ce the lesser educated ones (Goldstein 3). Persons speaking other languages than English might have measured out as better readers had the surveys been administered in their native tongues. Variance in the levels of male and female scores are not that outlandish. Men performed as well as females in basic reading skills but were more productive in more critical areas, such as reading maps and following instructions (Kaplan 45). The largest gain in women's literacy happened in the 19th century. In the early part of the 20th century the majority of females in numerous countries, including the United States, became increasingly illiterate. Before that women had been left behind as far as education was concerned (Doyle 20). Education seems to be dropping the ball and lagging behind on the front-lines of illiteracy. Generations of Americans seem to be poorly equipped to compete in the global economy, and social hurdles persist as educators keep giving degrees to students who cannot even write their name or recite it when it appears in front of them on a piece of paper (Kaplan 44). The literacy deficit was best exemplified by Sam Houston High School's history and geography teacher, Nelson Brown, who began noticing that a great number of his students could not read. Therefore, he decided to investigate his theory that his student's grades were being hurt by their lack of reading ability, by administering tests to his students to find out exactly what was going on. One-hundred-sixty students took the test; One-hundred-forty (88%) missed more than half the questions; not one student answered them all correctly; none of the scholars missed just one, just two, or even just three. Only four students missed eight or fewer. The exam was Brown's evidence that the only reason his history students could not learn was because they could not read. This inability to reador write was hurting the students in every class, they simply we...
