This is a pretty sad story...could it also be a question of a lack of teachers who inspire? I sure had a bunch when I was in my younger, formative years, and Intel’s Inspired by Education program (www.InspiredByEducation.com) offers a bunch of tools that teachers can use to this end...one would hope that the literacy level won’t get any lower than this dismal figure, but who knows.
It is most likely a combo of things. But look, my teachers didn’t always inspire me, and I read with good proficiency (and you probably do too). And imagine how difficult it is to inspire kids these days. For instance, when I was teaching biology the kids were so blase about everything. We could show them the coolest videos, give interesting assignments, let THEM choose projects from things that interested them, etc. But face it, their main interest is sex, partying, eating, etc. Even in the lower grades, they are difficult to get excited about things, since they have all seen so much via the tv and internet, and nothing is very novel or new to them.
I’m not saying it can’t be done, and I’m not saying teachers should not try, but you tell ME how to inspire kids.
susie