{"id":1046950,"date":"2026-09-06T13:22:22","date_gmt":"2026-09-06T13:22:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/1046950\/"},"modified":"2026-09-06T13:22:22","modified_gmt":"2026-09-06T13:22:22","slug":"the-kids-simply-cannot-handle-it-why-new-york-students-are-reading-fewer-books","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/1046950\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018The kids simply cannot handle it\u2019: Why New York students are reading fewer books"},"content":{"rendered":"

This story originally appeared in New York Focus<\/a>, a nonprofit news publication investigating power in New York.Sign up for their newsletter here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

More than a decade ago, Queens teacher Nicole Radosti Pipia\u2019s fifth- and sixth-grade students seemed to love reading novels in school. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe Giver\u201d by Lois Lowry was prized for its mystery. \u201cWonder\u201d by R.J. Palacio taught them about kindness and acceptance. \u201cFreak the Mighty\u201d by Rodman Philbrick showed them the power of friendship. <\/p>\n

Now, she said, they don\u2019t read any. Instead, students often spend class time reading excerpts and short stories to better prepare them for the sorts of questions they\u2019d encounter on standardized exams.<\/p>\n

The demands of her school\u2019s reading program leave no room to study novels, the English teacher said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re told that we cannot deviate from the program, and if you have to do the program, there\u2019s literally no time,\u201d Pipia said. <\/p>\n

Another New York City middle school teacher, who asked to remain anonymous out of fear of retaliation, said her school taught novels before the pandemic. Now, \u201cit can be done, but not with the constraints placed on us as teachers,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n

For the past few years, her school has required her to have her students \u2014 most of whom are English language learners and struggling readers \u2014 spend half of each 40-minute class period, four days a week, completing an online targeted reading intervention program, she said. They often end up clicking through the program and visiting Spotify and YouTube instead. The remainder of the period is devoted to the school\u2019s core curriculum, which does not require novel studies. <\/p>\n

The classroom library she spent a decade building has become \u201cpurely decorative,\u201d she said. With teachers no longer using books, her school is \u201cliterally throwing them away.\u201d Even if she had the time to teach a book, the veteran teacher said, her students either have no interest in reading or barely know how. <\/p>\n

\u201cHalf of them have never read a book,\u201d she said. \u201cIn 10 years, we went from kids reading multiple novels in class to them having never opened a book.\u201d <\/p>\n

All New York City elementary schools and most middle schools use one of three city-approved reading curricula. Two of them \u2014 EL Education and Wit and Wisdom \u2014 require full-length books, while HMH Into Reading and Into Literature do not.<\/p>\n

In a statement provided to New York Focus, New York City Public Schools Press Secretary Nicole Brownstein emphasized that English class is \u201cnot the only time students have access to full texts.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cLiteracy is foundational for every child\u2019s success and every New York City Public Schools student has access to whole books both in their classrooms and via the citywide digital library,\u201d she said, adding that there was a 14 percent increase in digital book checkouts last school year compared to the year prior. <\/p>\n

There\u2019s limited data on how much students are actually reading in school. In New York state, where districts have significant autonomy over curriculum, reading programs can vary widely depending on the district, campus, and even classroom. <\/p>\n

We’re on a need-to-know basis.<\/p>\n

Every weekday morning, Chalkbeat New York is bringing thousands of subscribers the news on public schools and education policy that they need to start their day. Sign up for our free newsletter to join them.<\/p>\n

For more than a decade, classrooms across the state have been shifting away from full-length books and toward shorter literary works, largely to align with state learning standards and assessments. In interviews with New York Focus, English teachers from across the state lamented that teaching novels has also become more challenging because students have less stamina for or interest in reading them anymore \u2014 even in districts that still encourage it.<\/p>\n

\u201cI teach fewer novels because the kids simply cannot handle it,\u201d said Lori Atkinson, a 37-year high school English teacher at the rural Copenhagen Central School District in the North Country.<\/p>\n

Atkinson has seen a slump in endurance and attention span. She cited the impact of the Common Core, a set of academic standards for English and math that most US states, including New York, adopted in the 2010s. It placed a greater emphasis on students\u2019 ability to analyze short, complex passages of text. (In 2017, New York eliminated Common Core<\/a> and adopted a similar state-specific set of standards.) <\/p>\n

\u201cI believe the decline in reading happened when we were forced to excerpt everything, because when you excerpt, you are not building stamina or background knowledge,\u201d Atkinson said. \u201cIt became all about standardized tests and trying to get the mark that you were proficient.\u201d <\/p>\n

But Atkinson primarily blames students\u2019 lack of reading skills on technology, social media, and the rise of artificial intelligence. Teenagers addicted to instant gratification do not have the concentration and skills they need to stay engaged through a long novel, she said, and turn to AI to generate summaries for required reading.<\/p>\n

When Atkinson taught ninth and 10th grade in the 1990s, she typically taught five novels and a Shakespeare play each year. Now, teaching 11th and 12th grade, she considers herself lucky to get through three books. She said she used to lend out 20 books a week to students, and now lends out one or two a month. <\/p>\n

The challenge extends beyond novels. Atkinson said that when she assigns a two-page article at the beginning of class, she often sees about half the class stop reading within three minutes. <\/p>\n

Even things that were once a treat are now a challenge to their attention spans. Last school year, after her seniors read \u201cRemarkably Bright Creatures\u201d by Shelby Van Pelt, she showed them a five-minute movie trailer for the Netflix adaptation. She said most of the teenagers stopped paying attention halfway through. <\/p>\n

Saranac Lake Central School District in the Adirondacks, where high school English teacher Kelsey Francis has worked for 26 years, still encourages educators to teach full-length texts. <\/p>\n

In recent years, however, the number of books Francis can get through during the school year has dropped dramatically. She attributes that, in part, to how AI has affected teaching and learning. Francis has largely stopped assigning homework because she expects students will turn to AI to complete it. Instead, students have to do most of their work by hand in class. <\/p>\n

Making those changes has left significantly less class time for reading. <\/p>\n

It also takes students much longer to get through a book. Since the pandemic, Francis said, she\u2019s seen a major decline in student vocabulary skills and stamina. <\/p>\n

\u201cThey fatigue after more than a few pages,\u201d she said. \u201cIf I were to ask them to independently read for 30 minutes, that is going to be really tough.\u201d <\/p>\n

English teacher and education consultant Emily Aierstok had a similar experience in her Capital Region school district. <\/p>\n

Because students have shorter attention spans, she\u2019s had to slow down the pace of reading assignments. Instead of assigning two chapters of reading for kids to do at home, she now assigns one. And in addition to requiring 20 minutes of independent reading for homework, she now begins each class with five minutes of reading time to support struggling readers. <\/p>\n

But last school year, Aierstok\u2019s seventh graders read eight books through in-class and independent reading \u2014 the most in her 26 years of teaching English. She said she\u2019s been able to overcome challenges with student stamina and interest by giving her students agency in choosing which books to read. <\/p>\n

New York state\u2019s English Language Arts standards require that students read \u201cboth shorter-text and excerpts, as well as full-length works.\u201d In a statement to New York Focus, State Education Department spokesperson JP O\u2019Hare said the agency is committed to ensuring all students have access to skilled instruction, but also noted that local school boards and districts are responsible for selecting curricula and instructional materials. <\/p>\n

\u201cExposing all students to grade-level reading materials with age-appropriate complex ideas and language is critical to mastering the learning standards and developing the knowledge and skills necessary for success beyond the classroom,\u201d the statement reads. <\/p>\n

Fewer than half of New York students in grades 3\u20138 are proficient in reading, according to state data. Jeff Smink, deputy director at the advocacy group EdTrust-New York, said students\u2019 lack of exposure to full-length books has contributed to the state\u2019s literacy crisis. <\/p>\n

Smink said it\u2019s important for students to read full-length books to build stamina, learn about context, and develop a love for reading. But he\u2019s also concerned that too many students don\u2019t have the foundational skills to reap the benefits of reading and said that teachers should be focused on building literacy earlier.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust giving a book to a kid that doesn\u2019t have those foundational reading skills is also problematic and can lead to disengagement,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

Atkinson, the Copenhagen teacher, said it\u2019s critical teachers continue teaching students full-length books to \u201crewire their brain\u201d and show students the rewards of persistence. Younger educators are not being taught the importance of novel studies in college and in teacher preparatory programs, she said, so it\u2019s up to veteran educators to spread awareness. <\/p>\n

\u201cIf we never teach them a novel, then shame on us because we\u2019re the ones who are not giving them the opportunity to build those skills,\u201d she said. \u201cIf all we expect from them is an excerpt, then all we\u2019re going to get from them is the bare minimum.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This story originally appeared in New York Focus, a nonprofit news publication investigating power in New York.Sign up…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1046951,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5122],"tags":[5229,1412,2862,3716,405,403,5226,5225,5228,5227,419103,419102,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":["post-1046950","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-america","tag-in","tag-indiana","tag-library","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-newyork","tag-newyorkcity","tag-ny","tag-nyc","tag-perry-township","tag-southport-elementary-school","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-usa"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1046950","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1046950"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1046950\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1046951"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1046950"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1046950"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1046950"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}