News Brief

Tuesday, January 15, 2013

What English classes should look like in Common Core era

The Answer Sheet (01/10/2013) Jago, Carol

Carol Jago, a past president of the National Council of Teachers of English, clarifies the Common Core question of where the 70 percent non-fiction 30 percent fiction for seniors actually came from and how English classes should look. "It may be the case that in some schools high school English teachers are being told to cut back on the poetry and teach more informational text. I'm hoping this mistaken directive can soon be reversed. English teachers need to teach more poetry, more fiction, more drama, and more literary nonfiction. More is more when it comes to reading, " said Jago.

She further clarifies that what seems to be causing confusion are the comparative recommended percentages for informational and literary text cited in the Common Core's introductionthat reflect the 2009 NAEP Reading Framework.

Jago further states that she served on the NAEP framework committee and "can assure you that when we determined that 70% of what students would be asked to read for the 12^th grade NAEP reading assessment would be informational, we did not mean that 70% of what students read in senior English should be informational text. The National Assessment for Educational Progress does not measure performance in English class. It measures performance in reading, reading across the disciplines and throughout the school day."