Students in Literacy “Red Zone”

Charleston County, South Carolina has a growing literacy problem. Recent test scores have shown that at North Charleston High School 46% of incoming 9th grade students read at a fourth-grade level or below.

In the Charleston County School District 23% of all incoming 9th grade students read at a fourth-grade level or below. The literacy problem often extends to learning other school subjects such as math and science due to students not being able to read textbooks, which are written for student’s actual grade level.

This problem also extends into the community where one in seven adults in the surrounding Charleston Counties read at an eighth-grade level or below. These adults are functionally illiterate. According to the Trident Literacy Association, up to 20,000 tri-county adults have less than a ninth-grade education.

These adults are often unable to read a newspaper article, fill out a job application, or follow instructions on prescription drug labels.

Now that the problem has been highlighted, school officials are pledging to work to focus more attention on literacy. School stimulus money will be allocated to teach reading and writing. The districts are looking to hire reading specialists who will teach older students without demoralizing them. Simply re-taking English classes is not enough, special attention is needed to help these students.