Common Core's Emphasis On Informational Texts Stirs Controversy

The Chicago Tribune (10/2, Rado) reports on a class of local second-graders participating in "'informational text' time," adding, "Welcome to an avant-garde classroom in Illinois, where nonfiction is edging out fiction. It's part of a controversial curriculum shake-up and marks a pivotal change in thinking about what public school students should be reading to prepare for college and work." The piece notes that fiction will not be entirely supplanted by nonfiction in the new system, adding, "For better or worse - only time will tell - the emphasis on nonfiction is a key element of the new Common Core learning standards in English language arts and math that are reshaping curricula across the country." The paper presents the pros and cons of this shift in emphasis.