Reading & Literacy Report Roundup

Literature Curriculum Found to Be Flawed

By Debra Viadero — October 19, 2010 1 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

High school English teachers no longer teach a common set of traditional literary works, concludes a report based on a nationally representative survey of 400 teachers.

The report, released this month by the Association of Literary Scholars, Critics, and Writers, found that, instead of a classical literary canon, the reading assignments of teachers in grades 9, 10, and 11 are idiosyncratic and do not get more difficult as students progress from grade to grade.

In honors courses, it says, teachers are more likely to teach students to use a nonanalytical approach—to assigned reading—asking them, for example, to draft a personal response to what they read—than to engage students in a close, analytical reading of texts.

That’s a problem, the report concludes, because “an underuse of analytical reading to understand nonfiction and a stress on personal experience or historical context to understand either an imaginative or a nonfiction text may be contributing to the high remediation rates in postsecondary English and reading courses.”

The Boston-based group makes six recommendations for improving high school English curricula. They include: developing more-challenging curricula for secondary students in the “middle third” of the achievement spectrum; shaping state standards so that reading assignments get progressively harder throughout high school; and ensuring that instruction in analytical reading becomes part of the curriculum in college English departments and in teacher-preparation programs for English and reading teachers.

The report also calls on federal education officials to require common assessments in English/language arts that use reading passages, writing prompts, and questions similar to those used in Massachusetts’ 10th grade state exams.

Related Tags:

A version of this article appeared in the October 20, 2010 edition of Education Week as Literature Curriculum Found to Be Flawed

Events

Student Well-Being Webinar After-School Learning Top Priority: Academics or Fun?
Join our expert panel to discuss how after-school programs and schools can work together to help students recover from pandemic-related learning loss.
Budget & Finance Webinar Leverage New Funding Sources with Data-Informed Practices
Address the whole child using data-informed practices, gain valuable insights, and learn strategies that can benefit your district.
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Classroom Technology Webinar
ChatGPT & Education: 8 Ways AI Improves Student Outcomes
Revolutionize student success! Don't miss our expert-led webinar demonstrating practical ways AI tools will elevate learning experiences.
Content provided by Inzata

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

Reading & Literacy A School District's Book Removals May Have Violated Students' Civil Rights
A Georgia district’s removal of books about LGBTQ+ and racial minorities may have violated students’ civil rights, OCR determined.
7 min read
photograph of a magnifying glass on an open book
Valiantsin Suprunovich/iStock
Reading & Literacy State Laws Are Behind Many Book Bans, Even Indirectly, Report Finds
School districts are reacting to state laws that dictate the kinds of books school libraries can have, leading to book bans, report finds.
7 min read
Protesters read in the middle of the Texas Capitol rotunda as The Texas Freedom Network holds a "read-in" to protest HB 900 Wednesday, April 19, 2023. The bill would ban sexually explicit materials from library books in schools.
Protesters read in the middle of the Texas Capitol rotunda as The Texas Freedom Network holds a "read-in" to protest HB 900 Wednesday, April 19, 2023. The bill would ban sexually explicit materials from library books in schools. Mass book bans in a handful of districts are influenced by state legislation, PEN America found.
Mikala Compton/Austin American-Statesman via AP
Reading & Literacy Reports Recent Book Ban Controversies: A National Survey of School Library Personnel
The EdWeek Research Center surveyed librarians and other staff members to gauge the impact of controversies about books in school libraries.