As state scores drop, schools work to engage students in reading

English teacher Jaime Hecht knows that teenagers love a good controversy. So when she introduces her students to Mark Twain's "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn," she starts by posing a question: Is the novel racist?

The promise of a juicy debate makes it tough for her students to resist reading the book, Hecht said.

"By exposing students to the discourse surrounding the novel, they naturally want to enter the conversation," Hecht, a teacher at John Hersey High School in Arlington Heights, said in an e-mail interview. "But in order to voice their opinion, they have to read the text."

Teachers and reading specialists in high schools all over the country employ similar strategies to keep teenagers motivated about books and reading.

Those efforts grow in importance each year, as high-school reading scores continue to stay flat or decline nationally.

In Illinois, reading scores released today for high school students on critical assessment tests dropped this year, with 53.3 percent of 11th-graders in public schools meeting state standards, down from 54.1 percent in 2007. It's the third straight year that high school reading scores have dropped.

Here in the suburbs, most high schools performed at or above the state average, but their scores have largely remained flat, with some school districts seeing a decline.

In one-school Stevenson High School District 125, for example, 82.9 percent of 11th-graders met state reading standards. That's a strong score, but down from 84.4 percent in 2007. Elsewhere, scores stayed virtually the same in Palatine-Schaumburg High School District 211 (65.5 percent met state standards) and Elgin Area School District U-46 (44.8 percent), both of which have multiple high schools.

Illinois' high-school reading scores come from the Prairie State Achievement Exam, which is taken by all high school juniors.

Why the disappointing showing? Some say high-school reading lists need to be supplemented with newer, more teen-centric titles. Others say that reading instruction has grown stale, and that reading should be a focus in all classes, not just English.

"Teaching reading is not the responsibility of the English teacher; rather, it is the responsibility of every teacher," Hecht said.

The drop in high school scores is surprising because elementary and middle-school students continue to do well on state reading tests. Fifth-, sixth- and seventh-graders did particularly well this year, posting scores between 4 and 6 percentage points higher than last year.

Because of the drop in high-school scores statewide, coupled with stagnant scores in math and science, state education officials are looking closely at the high school curriculum.

"We might have to rethink the way we teach this," State Superintendent Chris Koch said.

Many suburban schools have already taken steps to improve reading skills. Naperville Central High School launched a literacy program five years ago that targets freshman students who show a deficiency in reading. The program uses Internet research, silent reading periods and a library of popular books like Stephenie Meyer's "Twilight" series to engage students.

"We want them to develop the necessary reading skills, like comprehension and fluency, but we also try to get them to love reading," said literacy teacher Marc O'Shea. "Sometimes, the high school curriculum doesn't go deep enough; it just skims through books to cover as much as possible. Here, we slow things down and go much deeper."

St. Charles North High School makes reading an important focus in its English and social studies classes, assistant principal Mark Moore said. And the school created a writing center that uses the study of writing to change students' approach to reading.

"Instead of just looking at a passage as something they have to read, they start looking at it as something that came from a writer," said Jennifer Schoaf, director of the writing center. "In other words, they think about the choices the writer makes, the words he or she uses. It enhances their comprehension and appreciation for what they're reading."

Many teachers pair established literature classics with newer books that speak to teenagers more directly.

"When you're doing (George Orwell's) '1984,' try also using Cory Doctorow's 'Little Brother.' It covers some of the same themes, but it's set in the present day of computer hackers and Homeland Security," said Teri Lesesne, a professor and member of the National Council of Teachers of English. "Doing something like that makes the classics more accessible."

Koch, in a conference call with reporters about the test results, said the state plans to review the high-school reading curriculum (as well as math and science) and match it more closely to college-entry standards in the U.S. and internationally.

Maxyne Kozil, a literacy teacher at Naperville Central High School, said it's important to maintain rigorous reading standards in school, even in an age when digital media appear ready to supplant the printed page.

"The rise of the Internet doesn't mean the need for literacy skills goes away," she said. "We still have to show students how to think and read critically, even if it's on a Web site."

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