re: 65% of 8th graders can't read

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65% of 8th graders can't read
67% can't do math

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"Proficiency", not capability, is the term of use here.
How proficiency is defined determines results. I'd assume proficiency refers to performance at grade-level. Small detail, I understand.

But for clarity, most of the cited 65% can in fact read. They just read/retain below level.
E.g., 60% of adults in the US prison system read at around the fourth grade level.
Most Americans read at a 7th/8th grade level.