Media

Region's crisis: 287,000 can't read anything

EDUCATION: Officials in seven-county area plan to work together to devise improvement plan

BY OLIVIA CLARKE — Times Staff Writer
This story ran on nwitimes.com on Sunday, September 12, 2004

There's a crisis in Northwest Indiana. Some adults can't read a map or complete a Social Security card application. Some parents struggle to raise a family without owning a high school diploma. Some immigrants try to survive in their communities without knowing the English language. And some children have never been read a book until they start school.

At least 287,000 people in the seven counties of the region function below basic literacy levels, according to the Literacy Needs Assessment's executive summary.

The assessment is part of a regionwide literacy plan that will be launched Friday at the third annual Regional Literacy Conference.

Being literate doesn't simply mean being able to read a sentence. It also involves how well you can write, speak English and compute and solve problems to successfully function in society, according to the executive summary.

Pockets in the region like Gary and East Chicago see a harsher reality with between 75 percent and 79 percent of their communities at the lowest literacy levels.

About 6 percent of the Lake County population has less than a ninth-grade education and about 13 percent do not have high school diplomas. In the seven counties of the region, Porter County has the lowest percentage of adults without a high school diploma -- 9 percent -- while Starke County has the highest with 20 percent.

Until now, the true magnitude of the region's literacy program wasn't known, either because there wasn't enough money or cooperation among literacy advocates, local consultants say.

The Discovery Alliance and the Center of Workforce Innovations, along with community leaders and those who work with literacy needs, wanted to change that by creating a comprehensive literacy plan that includes Lake, Porter, LaPorte, Newton, Pulaski, Starke and Jasper counties.

This literacy plan is estimated to cost $3 million a year for five years. When it begins this spring, it will be the first time all seven counties have worked together to create a plan.

A second chance

On a Thursday morning, groups of students sit around counters typically meant for a biology or chemistry class. They aren't dissecting frogs, but they are experimenting with their fate.

They participate in a program coordinated by the Gary Housing Authority and Ivy Tech State College that will prepare them for the GED test.

Some students talk about their dreams and how getting their GED gets them one step closer to realization.

Thirty-year-old Sandra Brandon got pregnant and dropped out of school in ninth grade. She wants to eventually become a surgical technician.

She tries to teach her four children, who range in age from 4 to 15, the importance of reading. She requires them to sit down with a book for at least an hour each day.

Brandon knows how to read but doesn't always understand the meaning. A dictionary helps.

"You will be left behind if you don't know how to read," Brandon said. "I try to tell my girls to go to school every day and don't be scared to ask questions. I hate the fact that if my kids come to me with math problems, I don't know how to help them out. That's embarrassing to me."

A new experience

Maria Avila sometimes stumbles over the pronunciation of a few words -- understandable for someone new to the language.

In 1998, at age 21, she emigrated from Mexico to the United States knowing only a couple of English words like "table" and "good." She jumped into learning her new language by taking classes.

"I feel wonderful because I feel like I know what's going on," Avila said about learning English.

About 19,000 residents of Northwest Indiana came to the United States between 1990 and 2000, according to the assessment's executive summary. Avila is among about 8,400 immigrants who live in LaPorte County.

A factory worker, she said she understands the importance of knowing English. It prevents her from closing herself off from the rest of society, she said.

"If you don't know how to speak English, you can't understand the messages and the signs that are everywhere," she said. "There are a lot of people who are coming to the United States, and they don't want to learn English. They stay one or two years and go back to Mexico."

A new story

On a Wednesday morning, about six toddlers sit on the floor at the Lake County Public Library. They all listen as different people read them stories.

Eighty-year-old Bob Bowser ignores his arthritis as he carefully sits down on the ground. He wants to sit as close to eye level with the toddlers as possible. He doesn't let his difficulty with reading the small print stop him from creating a story for children.

Bowser reads to those who can't read for themselves -- whether it be a child or someone with impaired vision.

"It's a way of gaining knowledge myself," Bowser said.

This seemingly simple task of reading to a child can have a lasting impact.

"The child who enters kindergarten with little or no pre-literacy skills often struggles from the beginning in learning to read," according to the executive summary.

Eight of the 23 school districts in Lake and Porter counties were below the state average, with less than 70.6 percent of their students passing the English portion of the 2003 ISTEP-Plus.

"Reading just opens up so many doors," said Schererville mother Patti Shute, who brought her child to the library reading group. "We believe strongly in reading to the children from the time they are babies."

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