|
Indicator V-2
|
Family Literacy
|
|
|
This indicator concerns the percentage of preschool- and kindergarten-age children who were read to by a family member on a daily basis for years 1993 through 2001. Data from the
National Center for Education Statistics’ (NCES)
National Household Education Survey Program
indicate that the early to mid-1990s saw an increase in family literacy rates, with the number of children read to by family members increasing from 53 to 58%. These gains were eroded over the latter part of the 1990s, but then another modest surge resulted in a 2001 family literacy rate that came within half a percent of the 1995 high (Figure V-2).
The family literacy data also reveal that the likelihood that a child was read to on a regular basis by a family member varied according to the educational level of his or her mother. Throughout the 1992–2001 time period, over 70% of young children whose mothers possessed at least a bachelor’s degree were read to every day, while the figure was less than 50% for the children of mothers with only a high school education.
|