Jacqueline Gerber's movie quiz on WCLV this morning focused on War and Peace. introductory remarks cited an Associated Press article noting that many students are no longer asked to read full-length novels:
I need to read that 2022 statement and see whether I have enough of an attention span left to write a rebuttal. I'll fuel the response with some of the ideas in my reading tag.In many English classrooms across America, assignments to read full-length novels are becoming less common. Some teachers focus instead on selected passages — a concession to perceptions of shorter attention spans, pressure to prepare for standardized tests and a sense that short-form content will prepare students for the modern, digital world.
The National Council of Teachers of English acknowledged the shift in a 2022 statement on media education, saying: “The time has come to decenter book reading and essay-writing as the pinnacles of English language arts education.”