December 9, 2005

Phoenix, Mesa in bottom half of literacy rankings
The Arizona Republic
Dec. 5, 2005 12:00 AM
A new study ranks Phoenix and Mesa below the middle of the pack for literacy.

The study by Central Connecticut State University placed Mesa 52nd and Phoenix 54th out of 69 cities in the nation for literacy. Tucson did much better, finishing 34th. Seattle was No. 1 and Stockton, Calif., ranked last.

The study looked at cities with a population of 250,000 or more.

Previous versions of this study focused on five indicators of literacy: newspaper circulation, number of bookstores, library resources, periodical publishing resources, and educational attainment, according to the university. The latest study introduces a new factor, Internet resources, to better gauge the expansion of literacy to online media.

The study is meant to be an interpretation, not a definitive study, according to university President John W. Miller in a written statement.


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