Steely Tom]

Yes. Very good !