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TeachtheBooks,TouchtheHeartTheNewYorkTimes

SundayReview

OPI NI ON

TeachtheBooks,TouchtheHeart
CLAIRENEEDELLHOLLANDER

APRIL20,2012

FRANZKAFKAwrotethatabookmustbetheaxforthefrozenseainsideus.I
oncesharedthisquotationwithaclassofseventhgraders,anditdidntseemto
requireanyexplanation.
WedjustfinishedJohnSteinbecksOfMiceandMen.Whenwereadtheend
togetheroutloudinclass,mytoughestboy,astarbasketballplayer,weptalittle,and
sodidI.Areyoucrying?onegirlasked,asshecreptoutofherchairtogetacloser
look.Iam,Itoldher,andthefunnythingisIvereaditmanytimes.
Buttheyunderstood.WhenGeorgeshootsLennie,thetragedyisthatwerealize
itwasalwaysgoingtohappen.Inmy14yearsofteachinginaNewYorkCitypublic
middleschool,Ivetaughtkidswithincarceratedparents,abusiveparents,neglectful
parentskidswhoareparentsthemselveskidswhoarehomelessorwholivein
crowdedapartmentsinviolentneighborhoodskidswhogrewupindeveloping
countries.Theyunderstand,morethanIeverwill,thenovelsterriblelogicthe
givingwayofdreamstofate.
Forthelastsevenyears,Ihaveworkedasareadingenrichmentteacher,reading
classicworksofliteraturewithsmallgroupsofstudentsfromgradessixtoeight.I
originallyproposedthisideatomyprincipalafterlearningthataformerstellar
studentofminehadtransferredoutofaselectivehighschoolonethatoften

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attractstheliterarymindedoffspringofManhattanseliteintoalesscompetitive
setting.Thedaughterofimmigrants,withafatherinjail,sheperhapsfelt
uncomfortablewithhernewclassmates.Ithoughtadditionalculturalcapitalcould
helpstudentslikeherfarebetterinhighschool,wheretheywouldinevitably
encounter,perhapsforthefirsttime,peerswhocamefromhomeslinedwith
bookshelves,whoseparentshadearnednotG.E.D.sbutPh.D.s.
AlongwithOfMiceandMen,mygroupsread:Sounder,TheRedPony,A
RaisinintheSun,LordoftheFlies,TheCatcherintheRye,RomeoandJuliet
andMacbeth.Thestudentsdidntalwaysreadfromtheexpectedperspective.
HoldenCaulfieldwasapunk,unfairlydismissiveofparentswhohadgivenhim
everyadvantage.AboutTheRedPony,onestudentsaid,itsaboutbeingadude,
itsaboutdudeness.IhadneverbeforeseentheparallelsbetweenScarfaceand
Macbeth,norhadIheardLadyMacbethssoliloquiesreadasraps,butbothmade
sensetheinterpretationswereplayful,butserious.OnceintroducedtoSteinbecks
writing,oneboywentontoreadTheGrapesofWrathandtoldmerepeatedlyhow
amazingitwasthatallthesepeoplehateeachother,andtheyreallwhite.His
historicalperspectivewasbroadening,hissenseofhisowncountrydeepening.Year
afteryear,exstudentsvisitedandtoldmehowpreparedtheyhadfeltintheir
freshmanyearasaresultoftheclasses.
AndyetIdonotknowhowtomeasurethoseresults.Asstudenttestscoreshave
becomethedominantmeansofevaluatingschools,Ihavebeenaskedtocalculatemy
readingenrichmentprogramsimpactonthosescores.Ifoundthatsomestudents
madegainsofover100pointsonthestatewideEnglishLanguageArtstest,while
otherstudentsinthesamegrouphadflatornegativeresults.Inotherwords,my
studentstestscoresdidnotreliablyindicatethatreadingclassicliteratureadded
value.
Untilrecently,giventhestudentsenthusiasmforthereadinggroups,Iwasable
toplaydownthatdata.Butlastyear,forthefirsttimesinceIcanremember,ourtest
scoresdeclinedinrelationtocomparableschoolsinthecity.BecauseIplaya
leadershiproleintheEnglishdepartment,Ifeltincreasedpressuretobringthis
yearsscoresup.Alltheteachersareincreasingtheirnumberoftestpreparation
sessionsandpracticetests,soIhavedonethesame,cuttingtwoofmythreeclassic

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bookgroupsandreplacingthemwithatestpreparationtutorialprogram.Onlythe
highestperformingeighthgraderswereabletokeeptakingthereadingclasses.
SincebeginningthisnewprograminSeptember,Ihaveansweredover600
multiplechoicequestions.Indoingso,Iencounteredexactlyonepieceofliterature:
FrostsRoadNotTaken.Therestofthereadingcomprehensionmaterialsincluded
passagesfromwatereddownnewsarticlesorbiographies,bastardizednovels,
memosorbrochurespassageschosennotforemotionalpunchbutfortextual
complexity.
IMAYnotbeabletoprovethatmyliteratureclassmakesadifferenceinmy
studentstestresults,butthereisapositivecorrelationbetweenhowmuchtime
studentsspendreadingandhigherscores.Theproblemisthatlowincomestudents,
whobeginschoolwithalessdevelopedvocabularyandarelessabletocomprehend
complexsentencesthantheirmoreprivilegedpeers,arealsolesslikelytoreadat
home.Manywillreadonlyduringclasstime,withateachersupportingtheireffort.
Butthosearethesamestudentswhoaremorelikelytoloseoutonliteraryreadingin
classinfavorofextratestprep.Byusingdatatoinforminstruction,asthe
DepartmentofEducationinsistswedo,wearesortinglowerachievingstudentsinto
classesthatprovidelessculturalcapitalthantheiralreadymoresuccessfulpeers
receiveintheirmoreliteraryclassesanddeprivingstudentswhoviscerally
understandtheviolenceanddespairinSteinbecksnovelsoftheopportunitytoread
them.
Itisironic,then,thatEnglishLanguageArtsexamsaredesignedforcultural
neutrality.Thisissupposedtogivestudentsalevelplayingfieldontheexams,but
whatitdoesisbleedourEnglishclassesdry.Wearetryingtoteachstudentstoread
increasinglycomplextexts,buttheyarecomplexonlyonthesentencelevelnot
becausetheideastheypresentarecomplex,notbecausetheyaresymbolic,allusive
orambiguous.Theseareliteraryqualities,andtheyaremoreorlessabsentfrom
testingmaterials.
Ofcoursenoteacherdisputesthenecessityofbeingabletoreadfor
information.Butifliteraturehasnoplaceinthesetests,andifpreparationforthe
testsbecomesthesolegoalofeducation,thenthereadingofliteraturewillgooutof

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fashioninourschools.Idonthaveanyillusionsthataddingliterarypassagesto
multiplechoicetestswouldinstillaloveofreadingamongstudentsbyitself.Butit
wouldkeepthosebooksonthesyllabus,intheclassroomsandinthehandsofyoung
readerswhichiswhatreallymatters.
Betteryet,weshouldabandonaltogetherthemultiplechoicetests,whicharein
voguenotbecausetheyareaneffectivetoolforjudgingteachersorstudentsbut
becausetheyareanefficientmeansofproducingdata.Instead,weshouldmove
towardextensivewrittenexams,inwhichstudentscouldgrapplewithliterary
passagesandbookstheyhavereadinclass,alongwithassessmentsofstudents
reportsandprojectsfromthroughouttheyear.Thiskindofsystemwouldbeless
objectiveandprobablymoretimeconsumingforadministrators,butitwouldalso
freeteachersfromendlesstestpreparationandletstudentsfocusonreallearning.
Wecannotenrichthemindsofourstudentsbytestingthemontextsthat
purposelyignoretheirhearts.Bydoingso,wearewithholdingfromourneediest
studentsanyreasontoreadatall.Weareteachingthemthatwordsdonotdazzle
butconfound.Wemaysucceedinraisingtestscoresbyrelyingonthesemethods,
butwewillfailtoteachthemthatreadingcanbetransformativeandthatitbelongs
tothem.
AnEnglishteacheratapublicmiddleschoolinManhattan.
AversionofthisopedappearsinprintonApril22,2012,onpageSR4oftheNewYorkeditionwiththe
headline:TeachtheBooks,TouchtheHeart.

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