New state literacy standards require that students read more nonfiction, but despite some fears, the change does not push fiction out of the classroom, a teacher-trainer from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville said.

The change is altering how English classes are taught, said Nikki Holland, a consultant from the university. Narratives in fiction and nonfiction provide a jumping-off point for exploring topics that relate to what the students have read.

“It’s really powerful to move from literature as your starting point into something like argument,” Holland said.

Arkansas schools began implementing the Common Core State Standards three years ago, starting in kindergarten through second grade, then moving to third through eighth grades and, this school year, the ninth through 12th grades.

Arkansas is among 45states, plus the District of Columbia, that adopted the standards for literacy and math. Minnesota adopted only the literacy standards.

Before the Common Core State Standards, English teachers often focused literature studies on what an author meant, said Holland, a consultant for the Northwest Arkansas Writing Project and director of the College-Ready Writers Program. Under the new standards, teachers not only help studentsunderstand meaning but also spend time dissecting how a writer crafted a piece and on how different components of a novel, short story or an opinion column work together and for what purpose.

Students can then apply those lessons to their own writing, Holland said.

“It doesn’t mean there’s no place for literature,” Holland said. “In my view, it makes a concrete place for literature in that classroom.”SPANNING SUBJECTS

The new literacy standards spread literacy instruction to teachers of all subjects, according to the Common Core website. In the sixth through 12th grades, reading in English classes focuses on literature and literary nonfiction - which would include essays and biographies - while nonfiction reading is emphasized in other subjects such as science and history.

The literacy standards goal is that by fourth grade, half of what students read will be nonfiction. That increases to 55 percent by eighth grade and 70 percent by 12th grade, according to a Common Core document. The percentages reflect what students should read throughout the day, not just in English class, the documents state.

The percentages are aligned with the National Assessment of Educational Progress, a test given each year to a sample of American students, the standards say.

Sandra Stotsky, professor emeritus from the University of Arkansas, questions the need to balance fiction and nonfiction in English classes.

Stotsky has been an outspoken critic of the Common Core standards. She was a senior associate commissioner for the Massachusetts Department of Education from 1999 to 2003 and published research on reading standards. She served on a committee to evaluate the Common Core literacy standards, but did not approve of the standards.

“There is no research whatsoever supporting the idea that a so-called balance will increase college readiness,” Stotsky said. “If anything, this so-called balance will decrease college readiness because students learn analytical reading, thinking and writing by learning to read between the lines of complex literary texts, not informational texts.”

And some administrators and policymakers have misinterpreted the standards to mean that a majority ofreading in English courses should be nonfiction, said Kathy Short, president-elect of the National Council of Teachers of English. English teachers across the country were upset about cutting out significant literary works to make room for nonfiction, she said.

Chris Goering, associate professor of English education at UA-Fayetteville, said some school district leaders in Arkansas have made similar misinterpretations.

The standards sought a balance, and stories remain essential, Short said.

Nonfiction pieces often rely on strong narratives to convey information and make facts more interesting, said Short, a professor of language, reading and culture in the University of Arizona’s College of Education.

English teachers can complement fiction with historical documents, news stories and biographical information, Short said.

“Story is what really engages us as human beings,” Short said. “You can’t develop deep understanding without a narrative that helps you make sense of that information.”

THE COMBINED EFFECT

In Katy Moore’s 11thgrade English classes at Har-Ber High School, students recently began the study of their first novel of the year, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain.

This year, her students have read historical documents, speeches, news and opinion pieces, biographical pieces, plays and short stories. She estimates that twothirds of her class is focused on nonfiction and about onethird on fiction.

Fiction allows students to make connections to history that they can’t experience with a history book, Moore said. Stories develop characters that readers love and care about, she said.

“We come away from that story changed,” she said. “Story has the power to transform its readers.”

Moore introduced Twain’s novel with a 60 Minutes piece about what gives value to a book. Students also read articles about why Twain wrote a novel to communicate about issues of slavery and racism.

Moore’s students will end the study by writing a two- to four-page argument about one of the topics in the novel, Moore said. Under the standards, students are expected to make claims with valid reasoning, and use relevant and sufficient evidence, including what they have read.

In English teacher Tara Seale’s Advanced Placement Language and Composition class at Bryant High School, nonfiction complements fiction. When students begin studying The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, they also will read an article in Wired magazine, “American Dream Biological Impossibility, Neuroscientist Says,” she said.

The article helps students connect ideas about the American Dream from the 1920s with the current time period, Seale said.

The article’s author, Peter Whybrow, head of the Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Behavior at University of California-Los Angeles, said Americans’ desire for instant satisfaction leads people to gorge on fatty foods and use credit cards to buy luxuries they can’t afford.

The Great Gatsby explores whether achieving wealth and the American Dream lead to happiness.

“Bringing forth and connecting contemporary texts allows students to enter into the ongoing conversation about the American Dream, share their ideas and better understand the ideas presented in literature,” Seale said.

Nonfiction writers often turn to narrative and descriptive writing, Seale said. Students begin to understand how they can use those same elements to engage an audience, a skill they can use as adults to sell a product, land a job, win a grant, gain a client or sway a jury in a courtroom.

She hopes students gain an appreciation of literature, not just as entertainment, but as a model for storytelling they can use in their careers, she said.

Northwest Arkansas, Pages 7 on 03/24/2014