Through her books and online financial literacy class, she offers a detailed plan for creating financial freedom based on this initial assessment.

FORBES: Financial Literacy as Cure for Domestic Abuse

Sometimes literacy is just about (cue music from yoga class) being present in our financial decisions.

FORBES: Financial Literacy: Is There Ever Enough?

The use of familiar, real-life materials helps students to feel more comfortable in class, and the structured teaching of literacy skills gradually improves their reading and writing skills.

UNESCO: Adult Literacy Tutors Association (ALTA)

In Senegal, for example, a program funded by Procter and Gamble has opened 160 class rooms in seven regions and trained 100 literacy trainers who are teaching 3, 000 women.

UNESCO: Social and Human Sciences

The biggest difference, Prof Nicolson says, is that when the class is broken down into ability groups within the literacy hour each day, the teacher has to move from one to another.

BBC: News | Education | Catching up with reading

Meanwhile, plenty of popular movies flunk the scientific literacy test. (See: 10 Films That Would Flunk Science Class).

FORBES: Stars Vs. Science