So what exactly are students supposed to be reading? Though the federal government has its own ideas, its notions of literature maybe be all wrong, a new study says. Researchers at the Boston public policy group Pioneer Institute criticizes the Common Core State Standards, introduced last year and which has since been adopted by 46 states and the District of Columbia, which call for a greater focus on informational (or nonfiction) text in public school curricula, and argues that the education initiative diminishes the role of literature and negatively impacts their college preparation.
Sandra Stotsky, a University of Arkansas professor and a chief writer of Massachusetts’ academic standards, and Mark Bauerlein, a professor at Emory University, say that English and language arts teachers should emphasize major works of literature in the classroom, and that policymakers should create additional state-specific academic standards to evaluate students’ knowledge of these works.
The Common Core Standards, however, which were introduced last year and will go into effect in 2014, are geared to ensure that high schoolers will be fully prepared for college by the time they graduate. The standards hold that students need to know how to analyze texts, persuasively present their ideas, pull research from multiple sources — and read more nonfiction, as opposed to, say, discussing “Catcher in the Rye.”
According to the guidelines, in fourth grade, students should read an equal amount of literary and informational works; by eighth grade, 45% should be literary and 55% informational; and by 12th grade, that ratio should be 30/70. This is meant to reflect the type of reading that students will be doing in college and future careers. But the standards only name a few required texts, including documents on the founding of the United States and one Shakespeare play.
English teachers have expressed concern that these standards will detract from students’ literary learning. But the standards’ authors insist that social studies and science teachers will now be able to incorporate more informational texts in their classrooms and help students develop reading and writing skills in those subjects.
In their paper, Stotsky and Bauerlein argue that there is no data to support the claim that an increased emphasis on informational texts will better ensure college readiness. Rather, the analytical and critical thinking skills fostered by reading literature are crucial to preparing students for future academic work.
In other words, bring on the Austen, Faulkner and Kafka.
(Photo: Reuters)
