Whose literature? Texas Required Reading List
Make your voice heard
Recap: The Texas legislature charged the Texas Education Agency last summer with creating a Required “Literary” reading list and this Spring we have seen numerous iterations of a very flawed list. It is time to exercise your voice on the latest/last version!
The newest list is posted here and Monday, June 15 is the last opportunity to offer comments on the list in writing(submit here) or comments can be made by appearing at the upcoming hearing later in June.
Your comments are SUCH an important part of improving these reading choices for our kids. Check out this call to action from Frank Strong of the Texas Freedom to Read Project. And check out our insights into the list below. (And if you don’t think your comments matter - the list did see some improvements in variety and length based on comments and emails.)
Overall:
It’s not surprising that TEA created a list with biblical readings, that it lacked multiple perspectives, or that it was peppered with pieces that leaned into conservative ideology. This latest update is no exception, with pieces like Margaret Thatcher’s eulogy of Ronald Reagan, and religious passages.
Some issues with the list:
Literary merit:
Much of the list seems more focused on didactic texts(dare we say indoctrinating) and not much on literary merit. (see the next bullet points). For example, the most egregious example is “I, Pencil” a completely trite 1958 piece about manufacturing.(Read it to believe it). Instead of reading original literary works, 4th graders are assigned an adaptation of Treasure Island, while 5th graders get to enjoy an adaptation of Don Quixote. Asking students to read adaptations as “literary” works misses the point completely. So many genres are missing - what about plays other than Shakespeare? What about science fiction(Ray Bradbury?), fantasy, mystery, or parodies and satire? What about literary memoirs or sonnets or poets and essayists like Edgar Allan Poe? or Mary Oliver? or Pablo Neruda? or Barbara Kingsolver What about modern titles? If we are teaching students about literary texts, the full scope should be there and the preponderance of history titles is crowding out true literary works.
Misplaced focus on historical texts
For a list that was proclaimed to be “literary” it is chock full of history readings, more appropriate for social studies. Out of sixteen required “literary” pieces in grade 5, for example, ELEVEN of them are history texts. It’s hard to believe that for 5th graders, there are only five pieces of “literary” works that they should experience. The overall list is peppered with readings from William Bennett’s (former Ed secretary) Book of Virtues, and Book of Heroes about historical figures as well as archaic poems from Stephen Vincent Benet. In fact, mixed in with historical texts, myths like George Washington and the Cherry Tree find their way onto the list. And for some reason, the Clever Teens Guide to the Russian Revolution is also deemed a literary text critical for EVERY 9th grader in Texas to read.
Religious texts
It’s no surprise that the lists are dotted with Christian religious texts - at least one per grade. Tenth graders have multiple readings from the Book of Job, for example. Other religious adjacent pieces make an appearance as well, like “Abraham Lincoln, a Man of Faith and Courage: Stories of Our Most Admired President (Chapter 7 “The Road Back to God”)" at 6th grade or for 4th graders, Thunderstorm in Church about religious leader Martin Luther. Other than the Diary of Anne Frank, no other religion’s existence graces the list. Much has already been written about why this is problematic but to impose religious texts from one religion at every grade level goes beyond the excuse of “literary” references. It’s proselytizing.
Lack of representation
After much commentary at hearings, the list did improve upon a more representative sampling of children’s books in elementary, which we are grateful for, but that stops after fifth grade. In a state with over 50% Hispanic students in public schools, there is no reading with a Hispanic author after fifth grade, only one Asian/East Asian author on the entire list, and women authors are poorly represented at the middle and high school level. Also, the list dominates with historical pieces that exclude many Texan’s lives and stories.
Age appropriateness
Sixth graders are asked to read All Creatures Great and Small - again, completely unsuitable for their grade level, as it is 448 pages long. Fifth graders are assigned The Mayflower Compact. Every ninth grader would read Great Expectations (granted, this has in the past been a common reading for AP or honors students but not for every student as it is over 400 pages). But also, noting the high school titles - while some are certainly acceptable for AP/IB student reading levels, they are not titles that would appeal to the many Texas students who are looking at different careers rather than liberal arts colleges. There needs to be more variety in accessibility and interest levels than assigning every Texas junior to read the Scarlet Letter. Clearly whoever was compiling titles seemed to lack experience with the average actual Texas student across the state, because remember this list is mandatory.
Length of the lists
Thankfully, the committee did listen to complaints about local control and the overreaching length of the original list for secondary. The lists were shortened to 9 and 10 titles respectively, which is still a lot but allows room for growth. But for elementary, the list is still exceptionally long and prescriptive, up to 26 titles. The elementary lists need to be shortened, (by removing some of the archaic pieces first off.)
Summarizing:
Overall, if you were to ask a librarian or teacher for pieces that every student should read, this list would render a very confused evaluation. When Texans think of literary merit or literary works, they think of book that stuck with them over time, that they enjoyed reading with their own children, or that use language beautifully, or that held up to scrutiny in their English classes, or that opened up new worlds to them. It is not easy to create lists like these across a vast state like Texas. But let’s help move the committee towards a list that represents more Texans, that doesn’t indoctrinate students, and that has true literary merit overall and introduces students to a wide variety of literature. Here is a list my colleague Frank Strong and I put together with examples of titles. Again, see his excellent post.