In my district, 9-12 on-level and pre-ap classes are specifically limited to teaching no more than 1 novel per year, and the curriculum map is set up to make it essentially impossible for teachers to do it.

Tremendous story.

This is excellent!

Essentially the rationale is that there are no novels on the test they need to pass. Excerpts and skills. Excerpts and skills.

I doubt we can do Moby Dick these days. Our school board members would consider the title profane and indecent. I wish I were more than half-kidding.

The rot runs deeper than most are willing to fess up to. It’s a scandal.

Why do sophomores read x poem?

Because I added it to a google doc two years ago when *I* taught sophomores and did it on a lark.That’s it. That’s the whole consideration.

The insulting addition to this is on-level classes have a district approved text list. Every single piece of work shown to students must come from this list, which is also strictly limited by lexile bands. And that list is just a hodge podge formed from as box submissions.

And the unit maps are constructed in a way that even a 1 novel requires a fair bit of fitting square pegs into round holes.

It’s a mess. A damn embarrassing mess. But district admin sure seem proud!

In on-level classes in my district, teachers aren’t allowed to teach more than one novel a year. And it’s unclear if that directive means they cannot teach another whole play, nonfiction work, etc. in addition to their lone novel.

Ooof. I bet. Keep fighting the good fight 🫡🫡🫡

My district sent an email today letting us know that they are testing subscriptions to Grammarly AI with a subset of students. I might be a touch despondent about this whole endeavor.

Cc: @annieabrams.bsky.social

If you ever stacked cups in gym class, blame my dad: defector.com/if-you-ever-...

That sounds bad ass. Thanks for sharing! And while I’m here, I greatly appreciate all your thinking and writing about education, specifically the value of books. Great stuff.

Would love to hear more about how you run book clubs. I’m scared to start do them when they seemingly depend on students willing to do some heavy lifting.