Portfolio: Final Exam- Frame 1

There are certain skills I would expect college graduates to have. They’re probably able to think analytically, form complex arguments and analyze and solve complex problems. It’s not a tall order to believe that they should be able to read. And yet some graduates “can barely fill out a simple application” according to Geoffrey Meredith. How is that remotely possible? Society spends its time pointing fingers; at the parents of these students, at the education system for making class sizes too large resulting in little personal attention, at teachers and professors for not caring about their students success. But the general population should not blame one thing for the rather large oversight of a graduate not being able to read an application, let alone “Pride and Prejudice”. Illiteracy in this scale is the result of something much larger than one professor’s teaching.

In “The Demise of Writing”, Mr. Meredith explains the tragedy of “functional illiteracy”. When reading is not only recommended, not only required, but essential to the workforce, this situation is truly inexcusable. One out of 5 people are unable to read at an acceptable level, most of that statistic being graduates who can’t analyze low to medium level difficulty text. Most disturbing of all, Meredith says that the baby boomer generation may be the best educated in history… and in the future.

My mother has personal experience in this problem as well. One of my mother’s co-workers is one in the previously mentioned statistic. This woman often comes over to my mother to ask her to explain a document. This woman does this consistently, nearly on a daily basis, despite it being part of her job to analyze these documents. That wastes both my mother’s time and the company’s. How does an oversight like that occur in an interview? Did this woman say, “I work well with people and I have a great work ethic. Also, I can’t read past an 8th grade reading level.”?

One might ask, “What’s the harm here? These people obviously can function in society, if they don’t want to learn, it’s not our job to babysit them.” Ill return with a question. These “graduates”, where do you think they’re working? I don’t want someone who can’t read as an air traffic controller or working in a police force! Of course it’s not anyone’s job to make sure people have higher education. But to say that its not the educational departments job to make sure a high school graduate can read a basic text is ridiculous. I will concede that if a student doesn’t want to learn, they won’t. But that excuse goes by the wayside when it comes to college alumni. They spend a lot of resources on gaining a higher education, having that large of a skill deficit is intolerable.

This is a paramount issue screaming for a solution. If I were in the education department I would propose a law stating that any capable student that cannot read at a 12th grade reading level will not be allowed to graduate. No exceptions. This society requires literacy. The purpose of education is to prepare a student for the future. If a student stares at his first application and cannot fill it out past his name, there is blame to be shared and work to be done.