The Decline of Full-Length Novel Reading in U.S. Classrooms and Its Impact on Students’ Critical Thinking

Chris Stanislawski, a middle school student, noticed that his English classes didn’t involve much actual reading. In his experience at Garden City Middle School in Long Island, detailed chapter summaries and audio versions were provided for every novel they discussed, and much of the reading material was either abridged or consisted of online texts and printouts. This approach to literature left Chris feeling uninterested in the stories. “When you’re given a summary of the book telling you what you’re about to read in baby form, it kind of just ruins the whole story for you,” he said, questioning the purpose of reading the entire book.

Chris’s experience isn’t unique. In many classrooms across America, assigning full-length novels has become less common. Instead, teachers are opting for selected passages in response to several challenges, including perceived shorter attention spans, pressure to prepare students for standardized tests, and the belief that shorter content may better prepare students for a digital world.

A 2022 statement by the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) recognized this shift, suggesting that book reading and essay writing are no longer the central focus of English language arts education. “The time has come to decenter book reading and essay-writing as the pinnacles of English language arts education,” the NCTE said.

Seth French, who co-authored the statement, clarified that the goal is not to eliminate books but to integrate media literacy and more relevant texts for students. In the English class he taught before becoming a dean at Bentonville High School in Arkansas, French engaged students with plays, poetry, and articles, while only assigning one book to be read by the entire class. He explained, “At the end of the day, a lot of our students are not interested in some of these texts that they didn’t have a choice in.”

Not everyone agrees with the trend toward shorter, digital texts. Maryanne Wolf, a cognitive neuroscientist at UCLA specializing in dyslexia research, argues that deep reading is critical for developing brain circuits related to critical thinking, empathy, and background knowledge. Wolf emphasized the importance of immersive reading, saying, “We must give our young an opportunity to understand who others are, not through little snapshots, but through immersion into the lives and thoughts and feelings of others.”

Garden City Middle School requires students to read several full books each year, including classics like Of Mice and Men and Romeo and Juliet, according to Principal Matthew Samuelson. Summaries and audio versions are provided as additional resources. However, for Chris, who has dyslexia, these tools didn’t make reading more accessible. Instead, he felt bored and decided to switch to a Catholic school, which his mother believes will better prepare him for college.

Outside of the classroom, students’ engagement with reading has been declining. According to federal data from last year, only 14% of young teens read for fun daily, a sharp decrease from 27% in 2012. Many educators link this decline to the disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. English teacher Kristy Acevedo from New Bedford, Massachusetts, noted a trend during the pandemic to stop assigning full-length novels as students were coping with trauma. “The problem is we haven’t quite come back from that,” she said. Determined to change this, Acevedo plans to focus on time-management strategies and use traditional materials like paper and pencils for most classwork.

Standardized testing and the rise of education technology have also contributed to the reduction in book reading. Digital platforms offer thousands of short passages aligned with state standards, allowing schools to cover the required curriculum without assigning full-length novels. Karl Ubelhoer, a special education teacher in Tabernacle, New Jersey, observed that school districts focused on improving test scores often mimic the test format as closely as possible. “If admins and school districts are judged by their test scores, how are they going to improve their test scores? They’re going to mirror the test as much as possible,” he explained.

For some students, reading is a struggle regardless of the format. In 2022, only about one-third of fourth and eighth graders reached proficiency on the National Assessment of Educational Progress, marking a significant drop from 2019. Leah van Belle, executive director of the Detroit literacy coalition 313Reads, recounted that when her son’s class read *Peter Pan* in elementary school, the text was too difficult for most students. She lamented that Detroit has become “a book desert,” with her son’s school lacking a library altogether. Still, she sees value in focusing on shorter texts, noting that adults often rely on digital media for personal and professional research.

Even in schools with ample resources, time constraints remain a major hurdle. Terri White, an English teacher at South Windsor High School in Connecticut, said she no longer assigns her ninth-grade honors students the entire text of To Kill a Mockingbird. Instead, she assigns a third of the book along with a synopsis of the rest. She feels pressured to move quickly due to the need to cover more material in the curriculum. “It’s like spinning plates, you know what I mean? Like it’s a circus,” White said, describing the balancing act teachers face.

White has also reduced the amount of homework she assigns, recognizing that students are overwhelmed with extracurricular activities like sports and clubs. “I maintain rigor. But I’m more about helping students become stronger and more critical readers, writers, and thinkers, while taking their social-emotional well-being into account,” she said.

However, some educators worry that this reliance on summaries may harm students’ critical thinking abilities in the long run. Alden Jones, a literature professor at Emerson College in Boston, noted that while she assigns fewer books than before, she now gives more quizzes to ensure students keep up with their reading. “We don’t value the thinking time that we used to have. It’s all time we could be on our phone accomplishing tasks,” Jones remarked.

Despite the challenges, some teachers continue to find ways to engage students with literature. Will Higgins, an English teacher at Dartmouth High School in Massachusetts, remains committed to teaching the classics, though he acknowledges that student time constraints have led to cutting back on certain texts. “We haven’t given up on Jane Eyre and Pride and Prejudice. We haven’t given up on Hamlet or The Great Gatsby,” Higgins said, though books like A Tale of Two Cities have been dropped from the curriculum.

One successful approach at his school has been student-directed book clubs, where students select their own books and discuss them in small groups. Contemporary authors like John Green and Jason Reynolds have been particularly popular. “It’s funny,” Higgins noted, “Many students are saying that it’s the first time in a long time they’ve read a full book.”