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Scale Tips Toward Nonfiction Under Common Core

Prekindergartners at Calvin Rodwell Elementary School in Baltimore, above, listen to their teacher, Erika Parker, as she reads A Day at the Pumpkin Patch , a nonfiction book about visiting a farm. The book is part of a unit that aims to blend the reading of stories and nonfiction with learning outside the classroom. The day after the children read the book, they visited Summers Farm in Frederick, Md.

—Greg Kahn for Education Week

College and workplace demands are propelling the shift in text

By Catherine Gewertz

The common standards expect students to become adept at reading informational text, a shift in focus that many English/language arts teachers fear might diminish the time-honored place of literature in their classrooms.

In schools nationwide, where all but four states have adopted the Common Core State Standards , teachers are finding ways to incorporate historical documents, speeches, essays, scientific articles, and other nonfiction into classes.

The new standards envision elementary students, whose reading typically tilts toward fiction, reading equally from literature and informational text. By high school, literature should represent only 30 percent of their readings; 70 percent should be informational. The tilt reflects employers' and college professors' complaints that too many young people can't analyze or synthesize...