Reading matters

OTTAWA -- Two years ago, Anita Martens suddenly lost her clerical job at a Winnipeg hospital.

After spending most of her adult life struggling with spelling, the single mother of three decided enough was enough and went back to school.

Her layoff wasn't a product of her weak spelling skills, but she wanted to be bet­ter prepared for her next job.

"I could read, but I couldn't write well," said Martens.

She began to notice her problem when she was working as a cook in a personal care home. Even or­dering supplies for the kitchen was stressful for her. "It was very difficult," she said.

Martens grew up in Mexico but spoke German as the child of German parents. She made it only through Grade 9 on her first foray in high school.

That, combined with English being her second language, put her literacy level far below average.

In 2007, when she was laid off, she went back to high school and got her diploma, assisted by literacy classes that helped her improve her reading and writing skills. She now has a certificate as a health unit clerk from Robertson College.

She is looking for work again and feels far more confident than she did before she went back to school.

"Life is so much easier now," she said.

Martens is one of the lucky ones.

She overcame her literacy problem.

But there are nearly 400,000 people in this prov­ince who haven't.

If you're reading this story, you are probably among the slim majority of Manitobans whose literacy skills are on par with the minimum level needed to fully function in our society.

But almost half of people over 16 find the simple pleasure of reading a newspaper, following a recipe or understanding a bus schedule to be frustrating and sometimes impossible.

It affects everything from their health and safety to their employment prospects and income. It cuts millions from the provincial economy, hurts the productivity of companies and adds thousands of people to the ranks of the unemployed and the social assistance roll.

Rob Sarginson, acting executive director of the Literacy Partners of Manitoba, said Canada's lit­eracy problems are "like the elephant in the room."

"People don't recognize literacy is an issue," he said. "But there is a significant underclass in Can­ada that cannot use information in the same way as others."

Earlier this month, the Canadian Council on Learning released interactive maps of Canada's literacy levels. The maps are based on data from the 2003 International Adult Literacy and Skills Survey. The release came in time to coincide with International Literacy Day, Sept. 10. Manitoba has also proclaimed the entire month of September as Literacy Month.

Literacy is measured on a scale of one to five, with one the equivalent of about Grade 4 and levels four and five the equivalent of PhDs and professional degrees such as medicine and law.

Level three, the equivalent of about a Grade 12 reading level, is the most common level of com­munication in the world. It's about the level of most major newspapers, including the Winnipeg Free Press, said Sarginson.

In Manitoba, more than 394,000 people read at lower than a Grade 8 level and more than 155,200 have skills below Grade 4.

That means they have trouble interpreting even basic text.

Manitoba is about on par with the Canadian average, though it has the lowest literacy levels in Western Canada.

Sarginson said it's important to note literacy has improved, albeit slowly. And he said the fault does not lie with the schools.

"There is nothing wrong with our education sys­tem," he said.

People with low literacy are more likely not to have finished school or have not kept up their skill after graduating, he said.

Sarginson said one of the reasons literacy may not be acknowledged as a problem is a lack of under­standing of what it actually is. He said many people confuse literacy levels with illiteracy, which is wrong.

"There is no such thing in Canada," he said. "It means no literacy at all."

Even a six-year-old has some literacy skills, said Sarginson.

Nadine Valk, a senior research analyst at the Can­adian Council on Learning, said oftentimes people aren't aware of their literacy challenges.

"Some people who really struggle are people who never in a million years would say they have a literacy problem," she said.

Someone at level one is likely aware he or she has a problem, but at level two people can fool them­selves into believing they are fine.

Valk said the distinction between reading at level two and three can often be described as the differ­ence between learning to read and reading to learn.

In other words, at level two you can often read the words on the page, but your ability to understand and interpret the information and apply it to tasks is limited.

At level three, readers are not just reading the words but also understanding their meaning and learning from them.

Literacy is a skill that diminishes over time if you don't hone it constantly, said Valk.

"You should read something every day," she said.

Evidence of the decline in skills is seen in the higher incidence of literacy problems among older people.

The 2003 survey found 9.3 per cent of Manitobans between 16 and 25 years old were at level one or below, compared to 47.5 per cent of Manitobans over the age of 65. Conversely, while 22.9 per cent of 16­to-25-year-olds were at level four or five, that level was achieved by 1.8 per cent of Manitobans over 65.

(For more statistics, see the charts and informa­tion boxes that accompany this story.) When people retire, they often stop having to read and interpret text every day. Unless they find alternative activities to exercise their reading skills, those skills slowly diminish, said Valk.

Other roots of the problem are the lack of educa­tion and high dropout rates among aboriginals and language problems among immigrants. Immigrants are often literate in their first language but have dif­ficulty in English or French.

Manitoba's aboriginal population is also clearly in need of investments in literacy. The survey did not include people living on native reserves. But among urban aboriginals in Manitoba, more than one in four (26.7 per cent) were at level one or below, and more than three in five (61.1 per cent) were at level two or below.

Comparatively, 17.5 per cent of non-aboriginal Manitobans were level one or lower and 45.1 per cent were at level two or lower.

So how does literacy improve? Staying in school has a lot to do with it, notes Sarginson.

The 2003 literacy and skills survey found the aver­age literacy score increased by more than 40 points among high school graduates compared to those who didn't finish high school. On average, people who went to university or college got another 20 points.

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Not being able to read well has huge implications.

For instance, Literacy Partners reports people with low literacy tend to smoke more, exercise less and have poorer diets.

Sarginson said people who can't read well enough are easier prey for scam artists. They're more likely to buy things they don't need from companies that use complicated language and fine print. They're more likely to be unemployed or work in low-income jobs.

Teaching literacy is a slow, laborious process.

Sarginson said it can take up to two years to raise someone from level one to level two.

He said small classes, with material geared specif­ically to the individual students, are key.

He also said many instructors spend as much time as social workers trying to help their students stay with the program despite family pressures and dif­ficulties associated with poverty and unemployment.

That also means it's critical to have programs close to where people live and for them to have access to libraries.

Although nearly 400,000 Manitobans could benefit from literacy programs, the 45 that operate in Mani­toba enrol about 2,700 people a year, said Sarginson.

Only about half of them finish the program.

Sarginson says there are 30 communities in the province with average literacy levels below three but no literacy education programs at all. There will have to be an investment in literacy educators, Sarginson said.

Earlier this month, Manitoba Advanced Education and Literacy Minister Diane McGifford announced the broad strokes of the province's new literacy "strategy". The plan is required under a new provin­cial law proclaimed in January.

She also announced an investment of almost $500,000 to implement it. The plan, said McGifford, targets literacy among immigrants and aboriginals and as an essential skill for the workplace. She said the number of hours literacy programs operate will increase, but there won't be more programs.

McGifford said it's not possible to have a program in every community.

She stressed Manitoba is the only province in Can­ada to have a cabinet minister with literacy as part of the portfolio and is the only one to have a Literacy Act, which requires a comprehensive provincial literacy strategy.

"The bottom line is we do recognize there is more work to do," she said. "But this is all of our problem.

It's not government alone that can fix it."

Manitoba will spend $19.5 million in literacy and adult education this year, up more than eight per cent from last year. Still, it amounts to a little more than $2 per capita.

If literacy is an issue for people looking for work, it is also an issue for businesses needing good employ­ees.

In 2005, the C.D. Howe Institute reported that if lit­eracy skills nationally improved by just one per cent, there would be a 2.5 per cent jump in productivity, worth $18 billion a year.

That includes a $600-million growth of the Mani­toba economy.

The same report said Canadian governments and businesses were not investing enough in literacy skills.

Herman Hansen, manager of employee relations and training and development for Boeing in Win­nipeg, said the company has invested in literacy and essential skills improvements since 1995. It has made a huge difference.

"We found, over time, there are a multitude of benefits," said Hansen, who now is also president of Literacy Partners of Manitoba. "It increased the competitiveness of our organization."

Boeing found its employees became more efficient and productive and were better able to work in teams after completing skill training.

Morale among staff improved, as did the rate of retention of employees.

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"The employees can see we care about their development and they are willing to make that extra effort for us," Hansen said.

Before the training began, he said, it was clear many employees struggled with basic reading skills, couldn't read necessary documents to do their job or complete the basic math needed for some of the high­tech aspects of the aerospace world.

Boeing's efforts started in 1995 with an assessment of its employees' skills. Prior to 1996, Boeing had not required a high school diploma as a condition of employment, so one of the first programs it offered was a high school completion course.

More than 50 people took advantage of the course, which Boeing paid for.

All the company required was the commitment to finish the course, which was done after work hours and took up to 110 hours to complete.

"I can't tell you how many employees came up to me and said, 'thank you,' " Hansen said.

Employees found renewed confidence both at work and at home, he said. Some had never told their children they didn't finish high school and were sud­denly able to help their kids with homework.

Others reported feeling more confident about speaking up during team meetings or getting in­volved in special activities.

Hansen said the company now assesses every em­ployee it hires for essential skills -- not just literacy, but also skills such as use of documents, writing, teamwork and math.

He said there are many companies, but not nearly enough, that work to upgrade their employees' skills.

"We're doing better," he said, "but we have a way to go yet."

mia.rabson@freepress.mb.ca

Literacy levels explained

Level 1 — Grade 4
At this level, adults are usually aware they have problems reading and have difficulty interpreting basic text.
Level 2 — Grade 8
At this level, adults can usually understand and interpret basic text that is simple and clearly laid out. Most adults at this level do not know they have a problem.
Level 3 — High school graduated
This is the level at which most communications are performed, including the Internet, newspapers and recipes. It is the minimum desired skill level.
Level 4/5
This is the level commonly achieved and used by professionals and post-secondary graduates.

Different kinds of literacy
Literacy is measured differently in how people can read and understand information provided in four areas:

Prose — textbooks, editorials, newspaper articles, brochures, instruction manuals.
Document — job applications, payroll forms, transportation schedules, maps.
Numeracy — knowledge and skill needed to handle mathematical situations that arise in daily life.
Problem Solving — knowledge and skills needed to solve problems, including step-by-step planning to reach the end goal.

Percentage of population age 16 and over at Prose level 2 or below, by province*

Nunavut    73
Ontario     48
Quebec       54.6
Newfoundland/Labrador     54.8
New Brunswick     56
Prince Edward Island    49.5
Manitoba    46.3
Northwest Territories    45
Nova Scotia    44.8
Saskatchewan    40.1
British Columbia    40
Alberta    39.5
Yukon    33.4

* The statistics are from the 2003 International Adult Literacy and Life Skills Survey, which was conducted in seven countries. The population 16 and over was surveyed. In Canada, the survey was not conducted on native reserves.
Manitoba breakdown

Number of people in Manitoba, over age 16, by Prose level (percentage of total)

Level 1: 155,064 (18.2)
Level 2: 239,412 (28.1)
Level 3: 316,944 (37.2)
Level 4/5: 140,580 (16.5)

Percentage of population at level two or below, by region

Winnipeg: 43 per cent
Northern Manitoba: 56 per cent
Interlake: 46 per cent
Southeastern Manitoba: 58 per cent
Southwestern Manitoba: 39 per cent

Where can I see the interactive literacy map?
www.ccl-cca.ca/literacy

Where can I see the entire report from the 2003 International Adult Literacy and Skills Survey?
http://www.nald.ca/fulltext/booc/booc.pdf

I think I need help. Where do I go?
Literacy Partners of Manitoba has a toll-free phone line for people who want help. Callers are assessed over the phone and then referred to a program that meets their needs.
LEARN Line: 947-5757 or 1-866-947-5757

Manitoba literacy levels, 2003

Average prose literacy score: 274 (Canada — 272)
Average prose literacy score ages 16-25: 288
Average prose literacy score ages 65 and over: 224

Urban aboriginals vs.
non-aboriginals in Manitoba

Average prose literacy score, urban aboriginals: 257
Average prose literacy score, non-aboriginals: 275

Percentage of urban aboriginals level three or higher: 38.8
Percentage of non-aboriginals level three or higher: 54.9

Women vs. men

On average, women scored 3.8 points higher than men in prose literacy and 1.8 per cent higher in problem-solving literacy.

On average, men scored 14.7 points higher than women in numeracy literacy and 5.4 per cent higher in document literacy.

Can’t read, can’t work

Slightly more than half the Canadians with lower than level three literacy were unemployed at the time of the survey. In all, more than 2.5 million Canadians whose literacy skills are at level two or below were either unemployed or in low-income jobs.
Comparatively, more than 80 per cent of those in level four and five were employed.
A 2007 Conference Board of Canada survey on literacy skills in the workplace reported a man with high literacy skills will earn $585,000 more during his lifetime, on average, than a man with low literacy skills. A woman with high literacy skills will earn $683,000 more.


Plain English, please

Improving literacy skills is important, but both the Literacy Partners of Manitoba and the Canadian Council on Learning say those who can read and write at the highest levels have to stop writing for each other.
"I work with a lot of information that is far more complicated than it needs to be," said Nadine Valk, a senior research analyst at the Canadian Council on Learning. "Why say it in two sentences if you can say it in one?"
She said, for example, information for a patient newly diagnosed with a disease such as diabetes is often written at a level that even people reading at level three cannot understand.
Governments are among the worst offenders — even when they’re promoting literacy.
Literacy Partners has a list of seven words that should not be used in plain language. One of them is strategy. What is Manitoba’s literacy plan called? A strategy.
Rob Sarginson, acting executive director of Literacy Partners, said he contacted Statistics Canada to advise them his students found it difficult to fill out the recent census form and some feared they would go to jail because they couldn’t understand it.
When they went to the help column, it was equally frustrating for them, said Sarginson.
"It was written at about a Grade 14 level," he said.
Literacy Partners recently assessed 10 days of Manitoba government press releases and found most were written at levels that less than half the population could easily understand. Assessing sentence length, the use of jargon and rhetoric, the organization found some of the releases were written at what would be the equivalent of about Grade 18.