Reports have been circulating that the Common Core’s mandate to have nonfiction reading comprise 70 percent of classroom literature has resulted in a significant decline in the reading of fiction by America’s high school students.

This, according to the Daily Caller, has resulted in English teachers across the country being forced to toss classics like "Huckleberry Finn" and "The Great Gatsby” in order to make room for the required nonfiction quota.

But since the Common Core created the nonfiction mandate, the only tangible result, according to the article, has been in the decrease of fiction texts in classrooms.

So far, there has been no evidence to conclude that the emphasis on nonfiction work has had an effect on improving student achievement.

“Reading more nonfiction does not necessarily mean that students will be reading higher quality texts,” said Brookings Institution education policy analyst Tom Loveless.

In fact, the Daily Caller points out that test scores may have in fact dropped since Common Core implementation, the exact opposite of the desired results.

"As far as test scores, scores under the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) have failed to increase — and possibly decreased — since the implementation of Common Core,” the article said.

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Article by Nicole Gorman, Education World Contributor

11/30/2015