Part of the expertise and talent of a teacher is to choose literature for thier students that is easy enough for them to read, interesting enough to engage their attention, and still be enough of a 'stretch' for them to let them grow in skill.
This article also points to the textbooks that are assigned for each subject area. I for one don't believe in dumbing down, but I hate it when the texts are above their heads too. So we then have to differentiate the lesson which is not always easy when class sizes are above 30.
I don't it's necessarly that the books are too hard, but rather too boring. It seems every book the kids are assigned to read ends with either the protaganist dying (Jude the Obscure)or going insane (Jude the Obscure). Why no novels with happy endings?
I agree with everyone here. Good teachers do try to find appropriate things for their students, and yes, the textbooks are often at a higher level--not to mention they are boring.
How long has this been going on, though? Twenty years ago, I remember reading the same "classic" works in my textbooks that my students do, and I had to choose novels from lists of prescribed books that my teachers gave me.
And what about students reading things that aren't appropriate for their age? I think I blogged about this before, but some of my students CHOOSE to read things that I would think would be too mature for them. For some it's the challenge of a high level book, while others enjoy more sophisticated topics. Is there middle ground? Probably, but then the ground is not exactly level.
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