National Data | Chart | The Stupid American?-Part 2: For Hispanics, Spanglish is Killing English Literacy

01/05/2006

Table 1: Average Literacy Scores of Adults by Race/Ethnicity, 1992-2003
Race/ethnicity	1992	2003	% Change
	Prose Literacy
White	287	288	0.4%
Black	237	243	2.8%
Hispanic	234	216	-7.4%
Asian/Pacific Islander	255	271	6.2%
	Document Literacy
White	281	282	0.3%
Black	230	238	3.5%
Hispanic	238	224	-6.0%
Asian/Pacific Islander	259	272	5.1%
	Quantitative Literacy
White	288	297	3.1%
Black	222	238	7.3%
Hispanic	233	233	-0.3%
Asian/Pacific Islander	268	285	6.1%
Source: National Center for Education Statistics, "A First Look at Literacy of America’s Adults in the 21st Century," December 2005.

Table 2: Percent of Adults With Below Basic Literacy Levels, 1992-2003
Race/ethnicity	1992	2003	% point change
	Prose Literacy
White	9	7	-2
Black	30	24	-6
Hispanic	35	44	9
Asian/Pacific Islander	25	14	-14
	Document Literacy
White	10	8	-2
Black	31	24	-7
Hispanic	28	36	12
Asian/Pacific Islander	19	11	-8
	Quantitative Literacy
White	19	13	-6
Black	57	47	-10
Hispanic	50	50	0
Asian/Pacific Islander	31	19	-12
Source: National Center for Education Statistics, "A First Look at Literacy of America’s Adults in the 21st Century," December 2005. Page 9.

Edwin S. Rubenstein is President of ESR Research Economic Consultants in Indianapolis.