National Assessment of Adult Literacy U.S. Dept Education
This month the US Government released this once-in-fifteen-years study of the nations literacy. The results, if you look at the sample questions and the breakdowns, are not exactly encouraging. Most groups stayed the same, and college and grad students declined (no surprise to this B.S. Physics).

The worst performance, though, is reserved for the researchers at NAAL/NCES. In the sample of 19,300, 1200 were in prison. That's one in 16 for the quantitativley non-proficient. US prisons held--a 5 second Google will tell you--but 1 in 142 of us. The sample over-weighted criminals by 900 percent.

Not offensive enough? The US Government also employs a diverse population housed in military barricks. Not one was included.