Most middle and high school teachers still assign full books — but only a few, study says

“Sign up for Chalkbeat’s free weekly newsletter to keep up with how education is changing across the U.S. High school students are still reading full books in English classes — but not very many on average. And teachers working in more affluent school systems seem to assign more books than their counterparts in high-poverty communities. That’s according to a new RAND Corporation study of survey data from nearly 1,600 middle and high school English teachers . RAND’s report found that about 90% of these teachers assign at least one book and nearly 60% assign three or more books throughout the school year. On average, teachers assigned four full books in secondary grades. But the study also reveals stark inequities about who is reading whole books and how often. Teachers in schools that serve higher populations of students from low-income families and students of color are less likely to assign more than two books for the year than those working in wealthier, whiter schools. Teachers leading classrooms with more students with disabilities or multilingual students were also less likely to assign fewer full books. The data offers a sharper picture of the reality in English classrooms across the country during a heated debate about whether students are reading enough full books . RAND’s report indicates that reading entire novels might be one of many activities inside schools influenced by socioeconomic circumstances. In short, what was once a trademark of high school English class — the novel — is maybe only playing a supporting role now, said Ashley Woo, a RAND researcher and the report’s author. “It does look like most teachers, most secondary ELA teachers, do assign full books in class,” she said. “It seems like a lot of them assign a relatively small number of books.” Some of the debate around what students read in class has revolved around whether many of them have the stamina or attention span to read a full book , in an era when short-form videos and one-sentence captions take up so much attention. There’s criticism that too many modern reading curricula emphasize reading short passages from novels or short stories. Yet there’s no definitive evidence that English class should revolve around reading whole novels or a prescribed number of books a student should read a year. The survey, which RAND conducted in 2025, found a possible connection between reading entire books and curriculums. Teachers who reported that they leaned more on publisher-developed curriculums said they taught fewer whole books than teachers who reported they relied more on lessons they developed or that their schools developed. Woo said this might be because publisher-developed material often includes excerpts instead of full books. But she added that there needs to be more research about the role full books play in curriculums developed by publishing companies. Other out-of-school factors like poverty might also play a role in how many books teachers assign. Teachers at schools with higher populations of students from low-income families were twice as likely to assign no books than schools with low poverty levels — 12% compared with 6%, according to the RAND report. While the report’s analysis mostly focused on middle and high school data, the survey also included responses from more than 1,900 elementary educators. They reported a vast range in the number of books they assigned. Nearly 20% of teachers in grades K-2 reported assigning no books, while 50% reported assigning 20 or more books, presumably shorter ones intended for early readers. Among teachers of grades 3-5, 14% reported assigning no books, 22% reported assigning three to four, and 20% reported assigning five to nine. Elementary teachers indicated that reading full books didn’t “crowd out” time spent on early literacy skills, the researchers also wrote. The data suggests “there are a lot of teachers who are not prioritizing full book reading in elementary classrooms at all,” Woo said. Woo said that more research is needed to fully understand how reading full books shapes students in the classroom. Lily Altavena is a national reporter at Chalkbeat. Contact Lily at laltavena@chalkbeat.org .

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