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>
> A recently released study "The National Assessment of Adult Literacy"
> (http://nces.ed.gov/NAAL/PDF/2006470_1.PDF) seems to support the
> argument that while more of us may be educated, we're not as educated
as
> we used to be. The study finds that the average literacy of college
> educated Americans declined significantly from 1992 to 2003, but it
also
> reveals that just 25 percent of college graduates - and only 31
percent
> of those with at least some graduate studies - scored high enough on
the
> tests to be deemed "proficient" from a literacy standpoint, which the
> government defines as "using printed and written information to
function
> in society, to achieve one's goals, and to develop one's knowledge and
> potential."
>
> Scary.
>
What I think is really scary is the implications behind the quote in
John's post. One could (and probably should) read that quote to mean:
"use printed and written information to function in society (as we, the
agency developing the test, envision society _ought_ to be), to achieve
one's goals (the goals _we_ think you ought to strive to achieve) and
develop one's knowledge and potential (the knowledge we think you
_ought_ to develop and your potential to be of useful service to us)."
I get very suspicious of any government--socialist, fascist, or
democratic--when it tries to decide what is best for its citizens to
know, think, or believe.
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