Estimated adult illiteracy rates are slightly lower in Washington County and slightly higher in Greene County than the state and national averages, according to a federal report released Thursday.
The National Center for Education Statistics, which is part of the U.S. Department of Education, released the report that estimates 14.5 percent of the adult American population, or 32 million people, lacked basic prose literacy skills.
Lacking those skills means they cannot read sentences and paragraphs, like those in a newspaper, said NCES statistician Sheida White. Their skill level ranges from being unable to read to being able to locate common things in short readings, she said. It was an English-only test.
Fifteen percent of Greene County adults and 10 percent of Washington County adults are estimated to not have those skills, according to the report.
Amy Manko, executive director of the Washington County Literacy Council, said other studies have shown Washington's illiteracy rate to be 19 percent. She said it's hard to know illiteracy rates for certain without asking everyone.
"If it is 10, I'm really excited because that means our program is working," she said.
The adult literacy program has 14 locations throughout the county. The literacy council also has an English as a Second Language program in Canonsburg.
It's also extended its reach to Greene County, opening tutoring sites in Jefferson, Carmichaels and Bobtown.
"We're working to build that up now," Manko said.
Kelly Pace, director and coordinator of family literacy at the Bowlby Public Library in Waynesburg, said it's hardest to get adults to come in for literacy programs. They do get some adults to come in for assistance, but not as many as they would like, she said.
The library has a variety of adult programs, including teaching to read, studying for a GED and helping them obtain a driver's license. Bowlby also has a family tutoring program that allows children to get help while the parents do, Pace said.
"Most of the tutors are one-on-one," she said. "We're ready to help anyone who comes in."
The purpose of the national report was to give policymakers data so they can determine how to help areas with high illiteracy rates, White said.
NCES compared data from 2003 and 1992 for the study. They gathered data from 264 counties and also used data from the 2000 Census to come up with their estimates.
"We noticed no difference across the years," she said.
For the first time, NCES broke down the data to the state and county level. States ranged from as low as 6 percent lacking the reading skills in North Dakota, New Hampshire and Minnesota to as high as 24 percent in California. Pennsylvania was 13 percent.
Andy Kolstad, an NCES senior technical adviser, said the national sample included people from all states and it was population proportional, so the largest states had the most participants. Roughly 18,500 people participated in the testing in 2003 and 24,000 in 1992.
The data was correlated with predictors, including poverty, education levels and high levels of immigrants, he said.
White said it's important to look at margin of error, called credible estimates, as well as the literacy rates. The margin of error varies per county and per state, she said. However, White said, the model they used was thoroughly evaluated, and she believes the numbers are accurate.
To compare states or counties, visit http://nces.ed.gov/ naal/estimates/index.aspx/.
To see the entire NCES report, visit http://nces.ed.gov /pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2009482/.