December 9, 2025 • 29 mins
Books are quietly disappearing from American classrooms, and kids are paying the price. I dig into why excerpts have replaced full-length novels and plays, how that shift affects comprehension and attention, and what it means for students who deserve a rich, inclusive literacy diet. Drawing on research and classroom realities, I unpack the tension between teaching to high-stakes tests and building the deeper reading stamina that colleges and life demand.
I also relate the quality of the texts that middle school and high school students are reading to the surge in book bans. The numbers are stark: thousands of titles challenged or pulled, most often those by or about people of color and LGBTQ+ communities. That censorship doesn’t just limit shelves; it narrows imaginations, erases "mirrors and windows," and undermines the democratic promise of education. Finally, I connect the dots between policy, politics, and practice, and I talk plainly about who gets silenced when story choices are made out of fear.
This conversation isn’t just a diagnosis; it’s a roadmap for the future. I outline a balanced approach that pairs short texts with sustained reading of entire novels, plays, and nonfiction works. I share specific steps parents and educators can take: form curriculum committees, map reading across grades, set clear targets for long-form works, and advocate for diverse authors. If you’re ready to help your child become a stronger reader and protect inclusive libraries, you’ll leave with practical tools and a sense of agency.
Subscribe for weekly episodes, share this one with a friend who cares about K-12 literacy, and leave a comment on our site to tell me what you’re seeing in your schools. Your voice matters—join me and help keep whole books and inclusive stories within every student’s reach.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_00 (01:02):
Welcome to another episode of K-12 Public Education
Insights, Empowering Parents ofColor Podcast.
The podcast that converges atthe intersection of educational
research and parental actions.
It's about making the trends,topics, and theories in public
(01:26):
education understandable so thatyou can implement them into
practical, actionable strategiesthat work for your children.
My name is Dr.
Kim J.
Fields, former corporatemanager, turned education
researcher, and advocate, andI'm the host of this podcast.
(01:48):
I got into this space afterdealing with some frustrating
interactions with schooleducators and administrators, as
well as experiencing themicroaggressions that I faced as
an African American mom raisingmy two kids who were in the
public school system.
I really wanted to understandhow teachers were trained and
(02:12):
what the research provided aboutthe challenges of the public
education system.
Once I gained the informationand the insights that I needed,
I was then equipped to be ableto successfully support my
children in their educationalprogress.
This battle-tested experience iswhat I provide as action steps
(02:36):
for you to take.
It's like enjoying a bowl ofeducational research with a
sprinkling of motherwit wisdomon top.
If you're looking to find outmore about the current
information and issues ineducation that could affect you
or your children, and the actionsteps you can take to give your
(03:02):
children the advantages theyneed, then you're in the right
place.
Thanks for tuning in today.
I know that staying informedabout K-12 public education
trends and topics is importantto you, so keep listening.
Give me 30 minutes or less, andI'll provide insights on the
(03:26):
latest trends, issues, andtopics pertaining to this
constantly evolving K-12 publiceducation environment.
Are books disappearing fromAmerican classrooms?
From all the latest reports, itseems that long-form literature
(03:46):
like books and novels aredisappearing from middle school
and high school classrooms.
I mean, what happened to readingShakespeare plays, novels by
Nathaniel Hawthorne and CharlesDickens?
These are the classics that usedto be a staple in English
classes across the country, butnow the curriculum seems to
(04:11):
include excerpts instead ofwhole books.
I discussed why substitutingexcerpts of books and novels
erodes reading comprehension,and I also address the quality
of the literature being read andstudied in middle school and
high school, with particularemphasis on the detriments of
(04:32):
book bands.
Let's gain some insights onthis.
It seems that short excerptsfrom books rather than longer,
more challenging books andnovels is becoming a thing.
The problem with this is thatthose short excerpts could
weaken students' readingcomprehension abilities, and
(04:55):
students are getting a dwindlingdiet of lengthy, more
challenging, and complete texts,especially novels in school.
To compound this, many studentsin high school indicate that
they've never read a book coverto cover.
The reading brain needs to beexercised, and one of the major
(05:18):
ways to exercise it isprolonged, denser reading that
is continuous.
Unfortunately, one thing isclear, according to the reading
researchers, novels, as well aslonger works in general, are
powerful teaching tools forchildren in upper elementary
(05:40):
school grades and beyond.
As recently as 2023, one-fourthof teachers in grades 3 through
8 said that reading classroomsin their schools relied
primarily on excerpts.
About half of these educatorssaid they used a mix of excerpts
and other whole books, includingnovels, plays, memoirs, and
(06:05):
nonfiction.
Outside of school, thepercentages of 9 and
13-year-olds reading for fundaily or weekly has steadily
declined since the 1980s,according to data from the
National Assessment ofEducational Progress, or NAPE.
But even adults are readingfewer novels, which suggest a
(06:28):
trend toward less reading thatmight transcend age.
I think one of the reasons forthis is that this society has
gotten used to reading in soundbite lengths, influenced by
social media posts, apps, andbrowser news feed headlines,
with documented proof that theattention span of adults has
(06:50):
decreased to 8.25 seconds,especially on the internet, it
doesn't bode well for a societywhen we are not well read.
To put that attention span intoperspective, a goldfish has an
attention span of about nineseconds.
(07:12):
Think about that.
Years ago, actually since themid-19th century, the main
reader that we had in theclassroom was what was known as
the basil reader, which is thetype of anthology reader
typically containing manyexcerpts.
This old tool has now become oneof the culprits that's blamed in
(07:35):
contemporary debates aboutreading.
These anthologies werespecifically created to teach
reading and generally featuredexcerpts from fiction and
nonfiction books paired withskill and strategy questions.
They have a long andcontroversial history in U.S.
education.
(07:55):
The excerpts were selected toteach morality and introduce
students to cultural capital.
Some classroom curricula arerequiring older elementary
students to read more novels andnonfiction books over the course
of the year, while others aremostly shorter children's books
(08:16):
and excerpts throughoutelementary school.
It's still hard to know exactlyhow any of these programs are
being used, including excerptsinto the reading curriculum
provides exposure to multipletext types.
However, reading from a wholebook provides a deeper
understanding of the text.
(08:38):
If the reading habits ofelementary and middle school
students are still in conflict,the landscape is even murkier
for high school students.
Since the rollout of the CommonCore State Standards over 10
years ago, educators and expertshave warned that the academic
guidelines focus on nonfictionreading could push out
(09:02):
full-length texts in theclassroom.
Some high school classroomsdon't even read Shakespeare
anymore.
What a tragedy.
There's value in having studentsread and discuss books in class,
but many English teachersindicate that Shakespeare is too
steep of a struggle.
My question is, why is it moreof a struggle now than it was
(09:27):
when we were in high school?
In any case, teaching fewer longworks leaves more time for
shorter, informational textsfocused on science and social
studies, which align more withwhat students might see on an
end-of-the-year standardizedtest, according to many
educators.
(09:48):
This means that they areteaching to the test, something
that I'm radically opposed to,because it funnels limited
information that a studentascertains to the moment of
testing.
It is not long-term knowledge.
The gist of this argument forusing quote-in-quote quick hit
(10:10):
literature is one of whole textversus excerpts.
The argument for using excerptsis in the high-stakes testing
environment, and that if readingcomprehension is measured by
students' ability to makemeaning of several
paragraph-long selections, itmakes sense for them to practice
(10:32):
with texts of that length.
There's a large body of researchthat demonstrates that students
who read more are betterreaders, and that these traits
are reciprocal, meaning thatchildren with stronger reading
abilities read more.
And reading more, in turn, makesstudents even stronger readers.
(10:53):
In fact, children who read morebooks in their leisure time have
stronger reading comprehension,but that relationship doesn't
hold true for magazine readingand reading ability.
Also, digital reading wasnegatively correlated with
reading comprehension.
It seems that a both andapproach might work best here.
(11:18):
There are valid reasons to teachsome shorter works like poems or
short stories, and there's alsoevidence that whole class study
and oral reading of longer bookslike novels, plays, and
nonfiction could also providebenefits.
Experiencing a novel as a classcan give students a stronger
(11:39):
connection to the written wordthan short form content could
provide.
Helping students grasp the mainidea of a novel and make
connections through the textover time requires intentional
instruction, which benefits theteacher and the students.
(12:01):
If students are required to reada variety of materials, either
short form or long form, theyshould be exposed to the
classics as well as new texts,especially those written by
authors of color.
But the book ban movement hasseriously curtailed the variety
of texts that students read.
(12:23):
And just so you know, Idiscussed book bands in detail
in episode 69 of my podcast.
For this episode's discussion, Iprovide new insights on the book
band situation.
Book bans increased to anall-time high in 2022 after
(12:45):
escalating for 18 months.
The total number of books bannedin 2022 across school districts
in this country was 1,477 books.
These are some of the books withthe highest number of bands.
The Handmaid's Tale, the graphicnovel, banned sixteen times Sold
(13:11):
Banned eighteen times.
A Court of Mist and Fury bannedeighteen times The Bluest Eye
banned thirty two times Milk andHoney banned thirteen times.
The topics of most of the bandbooks included LBGTQIA
(13:35):
characters or themes, charactersof color, discussions of race
and racism, themes of rights andactivism, sexual content,
physical abuse and violence, andcharacters in stories about
religious minorities.
It's worth noting that booksthat were banned predominantly
(13:57):
get removed from schoollibraries, with only a small
percentage of book bansimpacting classrooms
specifically.
Most books are removed pendinginvestigation, meaning that a
book is removed whenever thereis a challenge for review.
Librarians as well as teachersare stuck in a precarious place
(14:18):
when it comes to book selection.
Many librarians hold theperspective that Americans have
freedoms, and those freedomsneed to be upheld.
What Americans cannot do is makethose choices for their
neighbors, so it's importantthat we continue to uphold
everyone's equal access, andthat's through First Amendment
(14:43):
rights.
Most of the book bans happenedin Texas and Florida, where in
2022, Texas had more than twelvehundred book challenges, and
Florida had more than ninehundred.
However, book bans have beenrecorded in at least thirty two
(15:03):
states.
Iowa and Missouri followedclosely behind Texas and
Florida.
The question is, have book bansslowed down?
Attempts to ban books in publicschools are still prevalent, and
efforts are still growing,according to data compiled by
(15:25):
the American Liberty Associationand Penn America, which found
that book bans surged in 2023,roughly tripling in number from
2022.
The American Liberty Associationreported that there were
challenges to 1,128 titles in2024, with the majority of bands
(15:49):
targeting books on race andgender and sexuality,
particularly by or about peopleof color or LGBTQ plus people.
On the one hand, it may beencouraging to see fewer bands
and challenges, but it shouldn'tbe surprising to see that these
(16:10):
bands continue to persist.
More than 10,000 books wereremoved, at least temporarily,
from public schools during the2023-2024 academic year.
This means that there is a chasmin the availability of variety
of texts that students get toread.
(16:30):
And that's a shame.
It should be no surprise thatbook bans quickly take place in
the majority Republican countieswhere GOP margins have been
shrinking over the past twodecades, suggesting that
bookbans are proposed as a wayto galvanize voters in those
(16:51):
districts.
The political messaging not onlycomes from the Republican Party,
but from organizations like Momsfor Liberty as well.
Teachers often face a quandarybecause they want to be able to
pick books that will engagetheir students.
Either they can't pick certainbooks or they could, but they
(17:13):
worry that a principal will comein and have a conversation with
them, they'll be named at aschool board meeting, or
attacked on social media.
All of these things havehappened.
Here's the thing.
Bands are never reasonable,regardless of whether or not a
(17:34):
book is returned to thelibrary's shelf after being
reviewed.
The stories and historiesdepicted in these books deserve
(18:27):
to be told without censorship.
Book bands are a rising form ofcensorship being used to silence
the voices and experiences ofcommunities that have
experienced oppression alreadybased on race, class, and
gender.
A shared, honest understandingof the past bridges that divide
(18:52):
that political players aretrying to widen.
At the end of the day, argumentsthat attempt to placate the
American public to simply acceptbook bands are a thinly veiled
attempt to take away theinclusive and comprehensive
education all students deserve.
(19:13):
These perspectives are shared byeducational researchers Rollins
and Bolton.
Think book bands are for thegood of all?
Let me ask you this whose lifeexperiences are being
disappeared by book banning?
One of the promises of educationin a democratic society such as
(19:35):
the United States is forstudents to be able to explore,
imagine, think about, learnfrom, and analyze content by and
about many different backgroundsrepresented in this nation.
When students connect to worldslike their own, with familiar
(19:55):
language and depictions ofpeople, neighborhoods, and home
life that reflect their ownexperiences, this helps them
connect to learning.
It's also important for studentsto learn about environments that
are different from theirsbecause this helps them to gain
not only knowledge, butunderstanding and empathy.
(20:16):
Schools can be laboratories in away for a democratic society,
but that doesn't happen when thevery few or the politically
motivated dictate the learningexperiences of the many.
That's what makes book banningso dangerous.
At a time when this countrycontinues to become increasingly
(20:39):
diverse, the removal of stories,struggles, histories, and
experiences that are unique topeople of color in other
marginalized communities shouldbe a concern for everyone.
Excluding books aboutmarginalized groups from school
libraries is essentiallyomitting life experiences that
(21:00):
are all too real for countlessadults and children in the
United States and beyond.
Students need to learn aboutthese experiences so that they
can fight all forms ofdiscrimination and prejudice.
Book banning is proven to be oneof the biggest threats to
inclusive education that hasoccurred over the past 20 years.
(21:24):
This harms students in a numberof ways.
One, students are denied thetruth about U.S.
history.
Two, students are prevented fromlearning.
About the current realities andexperiences of groups who face
hardship.
And three, students are deprivedof an understanding of the
(21:45):
challenges these groups have hadto overcome to make this
democracy better.
Education researchers indicatethat literature needs to be a
window and mirror for students,such that students see
themselves depicted in what theyread, this is the mirror, but
(22:06):
also get to learn about thehistories and experiences of
others.
This is the window.
Students from dominantdemographic groups have always
found their mirror in books, butthey have suffered from the lack
of availability of books aboutothers.
All students need books thatwill help them understand the
(22:27):
multicultural nature of theworld they live in, as well as
their connections to all otherhumans.
This is the essence of educationin a democracy where students
learn in the community ofdiverse peers with different
experiences.
Now is the time for teachers,principals, school board
(22:49):
members, superintendents, andparents to speak out and stand
up against politically motivatedbook banning because our
students, our children, and thisnation deserve better.
To put it simply, the banning ofbooks must stop.
(23:12):
So what can you do about theinformation I just shared?
Here are the action steps youcan take regarding books
disappearing from Americanschool classrooms and book
banning.
You have more power than youthink.
Get involved in your children'sschools so that you have a voice
(23:35):
in the curriculum that's beingtaught.
It's important that youunderstand whether what they're
reading is short form or longform, and the quality of the
reading materials that are beingused in the classroom, notably
the variety of books being read.
If you object to the subjectmatter of some of the reading
(23:58):
materials, let your opinions beknown.
If your child's school does nothave a curriculum committee in
which parents can participate,create one.
This type of committee helps toensure that the curriculum meets
the needs of all students andfamilies.
Convene a committee of teachers,counselors, librarians, and
(24:21):
parents to plan a core readingcurriculum that spans all grade
levels in middle school and highschool.
The goal of this type ofcommittee would be to ensure
that children get exposure tolong-form literature and a
variety of reading texts writtenby authors of color.
This may involve setting a goalof reading two long-form texts
(24:46):
and three short form texts foreach grade level per academic
year.
The intent is not to add more tothe teacher's plate for what
they should cover each week, butit is intended for middle school
and high school teachers to giveyour children a well-rounded
reading curriculum inpreparation for those who plan
(25:07):
to attend college or university.
Sound doable?
Well, nothing beats a failurebut a try.
(25:38):
The problem with this is thatthose short excerpts could
weaken students' readingcomprehension abilities, and
students are getting a dwindlingdiet of lengthy, more
challenging and complete texts,especially novels in school.
Some classroom curricula arerequiring older elementary
(25:59):
students to read more novels andnonfiction books over the course
of the year, while others aremostly delving into shorter
children's books and excerptsthroughout elementary school.
Including excerpts into areading curriculum provides
exposure to multiple texts.
However, reading from a wholebook provides a deeper
(26:23):
understanding of the text.
If students are required to reada variety of materials, either
short form or long form, theyshould be exposed to the
classics as well as new texts,especially those written by
authors of color.
But the book ban movement hasseriously curtailed the variety
(26:45):
of texts that students read.
Bookbands are a rising form ofcensorship being used to silence
the voices and experiences ofcommunities that have
experienced oppression based onrace, class, and gender.
A shared, honest understandingof the past bridges that divide
(27:08):
that political players aretrying to widen.
At the end of the day, argumentsthat attempt to placate the
American public to simply acceptbook bans are a thinly veiled
attempt to take away theinclusive and comprehensive
education all students deserve.
Now is the time for teachers,principals, school board
(27:32):
members, superintendents, andparents to speak out and stand
up against politically motivatedbook banning because our
students, our children, ourgrandchildren, and this nation
deserve better.
To put it simply, the banning ofbooks must stop.
(27:55):
What are your thoughts aboutbooks disappearing from the
classroom or thepoliticalization of book
banning?
Voice your concerns and let meknow what you're thinking by
leaving me a text comment on mypodcast website, K12Education
Insights.budsprout.com.
(28:15):
Here's how you leave that textcomment.
Go to the episode descriptionpage and click on Send Me a Text
Message link.
Again, it's K12EducationInsights.budsprout.com.
If you enjoyed this episode, whynot listen to another episode
from my catalog?
(28:36):
It could take as little as 15minutes of your day.
And remember, new episodes comeout every Tuesday.
And before I forget, would youdo me a favor?
Go online or send a text rightnow and share this episode with
one friend who you think willlove it.
Thanks for listening today.
(28:56):
Be sure to come back for moreinsights on K 12 educational
topics that impact you and yourchildren.
Until next time, learn somethingnew every day.
Welcome to another episode of K-12 Public Education
Insights, Empowering Parents ofColor Podcast.
The podcast that converges atthe intersection of educational
research and parental actions.
It's about making the trends,topics, and theories in public
(01:26):
education understandable so thatyou can implement them into
practical, actionable strategiesthat work for your children.
My name is Dr.
Kim J.
Fields, former corporatemanager, turned education
researcher, and advocate, andI'm the host of this podcast.
(01:48):
I got into this space afterdealing with some frustrating
interactions with schooleducators and administrators, as
well as experiencing themicroaggressions that I faced as
an African American mom raisingmy two kids who were in the
public school system.
I really wanted to understandhow teachers were trained and
(02:12):
what the research provided aboutthe challenges of the public
education system.
Once I gained the informationand the insights that I needed,
I was then equipped to be ableto successfully support my
children in their educationalprogress.
This battle-tested experience iswhat I provide as action steps
(02:36):
for you to take.
It's like enjoying a bowl ofeducational research with a
sprinkling of motherwit wisdomon top.
If you're looking to find outmore about the current
information and issues ineducation that could affect you
or your children, and the actionsteps you can take to give your
(03:02):
children the advantages theyneed, then you're in the right
place.
Thanks for tuning in today.
I know that staying informedabout K-12 public education
trends and topics is importantto you, so keep listening.
Give me 30 minutes or less, andI'll provide insights on the
(03:26):
latest trends, issues, andtopics pertaining to this
constantly evolving K-12 publiceducation environment.
Are books disappearing fromAmerican classrooms?
From all the latest reports, itseems that long-form literature
(03:46):
like books and novels aredisappearing from middle school
and high school classrooms.
I mean, what happened to readingShakespeare plays, novels by
Nathaniel Hawthorne and CharlesDickens?
These are the classics that usedto be a staple in English
classes across the country, butnow the curriculum seems to
(04:11):
include excerpts instead ofwhole books.
I discussed why substitutingexcerpts of books and novels
erodes reading comprehension,and I also address the quality
of the literature being read andstudied in middle school and
high school, with particularemphasis on the detriments of
(04:32):
book bands.
Let's gain some insights onthis.
It seems that short excerptsfrom books rather than longer,
more challenging books andnovels is becoming a thing.
The problem with this is thatthose short excerpts could
weaken students' readingcomprehension abilities, and
(04:55):
students are getting a dwindlingdiet of lengthy, more
challenging, and complete texts,especially novels in school.
To compound this, many studentsin high school indicate that
they've never read a book coverto cover.
The reading brain needs to beexercised, and one of the major
(05:18):
ways to exercise it isprolonged, denser reading that
is continuous.
Unfortunately, one thing isclear, according to the reading
researchers, novels, as well aslonger works in general, are
powerful teaching tools forchildren in upper elementary
(05:40):
school grades and beyond.
As recently as 2023, one-fourthof teachers in grades 3 through
8 said that reading classroomsin their schools relied
primarily on excerpts.
About half of these educatorssaid they used a mix of excerpts
and other whole books, includingnovels, plays, memoirs, and
(06:05):
nonfiction.
Outside of school, thepercentages of 9 and
13-year-olds reading for fundaily or weekly has steadily
declined since the 1980s,according to data from the
National Assessment ofEducational Progress, or NAPE.
But even adults are readingfewer novels, which suggest a
(06:28):
trend toward less reading thatmight transcend age.
I think one of the reasons forthis is that this society has
gotten used to reading in soundbite lengths, influenced by
social media posts, apps, andbrowser news feed headlines,
with documented proof that theattention span of adults has
(06:50):
decreased to 8.25 seconds,especially on the internet, it
doesn't bode well for a societywhen we are not well read.
To put that attention span intoperspective, a goldfish has an
attention span of about nineseconds.
(07:12):
Think about that.
Years ago, actually since themid-19th century, the main
reader that we had in theclassroom was what was known as
the basil reader, which is thetype of anthology reader
typically containing manyexcerpts.
This old tool has now become oneof the culprits that's blamed in
(07:35):
contemporary debates aboutreading.
These anthologies werespecifically created to teach
reading and generally featuredexcerpts from fiction and
nonfiction books paired withskill and strategy questions.
They have a long andcontroversial history in U.S.
education.
(07:55):
The excerpts were selected toteach morality and introduce
students to cultural capital.
Some classroom curricula arerequiring older elementary
students to read more novels andnonfiction books over the course
of the year, while others aremostly shorter children's books
(08:16):
and excerpts throughoutelementary school.
It's still hard to know exactlyhow any of these programs are
being used, including excerptsinto the reading curriculum
provides exposure to multipletext types.
However, reading from a wholebook provides a deeper
understanding of the text.
(08:38):
If the reading habits ofelementary and middle school
students are still in conflict,the landscape is even murkier
for high school students.
Since the rollout of the CommonCore State Standards over 10
years ago, educators and expertshave warned that the academic
guidelines focus on nonfictionreading could push out
(09:02):
full-length texts in theclassroom.
Some high school classroomsdon't even read Shakespeare
anymore.
What a tragedy.
There's value in having studentsread and discuss books in class,
but many English teachersindicate that Shakespeare is too
steep of a struggle.
My question is, why is it moreof a struggle now than it was
(09:27):
when we were in high school?
In any case, teaching fewer longworks leaves more time for
shorter, informational textsfocused on science and social
studies, which align more withwhat students might see on an
end-of-the-year standardizedtest, according to many
educators.
(09:48):
This means that they areteaching to the test, something
that I'm radically opposed to,because it funnels limited
information that a studentascertains to the moment of
testing.
It is not long-term knowledge.
The gist of this argument forusing quote-in-quote quick hit
(10:10):
literature is one of whole textversus excerpts.
The argument for using excerptsis in the high-stakes testing
environment, and that if readingcomprehension is measured by
students' ability to makemeaning of several
paragraph-long selections, itmakes sense for them to practice
(10:32):
with texts of that length.
There's a large body of researchthat demonstrates that students
who read more are betterreaders, and that these traits
are reciprocal, meaning thatchildren with stronger reading
abilities read more.
And reading more, in turn, makesstudents even stronger readers.
(10:53):
In fact, children who read morebooks in their leisure time have
stronger reading comprehension,but that relationship doesn't
hold true for magazine readingand reading ability.
Also, digital reading wasnegatively correlated with
reading comprehension.
It seems that a both andapproach might work best here.
(11:18):
There are valid reasons to teachsome shorter works like poems or
short stories, and there's alsoevidence that whole class study
and oral reading of longer bookslike novels, plays, and
nonfiction could also providebenefits.
Experiencing a novel as a classcan give students a stronger
(11:39):
connection to the written wordthan short form content could
provide.
Helping students grasp the mainidea of a novel and make
connections through the textover time requires intentional
instruction, which benefits theteacher and the students.
(12:01):
If students are required to reada variety of materials, either
short form or long form, theyshould be exposed to the
classics as well as new texts,especially those written by
authors of color.
But the book ban movement hasseriously curtailed the variety
of texts that students read.
(12:23):
And just so you know, Idiscussed book bands in detail
in episode 69 of my podcast.
For this episode's discussion, Iprovide new insights on the book
band situation.
Book bans increased to anall-time high in 2022 after
(12:45):
escalating for 18 months.
The total number of books bannedin 2022 across school districts
in this country was 1,477 books.
These are some of the books withthe highest number of bands.
The Handmaid's Tale, the graphicnovel, banned sixteen times Sold
(13:11):
Banned eighteen times.
A Court of Mist and Fury bannedeighteen times The Bluest Eye
banned thirty two times Milk andHoney banned thirteen times.
The topics of most of the bandbooks included LBGTQIA
(13:35):
characters or themes, charactersof color, discussions of race
and racism, themes of rights andactivism, sexual content,
physical abuse and violence, andcharacters in stories about
religious minorities.
It's worth noting that booksthat were banned predominantly
(13:57):
get removed from schoollibraries, with only a small
percentage of book bansimpacting classrooms
specifically.
Most books are removed pendinginvestigation, meaning that a
book is removed whenever thereis a challenge for review.
Librarians as well as teachersare stuck in a precarious place
(14:18):
when it comes to book selection.
Many librarians hold theperspective that Americans have
freedoms, and those freedomsneed to be upheld.
What Americans cannot do is makethose choices for their
neighbors, so it's importantthat we continue to uphold
everyone's equal access, andthat's through First Amendment
(14:43):
rights.
Most of the book bans happenedin Texas and Florida, where in
2022, Texas had more than twelvehundred book challenges, and
Florida had more than ninehundred.
However, book bans have beenrecorded in at least thirty two
(15:03):
states.
Iowa and Missouri followedclosely behind Texas and
Florida.
The question is, have book bansslowed down?
Attempts to ban books in publicschools are still prevalent, and
efforts are still growing,according to data compiled by
(15:25):
the American Liberty Associationand Penn America, which found
that book bans surged in 2023,roughly tripling in number from
2022.
The American Liberty Associationreported that there were
challenges to 1,128 titles in2024, with the majority of bands
(15:49):
targeting books on race andgender and sexuality,
particularly by or about peopleof color or LGBTQ plus people.
On the one hand, it may beencouraging to see fewer bands
and challenges, but it shouldn'tbe surprising to see that these
(16:10):
bands continue to persist.
More than 10,000 books wereremoved, at least temporarily,
from public schools during the2023-2024 academic year.
This means that there is a chasmin the availability of variety
of texts that students get toread.
(16:30):
And that's a shame.
It should be no surprise thatbook bans quickly take place in
the majority Republican countieswhere GOP margins have been
shrinking over the past twodecades, suggesting that
bookbans are proposed as a wayto galvanize voters in those
(16:51):
districts.
The political messaging not onlycomes from the Republican Party,
but from organizations like Momsfor Liberty as well.
Teachers often face a quandarybecause they want to be able to
pick books that will engagetheir students.
Either they can't pick certainbooks or they could, but they
(17:13):
worry that a principal will comein and have a conversation with
them, they'll be named at aschool board meeting, or
attacked on social media.
All of these things havehappened.
Here's the thing.
Bands are never reasonable,regardless of whether or not a
(17:34):
book is returned to thelibrary's shelf after being
reviewed.
The stories and historiesdepicted in these books deserve
(18:27):
to be told without censorship.
Book bands are a rising form ofcensorship being used to silence
the voices and experiences ofcommunities that have
experienced oppression alreadybased on race, class, and
gender.
A shared, honest understandingof the past bridges that divide
(18:52):
that political players aretrying to widen.
At the end of the day, argumentsthat attempt to placate the
American public to simply acceptbook bands are a thinly veiled
attempt to take away theinclusive and comprehensive
education all students deserve.
(19:13):
These perspectives are shared byeducational researchers Rollins
and Bolton.
Think book bands are for thegood of all?
Let me ask you this whose lifeexperiences are being
disappeared by book banning?
One of the promises of educationin a democratic society such as
(19:35):
the United States is forstudents to be able to explore,
imagine, think about, learnfrom, and analyze content by and
about many different backgroundsrepresented in this nation.
When students connect to worldslike their own, with familiar
(19:55):
language and depictions ofpeople, neighborhoods, and home
life that reflect their ownexperiences, this helps them
connect to learning.
It's also important for studentsto learn about environments that
are different from theirsbecause this helps them to gain
not only knowledge, butunderstanding and empathy.
(20:16):
Schools can be laboratories in away for a democratic society,
but that doesn't happen when thevery few or the politically
motivated dictate the learningexperiences of the many.
That's what makes book banningso dangerous.
At a time when this countrycontinues to become increasingly
(20:39):
diverse, the removal of stories,struggles, histories, and
experiences that are unique topeople of color in other
marginalized communities shouldbe a concern for everyone.
Excluding books aboutmarginalized groups from school
libraries is essentiallyomitting life experiences that
(21:00):
are all too real for countlessadults and children in the
United States and beyond.
Students need to learn aboutthese experiences so that they
can fight all forms ofdiscrimination and prejudice.
Book banning is proven to be oneof the biggest threats to
inclusive education that hasoccurred over the past 20 years.
(21:24):
This harms students in a numberof ways.
One, students are denied thetruth about U.S.
history.
Two, students are prevented fromlearning.
About the current realities andexperiences of groups who face
hardship.
And three, students are deprivedof an understanding of the
(21:45):
challenges these groups have hadto overcome to make this
democracy better.
Education researchers indicatethat literature needs to be a
window and mirror for students,such that students see
themselves depicted in what theyread, this is the mirror, but
(22:06):
also get to learn about thehistories and experiences of
others.
This is the window.
Students from dominantdemographic groups have always
found their mirror in books, butthey have suffered from the lack
of availability of books aboutothers.
All students need books thatwill help them understand the
(22:27):
multicultural nature of theworld they live in, as well as
their connections to all otherhumans.
This is the essence of educationin a democracy where students
learn in the community ofdiverse peers with different
experiences.
Now is the time for teachers,principals, school board
(22:49):
members, superintendents, andparents to speak out and stand
up against politically motivatedbook banning because our
students, our children, and thisnation deserve better.
To put it simply, the banning ofbooks must stop.
(23:12):
So what can you do about theinformation I just shared?
Here are the action steps youcan take regarding books
disappearing from Americanschool classrooms and book
banning.
You have more power than youthink.
Get involved in your children'sschools so that you have a voice
(23:35):
in the curriculum that's beingtaught.
It's important that youunderstand whether what they're
reading is short form or longform, and the quality of the
reading materials that are beingused in the classroom, notably
the variety of books being read.
If you object to the subjectmatter of some of the reading
(23:58):
materials, let your opinions beknown.
If your child's school does nothave a curriculum committee in
which parents can participate,create one.
This type of committee helps toensure that the curriculum meets
the needs of all students andfamilies.
Convene a committee of teachers,counselors, librarians, and
(24:21):
parents to plan a core readingcurriculum that spans all grade
levels in middle school and highschool.
The goal of this type ofcommittee would be to ensure
that children get exposure tolong-form literature and a
variety of reading texts writtenby authors of color.
This may involve setting a goalof reading two long-form texts
(24:46):
and three short form texts foreach grade level per academic
year.
The intent is not to add more tothe teacher's plate for what
they should cover each week, butit is intended for middle school
and high school teachers to giveyour children a well-rounded
reading curriculum inpreparation for those who plan
(25:07):
to attend college or university.
Sound doable?
Well, nothing beats a failurebut a try.
(25:38):
The problem with this is thatthose short excerpts could
weaken students' readingcomprehension abilities, and
students are getting a dwindlingdiet of lengthy, more
challenging and complete texts,especially novels in school.
Some classroom curricula arerequiring older elementary
(25:59):
students to read more novels andnonfiction books over the course
of the year, while others aremostly delving into shorter
children's books and excerptsthroughout elementary school.
Including excerpts into areading curriculum provides
exposure to multiple texts.
However, reading from a wholebook provides a deeper
(26:23):
understanding of the text.
If students are required to reada variety of materials, either
short form or long form, theyshould be exposed to the
classics as well as new texts,especially those written by
authors of color.
But the book ban movement hasseriously curtailed the variety
(26:45):
of texts that students read.
Bookbands are a rising form ofcensorship being used to silence
the voices and experiences ofcommunities that have
experienced oppression based onrace, class, and gender.
A shared, honest understandingof the past bridges that divide
(27:08):
that political players aretrying to widen.
At the end of the day, argumentsthat attempt to placate the
American public to simply acceptbook bans are a thinly veiled
attempt to take away theinclusive and comprehensive
education all students deserve.
Now is the time for teachers,principals, school board
(27:32):
members, superintendents, andparents to speak out and stand
up against politically motivatedbook banning because our
students, our children, ourgrandchildren, and this nation
deserve better.
To put it simply, the banning ofbooks must stop.
(27:55):
What are your thoughts aboutbooks disappearing from the
classroom or thepoliticalization of book
banning?
Voice your concerns and let meknow what you're thinking by
leaving me a text comment on mypodcast website, K12Education
Insights.budsprout.com.
(28:15):
Here's how you leave that textcomment.
Go to the episode descriptionpage and click on Send Me a Text
Message link.
Again, it's K12EducationInsights.budsprout.com.
If you enjoyed this episode, whynot listen to another episode
from my catalog?
(28:36):
It could take as little as 15minutes of your day.
And remember, new episodes comeout every Tuesday.
And before I forget, would youdo me a favor?
Go online or send a text rightnow and share this episode with
one friend who you think willlove it.
Thanks for listening today.
(28:56):
Be sure to come back for moreinsights on K 12 educational
topics that impact you and yourchildren.
Until next time, learn somethingnew every day.
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