Print Literacy
Literacy is defined by the Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD; 2012) as “understanding, evaluating, using, and engaging with written text to participate in the society, to achieve one’s goals, and to develop one’s knowledge and potential” (p. 20). It is unarguable that this ability to read, understand, and use written language is fundamental to one’s freedom to achieve personal goals and is crucial for positive life outcomes. The influence of strong literacy encompasses multiple life domains, as evidenced by its lifelong correlational relationship with employability, earnings, employment duration, and health (Canadian Council on Learning, 2008; Chua, 2017; Rocha & Ponczek, 2011).
Unfortunately, in the United States, literacy rates are low compared to other industrialized nations (OECD, 2013), and there has not been much improvement in literacy rates for several decades. In fact, on the most recent National Assessment of Education Progress, reading scores for school-aged children declined from the previous administration in 2017 (National Center for Education Statistics, 2019). Amongst adults, 18% are reading at or below the lowest level of proficiency (i.e., level one) as measured by the Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC; OECD, 2013). This statistic is significantly higher in the prisons where approximately one out of three of inmates are reading at or below the lowest level of proficiency as measured by the PIAAC (OECD, 2013).