Why do you think the literacy rates in the US are so low? Could it be because of the lack of commitment of our educators? Do you blame the parents? Or do you think the literacy rates are acceptable?
Great question. And let me get to your last question first, no. It's not acceptable.
There are multiple reasons behind this, including immigration (22% of students speak a language other than English at home) and truancy. But these are not the only issues.
You offer two possible reasons: parents and educators. Let's look at parents first.
Certainly, in low-SES areas, there is a problem with parents either choosing not to be engaged or not being able to be engaged. There is a cycle of poverty that is at play, which has a devastating effect on education and subsequent generations. This is compounded by the increase of single-parent households. (I'll pause here to state emphatically that I'm not taking judgment on anyone who is or has been a single parent--I've been a single parent. Only to relate what the research says is an obstacle to literacy and financial status.
In 1960, only 6% of households were headed by a single parent. In 2023, that percentage is about 23%. The good news is that this is down from 2012, when the percentage was 28%. But here we have nearly 1 of 4 families that have a parent who is trying to do it all. Too often, they are not able to be around to assist their kids with schoolwork or make sure their kids are going to school. This, unfortunately, too often results in kids dropping out of school. Students of single-parent families are more likely to drop out of school. The problem becomes when these kids become parents, and we unfortunately see that children from low-income single-parent families are more likely to become single-parents themselves.
The problem is that this is often a societal issue that cannot be remedied by actions in DC or even Albany, Sacramento, Tallahassee, or Austin.
Then there are the teachers. I would humbly encourage you and others to steer away from the idea that our issues with education are with teachers' lack of effort or commitment. The truth is far more complex. Yes. There are bad teachers. I was fortunate enough to teach in a school where I taught with rock stars. But, I also got to know many of the teachers in our district's other schools and there are bad teachers. This is why I prefer merit-based pay versus across-the-board pay raises for teachers.
However, a supermajority of teachers don't want to be bad teachers. Certainly, there are a couple in most schools who see teaching as Plan B and have no passion for teaching. But most teachers enter the classroom with the expectation that they will be effective. In fact, Swan, Wolf, and Cano (2011) found that a teacher's self-efficacy is highest during their student-teaching phase before they become teachers ... and then it crashes. Even after three years, their TSE hadn't recaptured their student-teaching highs. These first four years are what Guskey and Huberman call the "survival stage" of teaching. Here, they are just trying to survive the day. This phase is largely do to pre-service teacher education not sufficiently preparing teachers for what to truly expect. So, they're sorta freaked out for the first few years. At about year 4, they enter a transitional phase where they begin to figure things out, and then around year 7 is a huge fork in the road. They either become excited now that they understand their classroom and experiment with different techniques, or they enter a phase of self-doubt, which can lead to burnout.
The key in navigating the "survival stage" and making the turn away from self-doubt largely comes down to the types of in-service training or Professional Development they receive in their school and district. Some schools have a great PD program where teachers train each other, provide feedback, and there is a sense of camaraderie. I taught in such a school. Others find that the teachers are largely isolated from each other, PD is perfunctory, and teachers feel they are not supported. Here, too, the answer will not be found in DC, Albany, Sacramento, Tallahassee, or Austin. It will be found with the school leadership and the school culture they inspire.
So, to concisely answer your question: it's complicated.
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