Op-ed views and opinions expressed are solely those of the author.

According to the national report card on education, released in January of 2025, reading scores declined by 2 points for fourth and eighth graders compared to their 2022 scores, which weren’t stellar.  Everyone agrees that reading is vital for educational success and critical thinking. Sadly, so-called professional educators who set policies for school districts’ answer to declining scores is to lower standards and are more focused on creating indoctrinated social justice warriors instead of competent students who are prepared for future challenges.

During my formative years, I learned phonics, which involved sounding out words because reading is a developmental process.  In the 1980s and 90s, “experts” replaced it with a philosophy known as “whole language,” which is a method of teaching reading and writing that focuses on learning whole words and phrases by learning them in “meaningful contexts” instead of phonics exercises.  Liberals who advocated the whole language approach to reading claimed children were born with an innate ability to read and looked down on phonics because it was oppressive.  Yet, the results showed that California schools instituted whole language in 1991, and by 1994, reading scores plummeted, and the results have been similar in schools throughout the country.

A recent revelation by college professors from elite universities such as Columbia, Stanford, and Georgetown indicated that many students struggle to read and complain that reading a book a week is too much for them.  Professors have reported that some of their students have told them they were never required to read an entire book during their time in high school.  A survey conducted by the Edweek Research Center indicated that only 17% of schools teach whole texts.  This is an alarming claim.

In an age driven by technology, where young people are conditioned to find it fast and their futures lie in passing standardized tests like the SAT or ACT, students don’t have to show a deeper understanding of entire books to answer test questions because they are passage-based.   The irony is that when they get to college and are expected to read entire books or look deeper than a superficial understanding of complex ideas, they struggle, which illustrates the point that schools are not preparing them to deal with the rigors of a college class curriculum that requires deeper analyses of complex issues.

So how could this problem be solved?  As a kid, I hated to read, and I didn’t have the distraction of video games (we had pong) or social media or hundreds of cable channels from which to choose (we had 3 networks).  The thing that cured me of my dislike of reading was the availability of sports books.  I love sports, and my elementary school would allow us to order books each month.  The first complete book I ever read was The Baseball Life of Willie Mays, which I read in one sitting.

A first step to making reading popular is for elementary schools to use student interests to allow students to read books that they find interesting.  Readathons, book fairs, and other competitions that encourage students to read will initially build skills that will develop and progress.  In middle and high school, curriculum designers must incorporate complete classic books based on the quality of writing, instead of identity literature that is biased against male authors.  Good stories should be judged by the merit of the plots and character development instead of by biased, bureaucratic censors who need to look at a photo of the author to determine whether or not a book is suitable for students.

Teachers must generate discussions about complex themes and use media to supplement what is read by students.  Comic books, graphic novels, and texts that students find appealing are ways to stimulate interest.  Shakespeare is great; however, the original phrasing can be an obstacle to student interest, so using updated language, like No Fear Shakespeare, could be a good way to expose students to the wonderful plays written by the Bard.

At the high school level, students must be required to read entire books, analyze themes, understand symbolism, and break down character depth and discuss the relevance of the texts to the time periods when they were written. This stimulates critical thinking.  In my senior literature class, students are required to read at least 8-10 novels throughout the year because I am preparing them to be successful in college.  We view films about the books we read and compare how filmmakers adapt novels into movies.  This approach helps students develop an interest and a greater understanding of literature.

Educators, especially primary educators, must build a foundation that helps students see the value of being well-read.  The diminishing trend of reading scores must be reversed, and this requires creativity and showing students the relevance of reading.

Instead of hiring teachers who seem intent on politicizing their classrooms with indoctrinating rhetoric, it is time for the educational system to get back to the basics of reading, writing, and arithmetic.  Instead of allowing teacher unions to influence educational policies, which have abysmal results, it is time for educational policymakers to put aside their personal biases and do what is productive for the students they are supposed to serve.

It is no secret that the U.S. educational system has floundered and fallen behind other countries.  This is largely due to so-called progressives inflicting counterproductive ideas that started in colleges and trickled their way down into high schools, middle schools, and elementary schools. It’s time to get back to basics and a more balanced approach to teaching students the skills, such as reading, and perhaps college students will stop complaining that reading a book is an unreasonable task.

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Michael Matteo

Michael Matteo is an educator, produced playwright and screenwriter. He has written or co-written 4 books including one of the first jokebooks to make fun of political correctness.He owned a business for 19 years, and has been teaching for over 30 years.Currently he lives and works as head of the humanities department at private, international school in Chengdu, China.

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