Why Students Don't Read What is Assigned in Class

Do you students actually read what is assigned in class? Dozens of students explain why they don't read what is assigned and how they still pass English and literacy classes by using CliffNotes and the internet.

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[Heinemann Publishing]

These students are from high school English classes. The goal of this initiative was to get students to choose texts that they actually wanted to read - instead of using Spark Notes and websites to "fake it" for books assigned by their English teachers.

[MrSchleicherful]

Getting students to read is half the battle. That is a great start. But what do they do with the books? What analysis or critical thinking take place? How are students held accountable for comprehension of thousands of pages of reading in a semester?

[Graham Johnson]

Time is a bigger factor for most teens. When I have to read 200 plus pages and wright 3 essays all at 9 pm after a school match I just don't have time.

[Tomz Bobz]

Results require standardization, specifically of things that WORK, and NOT arbitrary curriculum, which is equivalent to shooting in the dark, guinea pigging your students' and obliterating any chance of true, widespread social cohesion in the future. Standards by definition allow for little to no compromise or arbitration. But ultimately none of this may matter, as we seem to be following the script that is the tragedy of the human race.

[Tomz Bobz]

It's the extreme inherent naivete of the do gooders who comprise the bulk of the public education system that is one of the primary problems with the public education system. Yes, you mean well, and that's nice and that makes you "nice" and so on and so forth, but school shouldn't be a fluffy fantasy land of unending compromise, nor the hyper socialization of developing minds (which promotes the development of sociopathy and fans the flames of tribalism), but rather about results.

[Tomz Bobz]

It's not that they don't want to read, it's that there are other, more "fun" things to do. Couple that with a poorly structured upbringing and resultant lack of interest in things that matter, as well as the leftist conditioning that's been going on for so long now, which seeks in large part to render young persons indiscriminate, hyper sexual sociopaths, and you get students who play the game just enough to get by so that they can make it into Hedonism Land (college), or get out altogether.

[Hello59239]

The teachers who think everyone read the book because the class discussions were nice are ridiculously naive.

[tlyoung88]

Have you read Ian Fleming?

[Mark Lamoureux]

So you're giving a bunch of morbidly obese kids Twinkies and milkshakes. Awesome teaching and parenting, good job all around.

[mistertallar]

The question I have is how do you assess their reading? I mean sure they can pass a standardized test, but how do you know if they have the ability to critically analyze tests and bring out the the nuanced subtexts lurking in the shadows of books.

It almost seems like the roles would be reversed, the teacher would be the one reading spark notes to try and catch up with the student, but even then spark notes wouldn't be published for most of the popular novels.

[Redmond Bacon]

They should read Shakespeare. If you read closely there are dick jokes. What more do kids want?