Confusion Regarding the Role of Informational Text in English Language Arts Curriculum

10/3/2012

I appreciate that the Common Core State Standards and the dramatic shift in education that this initiative will generate were addressed in this article. I just completed a book for teachers which explains the impact of CCSS on 9-12 th grade English language arts classrooms.

There are some omissions from this article that I think warrant attention:

1. The CCCS are based on recommendations from the National Reading Panel. These recommendations have a strong research foundation.

2. Informational Text in the area of English language arts is defined as Literary Nonfiction. Informational Text in the Literacy Standards for All Content Areas would include textbooks, blogs, news articles and other reference materials. This distinction is critical. I point this out because this is the source of the confusion among the groups that were identified in the article. I present on the Common Core State Standards on a national level and must always clarify the role of Informational Text in the curriculum. This is illustrated in the screenshot below from the CCSS ELA standards document.

(CCSS, ELA document p. 57)

3. As we consider the role of informational text it must be within the context of the entire school curriculum (including all content areas other than ELA). Therefore when we discuss percentages of literature and informational text in a school- wide curriculum, ELA is one course. Literature (fiction and literary nonfiction) is still, and will always be, the primary emphasis in an ELA course. From a reading instructional perspective, literature develops higher-level comprehension skills because of the inferential meanings, figurative language and linguistic complexity. Informational texts (excluding literary nonfiction) characteristically do not contain these features.

4. In addition, informational texts like those that were discussed in your article will most often be read in courses other than ELA. The point of the CCSS reading framework is best summarized in Reading Anchor Standard 10 that students will be able to read a wide range of texts independently. Students read literature (including informational text: literary nonfiction) in ELA and the informational text standards (that are described in the Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science and Technical Subjects).

5. The reading standards are not so much about percentages of literature and informational text in the curriculum. They are about increasing the amount of reading.

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