Literacy Council of Frederick County

Literacy in Frederick County

In Frederick County, the population that is age 25 years and older equals 127,256. We know the following about this group:

  • 893 people (0.7%) have less than a 5th grade education.
  • 4, 4333 people (3.5%) have a 5th–8th grade education.
  • 11,098 (8.7%) of this group have a 9th–12th grade education with no high school diploma.In addition, of those who are age 18–24 in Frederick County, 2,353 have less than a high school education. This is 16.5% of the total population of this age group.

Since the mid 1970s, an ever-increasing percentage of requests for tutors come from foreign-born immigrants who want to learn English. Currently, two thirds of our students want to learn English as a second language (ESL). According to the 2000 US Census, Frederick County ranks 6th (out of the 23 Maryland Counties) for the highest percentage of the population that was born in another country. In 1990, the county ranked 8th.

In 1990, 3,073 foreign-born people were living in Frederick County. In 2000, this number increased to 7,779. This is an increase of 153%.

The 2000 Census also reported that people in the county whose language spoken at home is other than English and people who speak English less than "very well" totaled 2,939. ESL programs are the fastest growing component of state-administered adult education programs. From 1997-1998, 48% of enrollments were in ESL programs, compared to 33% from 1993–1994.

According to Richard Ramsburg, Principal of Flexible Evening High School in Frederick, the evening high school enrolled over 900 ESL students in September 2006. Mr. Ramsburg also added that in December of 2006 the school had 280 people on a waiting list. This number included learners of Basic English and ESL learners; however, the majority was ESL. The LCFC works with students whose reading or speaking levels are too low for these classes, or who need extra help, or who for some reason cannot attend the classes.