PEDIATRICS Vol. 63 No. 3 March 1979, pp. 424
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ILLITERACY

Edward B. Fiske

A high school graduate on Long Island sues the local school system because he cannot read above the third-grade level. The chief of personnel for the Navy reports $250,000 in damage to a diesel engine because a sailor who worked on it could not read the maintenance manual. The National Assessment of Educational Progress shows a group of 17-year-olds a replica of a traffic ticket, and more than half cannot determine the last day on which the fine can be paid.

Such anecdotes are being heard with increasing frequency these days and point to a conclusion that is becoming painfully obvious to employees, educators, politicians, and the general public alike: the United States has a serious problem of illiteracy.