(54%) of Americans between the ages of 16 and 74 read below the equivalent of a sixth-grade level
https://www.snopes.com/news/2022/08/02/us-literacy-rate
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That I could read, comprehend and retain what I was reading, at the college level.
Reading was encouraged in my home. My dad said I could recite, word for word, the stories that my mother read to me, before I was three years old. Dad said that people might think that I was actually reading the story, but they could tell that I was reciting because I would pronounce the words and use the same inflection that my mom had, when she read me the story.
Dad started working on making me use my eyes more, by asking me to tell him what was on the page besides the words.
My parents constantly encouraged me to think. We had a Webster's unabridged dictionary, and dad made me look up unfamiliar words when I was still too small to lift it down to the table. He would get it down, but he made me search through it for the word, and he also insisted that I learn to sound words out. We had a subscription for National Geographic magazine, which I devoured eagerly each month. Mom took me to the library often enough that the librarian knew my name and helped pick out books for me. I still have two large format hardback books about nature and science that my folks bought as a holiday gift to our family.
I'm horrified at the lack of reading comprehension and logical thinking in our country. 
... that's good news. Education is their enemy. Look for the attack on public education to grow stronger under the next administration.
grammar and absolutely cannot write. I have become very very selective in those interns and students I will agree to take on in their master's degree theses. Admittedly, I am susceptible to becoming a bit obsessive, so editing the errors becomes an immense endeavor--and that is before I even assess the content. I send it back and get another version that is scarcely any less error-ridden than the first. I sit down with them and offer some suggestions, loan them a copy of my old Strunk and White (Elements of Style--the epitome of grammatical and writing references), suggest they subscribe to an online combined spelling and grammatical corrector and then try to get past that to review what they are actually trying to say.
Social media and texting, combined with lackluster teaching (or at least "learning" ) in elementary and junior high that is never corrected in high school, result in them being passed on repeatedly. I assume they graduated college to enter these master's degree programs without anyone ever reading anything they have written.
So, the dumbing down of society from first grade through college and beyond continues. But, of course, MAGA will correct all that. 
sigh...
Critical thinking is a skill evident in even very young children, and it is more likely to become very well-developed if encouraged. Of course, many bright kids do not back down and accept the "Why? Because I say so!" parenting technique for long. 
Your vocabulary level will help you understand what you are reading on its face. Your ability to think critically will determine how well you evaluate the material in terms of making sense, encouraging or discouraging human values, etc.
Critical thinking helps you recognize when the writer is trying to manipulate you into guilt or fear or anger, or is simply making assertions that require verification. A 12th grade vocabulary level can't really help you with that.
Case in point: the number of college students who think Ayn Rand is brilliant and then realize she's a hack and a phony a few years later.
I just looked up the vocabulary list for a sixth-grade level. It is much more extensive than man woman person camera tv! Trump's stupidity is special, let's not pretend that people reading at a sixth grade level must be his voters and it's a wonder people at that reading level can put their shoes on the correct feet.
