Thousands of New River Valley Adults Struggle with Basic Reading and Math

April 2020

There is a great need for adult literacy services in the New River Valley, according to a report compiled by Emma Patterson with Research Allies for Lifelong Learning. Approximately 24,000 New River Valley Adults Struggle with very basic reading, such as reading brief

texts on familiar topics to locate a single piece of information. Moreover, 38,000 NRV adults cannot do basic math, for example, solving a one-step problem involving counting, arithmetic, or a simple percent.