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[00:00.66] Teachers in many English classes across America are having students read fewer full-length books.

[00:10.49] Recently, the Associated Press explored the issue in education.

[00:17.13] It reports that students instead are given only short parts of books.

[00:25.90] Educators said this is because they believe current students have shorter attention spans than those of the past.

[00:36.52] The teachers might feel pressure to prepare students for state and nationwide examinations know as standardized tests.

[00:47.68] They also might believe that short pieces of writing will help students in the modern, digital world.

[01:05.21] The National Council of Teachers of English is a professional organization for teachers based in Champaign, Illinois.

[01:07.60] In 2022, the group released a statement about reading.

[01:13.97] “The time has come to decenter book reading and essay-writing as the pinnacles of English language arts education,” the group said.

[01:26.72] Seth French helped write the statement.

[01:31.24] He said the idea was not to remove books but to teach media literacy and have students read things in which they are interested.

[01:43.99] French taught an English class before becoming a dean at Bentonville High School in the state of Arkansas.

[01:54.35] He had students read plays, poetry and articles but only one book as a class.

[02:04.71] He said, “A lot of our students are not interested in some of these texts that they didn’t have a choice in.”

[02:18.79] Not everyone thinks English reading should involve only short, digital pieces of writing.

[02:31.54] Maryanne Wolf studies the human brain at UCLA in Southern California.

[02:32.33] Wolf said deep reading is important to strengthen connections in the brain tied to critical thinking skills, background knowledge and empathy.

[02:46.67] She said educators must give students a chance to learn through what she described as “immersion into the lives and thoughts of others.”

[03:01.01] There is not a lot of information on how many books American students are required to read in school.

[03:12.71] But in general, students are reading less.

[03:15.10] Federal data from last year shows 14 percent of young people said they read for fun every day.

[03:27.32] In 2012, that percentage was 27 percent.

[03:32.62] Some teachers say reduced reading has its roots in the COVID-19 crisis.

[03:41.39] Kristy Acevedo teaches English at a vocational high school in New Bedford, Massachusetts.