From kindergarten through 12th grade, American schoolchildren should immerse themselves in scores of books, use libraries and databases and write for a purpose, teachers of English and language arts recommended Tuesday.
Reading lists should include fiction, nonfiction, classics and contemporary works, the educators said. Such wide reading is necessary, they said, to help children understand U.S. and foreign cultures and glean information to serve them in society and the workplace.These goals are among 12 voluntary English and language arts standards developed by the International Reading Association and the National Council of Teachers of English.
"We believe that standards are needed to prepare students for the literacy requirements of the future," said Dolores B. Malcolm, president of the International Reading Association. "Changes in technology and society have altered and will continue to alter the ways in which we use language to communicate and think.
Unlike standards created in other academic subjects, the English and language arts guidelines do not specify what children should know by grades four, eight or 12. The standards are voluntary and are not meant to establish a national curriculum.
Education Department officials have complained the standards are too vague.
"These standards are broad because they lay out a consensus of the profession," said Karin Cordell a panelist from the District of Columbia public schools.
The standards adopted say children should:
- Practice writing skills in real-life situations, such as by sending e-mail to students in other communities, recording remembrances of old people in a nursing home or writing letters to their congressional representatives.
- Use a variety of library databases, computer networks and videos to gather and understand information.
- Become competent in English language arts, even if their native language is not English.
- Learn to appreciate and understand a broad variety of written works.
- Know how to communicate effectively, using spoken, visual and written language.