Clearly the DOE has been doing a great job for 40+ years, reducing the average reading level
this post was submitted on 12 Jan 2026
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Yeah, you don't know what you're talking about; yet you make a bold statement as if you do. Curriculum is decided by the state and literacy rates can be skewed by the amount of ENL students and citizens you have in your population. The problem is bigger than what this article alludes to. No war except class war. Socioeconomic disparity is the biggest problem in this country, but the people with the money give us scapegoat after scapegoat and we keep falling for it.
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I always wonder how these things are determined. Does a 6th grade reading level mean that you cannot read above that level (simplifying here), or just that you generally don't read above it? Never in my adult life have I taken a survey/test that would generate the statistics like this that we always see, nor do I know anyone that has (which isn't to say that they aren't happening). If the media being generated for me is written at a lower level, and that's what they are basing these types of statistics off of, that's not reflective of my abilities. Don't get me wrong, my country is beyond fucked, but I'm not really a fan of how the author of this article tried to make their point (and I'm not just talking about the reading level statistic).
It's been a while since I read about it, but if I remember correctly it's roughly the level medication directions are written in. Simple, direct language that's hard to misinterpret. People at that reading level can read levels above it, but struggle to comprehend it.
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This is an op-ed disguised as a news story. It doesn't even tell me who did the study, doesn't tell me where to find it, gives me nothing, and then goes off on some very politically charged tangents.
It says Americans are dumb though, so to the top with you!
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"Are you smarter than a 6th grader?"
"What? That seems like such a low bar to make a whole game show off of. Wouldn't it have basically a 100% rate of contestants winning? I mean, they're using adults. Might be a bit more interesting if they use a bunch of 2nd graders that are said to be gifted."
(Show comes out)
".........so it appears I was wrong, and this country is fucked."
(Decades go by, and we're now in present day)
"See? We're fucked."
What is this trash article. It throws numbers out with completely no basis for doing so. I don't even know that I necessarily disagree with them, or the thought that America is probably not as literate as it ought to be, but this article is someone yelling into the void.
So to the OP, I'm not sure how one could suggest they learned anything from this article but the author's opinion.
The article makes several bold statements and cites zero sources. I don’t see any reason to believe it.
How many people voted for Trump?
78,000,000/340,000,000 or about 25% of the country
With 36% choosing they didn't care enough to vote:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2024_United_States_presidential_election
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That explains a lot
Anybody know what this nonsense says? I'm having a hard time reading it.