There are some theories which indicate if the general literacy of a disenfranchised rural community will have positive impacts. What base line measures should be used?
Without detracting from the seriousness of this question, Flann O'Brien does offer one (wonderfully cutting) example, when he describes the consequences of a campaign to increase the speaking of English in the terribly backward Corkadoragh in rural Ireland ('The Poor Mouth'). This campaign involved paying people a pound for every child that could demonstrate English capacity to a visitor going from home to home. This backfires predictably: Did it work? not at all (as a method for alleviating the misery of the indigenous population) but then everyone involved is satisfied. Developmental indicators including literacy rates and wellbeing measures have been refined and should be universal, allowing comparative, and over time, study. Likewise survey methods are strengthening in this area, and there is some literature - both statistical and evaluative - on this.
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