Originally Posted by
Aimless
It's quite literally not. A ninth grader who can't read at the level of other ninth graders, but who can nevertheless read at the level of a sixth grader, can still read. A sixth grader who can't read at the level of other sixth graders, but who can read at the level of a fourth grader, can still read. Hunt's claim implies 25% absolute illiteracy whereas the data supports, at most, up to 25% sub-literacy for children leaving primary education, often described using the misleading term "functional illiteracy". The two are not synonyms except when viewed through the lens of simplism or outright stupidity.