1. Literacy

2. The Ability to Read and Write

4. America is the superpower of the World But Can America Read?

5. U S A is ranked number 21 out of 180 countries Rank Country Literacy rate [b] 1 Georgia 100.0 2 Cuba 99.8 2 Estonia 99.8 2 Latvia 99.8 5 Barbados 99.7 [j] 5 Slovenia 99.7 [l] 5 Belarus 99.7 5 Lithuania 99.7 5 Ukraine 99.7 10 Kazakhstan 99.6 10 Tajikistan 99.6 12 Armenia 99.5 12 Azerbaijan 99.5 12 Turkmenistan 99.5 12 Russia 99.5 16 Hungary 99.4 [j] 17 Kyrgyzstan 99.3 17 Poland 99.3 [j] 19 Moldova 99.2 [l] 19 Tonga 99.2 21 Albania 99.0 21 Antigua and Barbuda 99.0 [q] 21 Australia 99.0 [d] 21 Austria 99.0 [d] 21 Belgium 99.0 [d] 21 Canada 99.0 [d] 21 Czech Republic 99.0 [d] 21 North Korea 99.0 [d] 21 Denmark 99.0 [d] 21 Finland 99.0 [d] 21 France 99.0 [d] 21 Germany 99.0 [d] 21 Guyana 99.0 [j] 21 Iceland 99.0 [d] 21 Ireland 99.0 [d] 21 Japan 99.0 [d] 21 South Korea 99.0 [d] 21 Luxembourg 99.0 [d] 21 Netherlands 99.0 [d] 21 New Zealand 99.0 [d] 21 Norway 99.0 [d] 21 Slovakia 99.0 [d] 21 Sweden 99.0 [d] 21 Switzerland 99.0 [d] 21 United Kingdom 99.0 [d] 21 United States See also: Literacy in the United States 99.0 [d] 47 Italy 98.9 48 Samoa 98.7 [l] 48 Trinidad and Tobago 98.7 [l] 48 Croatia 98.7 51 Bulgaria 98.3 52 Spain 97.9 [d] 52 Uruguay 97.9 54 Saint Kitts and Nevis 97.8 [k] 55 Cyprus 97.7 56 Romania 97.6 56 Argentina 97.6 58 Mongolia 97.3 59 Israel 97.1 [k] 59 Greece 97.1 61 Maldives 97.0 61 Macedonia 97.0 63 Uzbekistan 96.9 [j] 64 Bosnia and Herzegovina 96.7 65 Chile 96.5 66 Serbia 96.4 67 Grenada 96.0 [q] 68 Costa Rica 95.9 69 Bahamas 95.8 [j] 70 Venezuela 95.2 71 Brunei Darussalam 94.9 71 Portugal 94.9 [l] 73 Saint Lucia 94.8 [q] 74 Hong Kong 94.6 [j] 74 Paraguay 94.6 [l] 76 Kuwait 94.5 77 Singapore 94.4 77 Fiji 94.4 [j] 79 Thailand 94.1 80 Palestinian Authority 93.8 81 Panama 93.4 81 Philippines 93.4 83 China 93.3 84 Qatar 93.1 85 Mexico 92.8 86 Colombia 92.7 87 Malta 92.4 88 Indonesia 92.0 89 Malaysia 91.9 90 Seychelles 91.8 91 Zimbabwe 91.2 [l] 92 Jordan 91.1 93 Ecuador 91.0 94 Sri Lanka 90.8 [w] 95 Bolivia 90.7 96 Suriname 90.4 97 Vietnam 90.3 98 United Arab Emirates 90.0 [l] 98 Brazil 90.0 100 Myanmar 89.9 101 Peru 89.6 101 Lebanon 89.6 [j] 103 Dominican Republic 89.1 104 Turkey 88.7 105 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 88.1 [q] 106 Dominica 88.0 [q] 107 Equatorial Guinea 87.0 108 Bahrain 88.8 109 Namibia 85.0 110 Sao Tome and Principe 84.9 111 Republic of the Congo 84.7 [l] 112 Mauritius 84.3 113 Libya 84.2 [l] 114 Gabon 84.0 [l] 115 Saudi Arabia 82.9 116 Iran 82.4 116 South Africa 82.4 118 Lesotho 82.2 119 Oman 81.4 120 Botswana 81.2 120 Cape Verde 81.2 [l] 122 Syria 80.8 123 El Salvador 80.5 [l] 124 Honduras 80.0 125 Jamaica 79.9 126 Swaziland 79.6 127 Nicaragua 76.7 128 Solomon Islands 76.6 [k] 129 Belize 75.1 [q] 130 Tunisia 74.3 131 Vanuatu 74.0 132 Cambodia 73.6 132 Kenya 73.6 134 Egypt 71.4 135 Madagascar 70.7 136 Djibouti 70.3 [j] 137 Algeria 69.9 138 Tanzania 69.4 139 Guatemala 69.1 139 Nigeria 69.1 [l] 141 Laos 68.7 142 Zambia 68.0 143 Cameroon 67.9 144 Angola 67.4 145 Democratic Republic of the Congo 67.2 146 Uganda 66.8 147 India 66.0 148 Rwanda 64.9 149 Malawi 64.1 150 Sudan 60.9 [aa] 151 Eritrea 60.5 [j] 152 Burundi 59.3 153 Ghana 57.9 154 Papua New Guinea 57.3 155 Comoros 56.8 [j] 156 Pakistan 56.20 [1] 157 Haiti 54.8 [j] 158 Yemen 54.1 [l] 159 Togo 53.2 160 Morocco 52.3 161 Mauritania 51.2 162 Timor-Leste 50.1 [ab] 163 Pakistan 49.9 164 Côte d'Ivoire 48.7 165 Central African Republic 48.6 166 Nepal 48.6 167 Bangladesh 47.5 168 Bhutan 47.0 [v] 169 Guinea-Bissau 44.8 [j] 170 Gambia 42.5 [j] 171 Senegal 39.3 172 Mozambique 38.7 173 Ethiopia 35.9 174 Sierra Leone 34.8 175 Benin 34.7 176 Guinea 29.5 177 Niger 28.7 178 Chad 25.7 179 Mali 24.0 180 Burkina Faso 23.6

6. 42 Million American adults can’t read Source: National Institute for Literacy

7. 50 million American adults can’t read pass a 5th grade level Source: National Institute for Literacy

8. Literacy Levels Level 1 – read and write at a 5th grade level Level 2 – 5th thru 7th grade reading and writing skills

9. % of each state at Level 1 literacy

11. Gender and Illiteracy 30% 20% 10% URBAN RURAL

13. The Rest of The World Top Five Countries: Georgia – 100% Cuba – 99.8% Estonia -99.8% Latvia – 99.8% Barbados – 99.7%

14. Georgia? No! Georgia

15. Texting and tweetingDo they Help or Hurt our youth?

16. Studies have Shown What? That there is a link between texting and good literacy skills Children who text are more exposed to language One British study showed that the children who texted did better in the areas of spelling and writing.

17. How Can We Help? Reading aloud to young children helps build language skills critical for later reading success. Preventing Reading Difficulties in Young Children, National Research Council, 1998

18. United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)

19. Specialized agency under the U.N. to promote international collaboration through education, science, and culture