Establish The Background

Every year, poor reading outcomes cost taxpayers more than 225 billion dollars (NCES, 2005). The US economy spends 100 billion each year to fund unemployment (Staiger & Waldmann, 2017) and underemployment (Faraone & Biederman &, 2006). In 2015, the National Adult Literacy Survey revealed that 44 million Americans were categorized as “functionally illiterate” (UNESCO, 2015).  This means that 23% of adults do not have reading skills beyond the 4th-grade level (National Center for Education Statistics [NCES], 2007).   Research states that “functionally illiterate” individuals lack the ability to implement reading, writing, and mathematical skills that prolong one’s personal, occupational, or societal development (Vagvolgy, et al., 2016).  Research shows that low achievement in literacy leads to substandard job performance (Biederman et al., 2008), criminality (Mannuzza, 2008), higher rates of criminal recidivism (Drakeford, 2002), and mortality (Bardone et al, 1996; Beautrais et al., 1996; Lynskey, Coffey, Degenhardt, Carlin, & Patton, 2003). Low literacy rates are associated with many comorbidities such as anxiety, depression, (Boetsch, Green, & Pennington, 1996; Willcutt & Pennington, 2000; Stouthamer-Loeber, 2003), post-traumatic stress disorder (Biederman, 2004; Kessler et al., 2006; Spencer et al., 2016), Parkinson’s Disease (Fleisher, Shah, Fitts,  & Dahodwala, 2016), traumatic brain injuries (Adeyemo et al., 2014; Max et al., 2004; McKinlay et al., 2009) and coronary disease (National Institutes Health [NIH], 2000).  Over time, the attenuation of literacy skills causes prodigal deficits that encourage long-term health, economic, occupational, and educational distress.

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