(a) General. Education is primarily used to mean formal schooling or other training which contributes to your ability to meet vocational requirements, for example, reasoning ability, communication skills, and arithmetical ability. However, if you do not have formal schooling, this does not necessarily mean that you are uneducated or lack these abilities. Past work experience and the kinds of responsibilities you had when you were working may show that you have intellectual abilities, although you may have little formal education. Your daily activities, hobbies, or the results of testing may also show that you have significant intellectual ability that can be used to work.
(b) How we evaluate your education. The importance of your educational background may depend upon how much time has passed between the completion of your formal education and the beginning of your physical or mental impairment(s) and by what you have done with your education in a work or other setting. Formal education that you completed many years before your impairment began, or unused skills and knowledge that were a part of your formal education, may no longer be useful or meaningful in terms of your ability to work. Therefore, the numerical grade level that you completed in school may not represent your actual educational abilities. These may be higher or lower. However, if there is no other evidence to contradict it, we will use your numerical grade level to determine your educational abilities. In evaluating your educational level, we use the following categories:
(1) Illiteracy. Illiteracy means the inability to read or write. We consider someone illiterate if the person cannot read or write a simple message such as instructions or inventory lists even though the person can sign his or her name. Generally, an illiterate person has had little or no formal schooling.
(2) Marginal education. Marginal education means ability in reasoning, arithmetic, and language skills which are needed to do simple, unskilled types of jobs. We generally consider that formal schooling at a 6th grade level or less is a marginal education.
(3) Limited education. Limited education means ability in reasoning, arithmetic, and language skills, but not enough to allow a person with these educational qualifications to do most of the more complex job duties needed in semi-skilled or skilled jobs. We generally consider that a 7th grade through the 11th grade level of formal education is a limited education.
(4) High school education and above. High school education and above means abilities in reasoning, arithmetic, and language skills acquired through formal schooling at a 12th grade level or above. We generally consider that someone with these educational abilities can do semi-skilled through skilled work.
(c) Information about your education. We will ask you how long you attended school, and whether you are able to understand, read, and write, and do at least simple arithmetic calculations. We will also consider other information about how much formal or informal education you may have had through your previous work, community projects, hobbies, and any other activities which might help you to work.
[45 FR 55584, Aug. 20, 1980, as amended at 85 FR 10602, Feb. 25, 2020]
Notes of Decisions
Victoria A. Howard v. Larry Massanari, Acting Comm'r, Soc. Sec. Admin., 1, 255 F.3d 577 (8th Cir. 2001).
· cites it 3× “” 20 C.F.R. §§ 404.1564 & 416.964. Based on reports from state agency medical consultants who reviewed the record, the ALJ concluded that Howard has the residual functioning capacity (RFC) to perform light work activities which do not require lifting and carrying objects which…”
Maria Pinto v. Larry G. Massanari, Acting Comm'r of the Soc. Sec. Admin., 249 F.3d 840 (9th Cir. 2001).
· cites it 2× “1560(c) (stating that education will not normally be considered until step five of a disability proceeding) and 20 C.F.R. §§ 404.1564 (b) and 416.964(b) ("The term ‘education’ also includes how well you are able to communicate in English since this ability is often acquired or…”
Whittaker v. Comm'r of Soc. Sec., 307 F. Supp. 2d 430 (N.D.N.Y. 2004).
· cites it 2× “20 C.F.R. §§ 404.1564 (a), 416.964(a). A person with an education above high school is generally considered capable of semi-skilled work through skilled work.”
Perez v. Barnhart, 415 F.3d 457 (5th Cir. 2005).
“Perez argues that the ALJ erred in finding that he possesses a “[h]igh school education or above” under 20 C.F.R. § 404.1564 (b)(4). instead of “[mjarginal education” or “[l]imited education.”
Jones v. Berryhill, 392 F. Supp. 3d 831 (M.D. Tenn. 2019).
“The claimant has at least a high school education and is able to communicate in English ( 20 CFR 404.1564 ). 9. Transferability of job skills is not material to the determination of disability because using Medical-Vocational Rules as a framework supports a finding that the…”
McCray v. Massanari, 175 F. Supp. 2d 1329 (M.D. Ala. 2001).
· cites it 6× “” 20 C.F.R. § 404.1564 (a). Although the ALJ did not mention it, McCray indicated on a daily activities questionnaire that he sometimes read the newspaper and read “not very often.”
Scott v. Berryhill, 271 F. Supp. 3d 1235 (N.D. Okla. 2017).
· cites it 6× “104 (citing 20 C.F.R. §§ 404.1564 , 416.964)). An applicant’s education level is determined by several factors that would impact the amount of knowledge and skills the person would possess, including “formal schooling or other training which contributes to [an individual’s]…”
Eaton v. Colvin, 180 F. Supp. 3d 1037 (S.D. Ala. 2016).
“The claimant has at least a high school education and is able to communicate in English (20 CFR 404.1564). 9. Transferability of job skills is not material to the determination of disability because using the Medical-Vocational Rules as a framework supports a finding that the…”
— 20 C.F.R. § 404.1564(b) — 5 cases
— 20 C.F.R. § 404.1564(b)(1) — 4 cases
— 20 C.F.R. § 404.1564(b)(2) — 4 cases
— 20 C.F.R. § 404.1564(b)(3) — 6 cases
— 20 C.F.R. § 404.1564(b)(4) — 1 case
— 20 C.F.R. § 404.1564(b)(5) — 4 cases
Maria Pinto v. Larry G. Massanari, Acting Comm'r of the Soc. Sec. Admin., 249 F.3d 840 (9th Cir. 2001).
“1560(c) (stating that education will not normally be considered until step five of a disability proceeding) and 20 C.F.R. §§ 404.1564 (b) and 416.964(b) ("The term ‘education’ also includes how well you are able to communicate in English since this ability is often acquired or…”
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