The new Texas list is also an effort to raise the level of rigor and get more students reading. Fewer students are reading full books in English class<\/a> or at home<\/a>, and U.S. reading scores are in a decade-long slump<\/a>. Some education leaders and policymakers believe emphasizing whole books is increasingly essential for combating the rise of tech and A.I.<\/p>\n The Texas list comes in response to a 2023 state law that required state education officials to select at least one literary work in each grade level.<\/p>\n The state board went further, outlining a number of texts in each grade. Texas teachers were still expected to be able to teach books off the list, but they will need to find the time, on top of the ones required.<\/p>\n The selections have drawn criticism for putting an emphasis on older texts, often written by white and male authors, in a state where more than half of students are Hispanic or Black.<\/p>\n \u201cWith a list that\u2019s so extensive, would teachers have the time or space to choose texts that are a great fit for their students, their classrooms, their region?\u201d said Markesha Tisby, president of the Texas Council of Teachers of English Language Arts, which argued for narrowing the list to allow teachers more choice.<\/p>\n \u201cTexas is extremely large,\u201d she said, \u201cand very diverse.\u201d<\/p>\n The list focuses on classic literature<\/p>\n The draft list before the board included about 200 texts for K-12 students.<\/p>\n For elementary school students, the list included classics like \u201cThe Very Hungry Caterpillar\u201d by Eric Carle. It also had a number of books about U.S. founding fathers and historical figures, as well as excerpts from \u201cThe Children\u2019s Book of Virtues,\u201d an anthology of stories edited by William J. Bennett, the secretary of education under President Ronald Reagan.<\/p>\n In middle and high school, two main books were to be required each year, along with other related poems, speeches, historical texts and biblical excerpts.<\/p>\n For example, 10th graders would read \u201cThe Tragedy of Julius Caesar\u201d by William Shakespeare, and \u201cThe Inferno\u201d by Dante Alighieri. Among other texts, they would also read the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.\u2019s \u201cI\u2019ve Been to the Mountain Top\u201d speech; Edgar Allan Poe\u2019s famous poem \u201cThe Raven\u201d; Margaret Thatcher\u2019s eulogy for Mr. Reagan; and an excerpt from the Book of Job.<\/p>\n The list aligns with a classical approach to education, popular with conservatives, that posits students should read texts that have stood the test of time.<\/p>\n \u201cYou don\u2019t get to know what a classic is until 50, 60 years after the author is dead,\u201d said Jeremy Tate, the founder of the Classic Learning Test<\/a>, an alternative to the SAT and ACT.<\/p>\n While deciding upon a shared set of texts is bound to stir debate, he said, \u201cit\u2019s better to have a common canon that can provide some cultural common ground \u2014 a basis to argue around \u2014 rather than no canon at all.\u201d<\/p>\n Democratic members of the state board and some Texas educators criticized the list\u2019s lack of diversity across race, geography and time period, arguing that it will make it more difficult to engage students.<\/p>\n \u201cThere is a real attempt for students to not see themselves in these lists,\u201d said Jonna Perrillo, an English professor at the University of Texas at El Paso, who noted that there are few Texas authors and few contemporary books on the list, particularly at the high school level.<\/p>\n Biblical passages would be required in most grades<\/p>\n Students would be required to read a Bible excerpt at most grade levels, starting in elementary school. <\/p>\n Excerpts included \u201cThe Necessity of Humility\u201d by the Gospel of Luke and \u201cTo Everything There is a Season\u201d from the Book of Ecclesiastes. In middle and high school, Bible selections were included in thematic units along with a book. For example, the \u201cDefinition of Love,\u201d from First Corinthians, would be taught alongside \u201cPride and Prejudice\u201d by Jane Austen in 12th grade.<\/p>\n \u201cThere is a difference between proselytizing and utilizing great pieces of literature,\u201d said Mandy Drogin, a senior fellow at the Texas Public Policy Foundation, a conservative think tank that has supported the changes.<\/p>\n But the list drew objections from teachers, parents, students and religious leaders who testified before the board this week.<\/p>\n David Segal, a rabbi who works for the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty, testified that the list shows a preference for evangelical Christian versions of the Bible, often the King James Version, that risks \u201can unconstitutional endorsement\u201d of religion.<\/p>\n What\u2019s not on the list<\/p>\n The Texas list did not include some of the most commonly taught books around the country, including \u201cRomeo and Juliet\u201d and \u201cThe Great Gatsby,\u201d the No. 1 and No. 2. most assigned books in U.S. high schools, according to the National Council of Teachers of English<\/a>.<\/p>\n It also avoided some popular classics that have been contested in recent years, like \u201cTo Kill a Mockingbird.\u201d<\/p>\n Those books are among the top books currently taught in Texas high schools, according to research<\/a> by Dr. Perrillo, the UTEP professor, and Andrew Newman of Stony Brook University, who surveyed 1,250 high school English teachers, including almost 200 from Texas, in 2024.<\/p>\n On the survey, Texas teachers reported teaching a variety of other books, including some contemporary novels like \u201cAll the Light We Cannot See,\u201d a 2014 novel by Anthony Doerr that won a Pulitzer Prize for fiction.<\/p>\n The question of what to include as essential literature is not new. The College Board, for example, has long encouraged certain texts, like \u201cFrankenstein,\u201d in Advanced Placement literature classes, if only because they are likely to show up on the end-of-year A.P. exam.<\/p>\n And some charter school networks like Great Hearts, which runs schools in Texas and Arizona, and Success Academy, in New York City, have rigorous lists of books<\/a> that students are expected to read.<\/p>\n But the Texas list is a rare attempt at creating a shared canon for an entire state. The list was in flux up until the final vote. Texas officials voted to remove a picture book on Noah\u2019s Ark for first graders, for example, but add a biblical reading from the Book of Jonah, on Jonah and the Whale.<\/p>\n The list would not go into effect immediately, but be rolled out as a requirement in the coming years. <\/p>\n
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