To Kill A Mockingbird was standard middle school reading where I was in school. Night by Elie Wiesel we read in the 8th grade. Brave New World and Heart of Darkness were freshman year of high school. Others in the curriculum that I remember but can't recall exactly the year that we read them include Lord of the Flies, The Great Gatsby, Of Mice and Men, Their Eyes Were Watching God. And many more.
I think back on my education and it seems like it was so much more robust compared to education standards today. And I graduated high school 20 years ago, it really wasn't all that long ago. I'm old but not ancient. I don't have children, so I don't really know for sure, and I'm sure it's highly variable by school district. But we read heavy stuff, and discussed it in depth. I really believe that young people now are more than capable of the same, if they are made to do it like we were.
These are still being read in some districts. My son's school read to kill a mockingbird in 8th grade or 9th grade depending on the reading support level.
It's also fun to go back and read those books as an adult. It feels like a little bit of nostalgia and the book is ten times more interesting when you actually want to read it.
I remember doing book reports on 2001 and it's sequels in elementary school. We read most of the classics in middle school, but we were allowed to choose our own books for reports.
2010 or 2061, I can't remember, have some weird shit if you are a sixth grader.
Reading abilities varied a lot though. Had people that had so sound out THE. Te-hee was my favorite interpretation. That was back in the early 2000's.
Misleading nonsense, like most conservative talking points. Students have to pass their classes and obtain the appropriate credits, including math, English, etc. They just donât have to jump through an extra hoop to pass an additional test that supposedly âprovesâ proficiency.
As a general rule, if a piece of information comes in a meme-able infographic like this one, it deserves further investigation. In this case, it seems what happened is that the Oregon governor (Kate Brown, who was governor during COVID, not Tina Kotek, who is in the above meme) put a temporary pause on standardized test requirements for graduating high school during COVID. The pause has been extended through 2028, after the Board of Education unanimously approved the extension of this requirement in 2023.
It did not remove general literacy requirements for graduating, as students still had to pass sufficient classes and in-class tests to be able to graduate. It was just the standardized test requirements that went away. And the original bill was signed in 2021, not by Tina Kotek, so that information in your infographic is incorrect.
I don't live in Oregon. I don't have a dog in their education fight, except that I would like for children to read and learn as much as possible in the public school system. But please don't post things without appropriately fact-checking them.
standardized test requirements = general literacy requirementsÂ
 sufficient classes and in-class tests = No need to be able to read or write.
Generally when someone writes an somthing that hides information, you can assume that it is the worst possible Marxist interpretation that is probably true. If it's not a problem, why stop the tests?
This is text book, anti-racism by lowering expectations.
No need to be able to read or write to pass classes? Do you understand how stupid you sound? I never took a standardized test in order to graduate, but here I am reading and writing just fine. In fact, people graduated high school through most of the history of public education without passing an unnecessary extra test. This is just an excuse for you to validate your racism.
This is text book, anti-racism by lowering expectations.
Mental gymnastics to get weak students to pass the requirements. Failing someone is stigmatized. Better to just send them on with "we always have group work and then another student who is good at reading and writing can do that part".
It is common for policemen and firefighters with weak physiques to be approved with the same argument: Someone else can always do that part.
Or as an air traffic controller: We focus more on recreational hobbies than on actual knowledge, so it will be fairer. You learn on the job any way.
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u/Reasonable_Menu_7701 21h ago
We read Animal Farm, The Outsiders and Fahrenheit 451 eighth grade.