Here's a link for the Bush administration's own "Literacy in Everyday Life - Results From the 2003 National Assessment of Adult Literacy" publication released this past April. See:
(link...)

The portrait of U.S. education painted by the study is sobering.

The researchers tested tens of thousands of adults from all walks of life all across the country.

Now one would hope that well over half of all adults would be considered proficient readers, maybe even 90% or more. However, the 2003 numbers are staggeringly low, even lower than the already dismal 1992 numbers.

Here are percentages of various groups aged 16+ the feds considered "proficient" in 2003 in three literacy categories:



Adult (Age 16+) Group in the U.S. Reading Prose Reading Documents Quantitative Literacy All Adults 13% 13% 13% Men 13% 13% 16% Women 14% 13% 11% White 17% 15% 17% Black 2% 2% 2% Hispanic 4% 5% 4% Asian/Pacific Islander 12% 13% 12% American Indian/Alaskan Native 10% 6% 10% Multiracial 4% 9% 7% Spoke only English before starting school 15% 13% 15% Spoke English and Spanish before starting school 6% 5% 4% Spoke English and Other before starting school 9% 8% 14% Spoke only Spanish before starting school 1% 3% 11% Spoke only Other before starting school 7% 10% 10% Age 16-18 5% 9% 6% Age 19-24 12% 13% 10% Age 25-39 18% 17% 17% Age 40-49 15% 15% 16% Age 50-64 15% 12% 17% Age 65+ 4% 3% 5% Learning Disability 7% 7% 7% No Learning Disability 14% 13% 14% Household Income < $10k 2% 3% 2% Household Income $10k to $15k 1% 1% 2% Household Income $15k to $20k 2% 2% 2% Household Income $20k to $30k 5% 6% 5% Household Income $30k to $40k 7% 6% 6% Household Income $40k to $60k 18% 19% 18% Household Income $60k to $100k 35% 36% 37% Household Income $100k+ 30% 27% 29% Still in High School 4% 9% 5% Less than/some High School 1% 2% 1% GED/High School Equivalency 3% 4% 3% High School Graduate 4% 5% 5% Vocation/Trade/Business School 5% 7% 6% Some College 11% 10% 11% Associate's/2-Year Degree 19% 16% 18% Bachelor's Degree 31% 25% 31% Graduate Studies/Degree 41% 31% 36%

In short, schools in America are not performing "admirably" nor have they been for decades. These numbers are low enough to encourage a despot.

Unfortunately, these numbers also sound about right. :(

It would have been nice to see the numbers broken out for just Tennessee. The feds offered the states this option. However, Tennessee declined to participate.

-- OneTahiti