Stateline Literacy Council

Literacy Facts

In 2008, we will celebrate our 36th anniversary! Established in 1972 by the Federated Women’s Club of Beloit, the literacy council has been in continuous operation, now serving up to 500 students each year.
Stateline Literacy Council is dedicated to providing literacy services to adults with limited basic skills and to those with limited proficiency in English. Free instruction in offered in reading, writing, math, and speaking English through one-to-one tutoring and class instruction.
In 1996, Mae Francis White, a Stateline Literacy Council student, received the “National Outstanding Student of the Year” award from our national affiliate, ProLiteracy America. Mae is the namesake of the State of Wisconsin Governor’s Award for Outstanding Learner, given out annually to an outstanding student.
In 1998, ProLiteracy America declared Stateline Literacy Council the “Outstanding Program of the Year.”
In 2000, the literacy council experienced a 240% growth in the number of students served. These are primarily Spanish-speaking adults.
The council was awarded the Chamber of Commerce’s Community Spirit Award in 2001 for our contributions to the Stateline community.
According to the national Institute for Literacy, 19% of Beloit residents read at or below a third grade reading level. This does not include the non-English speaking portion of our population.
25.9% of Beloit city residents over age 18 are lacking a high school credential.
The number one reason that students come to Stateline Literacy Council is to improve their basic skills so that they can find a job or improve their current job situation. The next most common reason is to learn how to better communicate with school and health personnel.
The majority of basic or English-speaking students have some form of learning disability that prevented them from learning to read and write in school.

Rock County

17.7% of residents over age 18 are lacking a high school diploma or its equivalent (U.S. Census, 2000).
8.9% of the population from 16 – 19 years old is not enrolled in school and are not high school graduates.
The Hispanic population in Rock County has increased 239% between 1990 and 2000 (U.S. Census, 2000).

Wisconsin

Approximately one million Wisconsin adults qualify for adult literacy and English language services. Only 50,000 (or approximately 5%) of adults in need of services are currently receiving them (U.S. Census, 2000).
785,682 Wisconsin adults, age 16 and older, are not enrolled in school and do not have a high school diploma or its equivalent (U.S. Census, 2000).
Nearly 4,000 trained volunteer tutors provide individualized, goal-oriented adult literacy instruction per year (Wisconsin Literacy, 2004).

National

2/3 of all jobs, and the majority of jobs that pay wages sufficient to support a family, require skills associated with at least some education beyond high school (Carnevale and Derochers, 2003).
The 2003 National Assessment of Adult Literacy (NAAL) estimates that 30 million adults in the U.S. - 14% of the country’s adult population – have only the most minimal ability to read and write in English.
One in five adults – over 40 million Americans – has pressing literacy needs (National Adult Literacy Survey, 1994).
American businesses are estimated to lose over $60 billion in productivity each year due to employees’ lack of basic skills (National Institute for Literacy).