As a literacy consultant who has been working in a high school for close to two years to help close the reading achievement gap between low-performing and high-performing students, the author contends that while certain students may be "overserved" by the social climate of the school, he did not believe they were being "overserved" with texts in…

Presents high school teachers' suggestions for magazines to use in the English classroom. Notes that "Meryln's Pen" and "The New Yorker" were the magazines most frequently mentioned. (MM)

Discusses 10 reasons to end the senior year of high school with Bernard Malamud's novel "The Natural." (RS)

Advocates inclusion of Marianne Wiggins' novel "John Dollar" in high school reading lists and literature classes. Notes that the novel is an allegory rich in poetic suggestion, metaphorical language, and symbolic meaning. (RS)

The demands of special interest groups from the conservative right and the liberal left have resulted in more restrictive censorship in American education. (RL)

Describes the positive results when a high school English teacher decided to have her students choose poems to be presented to and discussed by the class. Notes that Alice Walker's poems were chosen often by the students. Suggests students began to have a genuine interaction with these poems they chose themselves. (RS)

Describes the current state of reading lists in high school English courses as stagnant and in dire need of renewal. Argues for the canon of literature used in high schools to be opened up to include works by minorities and women writers. (HB)

Details an English teacher educator's struggle with his implicit part in prejudice during his high school years. Notes that the literature curriculum of English classes at that time represented a white perspective on the human experience. Contends that the study of diverse literature affords students the opportunity to become socially conscious.…

Details the concept of "breaking the rules" in the context of a high school English classroom. Describes how one English teacher abandoned regular reading materials to concentrate on Judy Blume's novel, "Forever." Considers the pros and cons of using this controversial text in high schools. (HB)

Presents the pros and cons of including teen romances in the English curriculum. (JL)

Describes the designing of a parallel curriculum for ninth graders who are required to take both World Literature and World Cultures. Concludes that there are opportunities for both students and teachers to connect to the cultures of the world and better understand the people and their literature. (SG)

Provides three teachers' perspectives on students' reading choices. Discusses reading choices of high school students. Outlines teacher strategies of discovering what books students enjoy and how to help them enjoy others. (PM)

Discusses difficulties in teaching/reading "depressing" twentieth-century American literature. Suggests that the underlying themes are not depressing, and illustrates this assertion with examples from Edith Wharton's "Ethan Frome" and F. Scott Fitzgerald's "The Great Gatsby." Provides an annotated list of 25…

Describes how an English department and a school district responded to a parental challenge to the use of James Dickey's novel "Deliverance" in a senior English class. Offers a 2-month chronology of events, beginning with a letter of complaint to the principal, continuing through responses, meetings, media coverage, and the meeting and…

Presents the perspectives of five experienced high school English teachers on how the threat of censorship influences their selection of literary works and their teaching methods. Claims teachers need strong support from administrators and professional organizations in order to present a culturally diverse literature curriculum. (NH)