Jim McCabe of Lewiston produces free e-books about American history. He formerly taught reading and writing to immigrant students at LaGuardia Community College in New York City.

For the most part, history classes are unchanged since the 1940s.

Back then, only the upper middle class and above went to college. Their homes were full of books as relatives gifted books at every birthday. Some households even had subscriptions to book of the month clubs for their children. Schools didn’t have to worry as much about the reading experiences of their students as they worry today.

Now, despite college being technically available to all students — even if it’s a short visit to remedial classes in a community college — nothing has changed in the curriculum.

Reading experiences are not central in the high schools of any city or town in Maine. Boring textbooks are passed out, which very few students read. The biographies, autobiographies and memoirs that adult readers might actually purchase are nowhere to be found.

I have not seen a single book mentioned on the websites of high schools in Maine. Where are the testimonials from teachers about which books engaged their students?

Where is the state education department on this crucial matter? What are its solutions to the weak results in reading that you can see at maine.gov/doe/dashboard?

It’s time to stop distributing textbooks with wooden prose and laundry lists with the
names of ancient dynasties. Here is one damning example from a leading world history school book:

The Medieval Asian World

“China fell into chaos after the Han dynasty ended. In 581 a new Chinese dynasty known as the Sui was established. During the Sui, Tang, and Song dynasties, which together ruled for almost 700 years, Chinese civilization flourished once again. A mature political system based on principles first put into practice during the Qin and Han dynasties gradually emerged in China. As in the Han era, China was a monarchy with a large bureaucracy. Confucian ideals were still the cement that held the system together. The Mongols overthrew the Song dynasty and established a new dynasty in 1279. Although Mongol rulers adapted to the Chinese political system, this dynasty also failed to last, and in 1369 a new Ming dynasty came into power.”

While world history is not a required subject in Maine’s high schools, it is usually assigned in ninth grade. Is this really the writing we want to greet ninth graders with? These world history books are not building readers in Maine or elsewhere.

What can be done?

• Treat teachers as professionals. Give them the authority to order books and to
  write about the reading experiences of their students.
• Encourage middle schools and high schools to make reading assignments
  visible on their websites so parents will know what is going on and can help
  encourage students to read their new biographies and autobiographies.
• Ask teachers to write a syllabus for each class and keep old syllabi online so
  that new teachers can see what has been done with reading assignments in the
  school where they are teaching.
• Use free e-books from Project Gutenberg and other sites and existing iPads and
  other tablets already in high schools to expand the catalogues of free e-books
  available to students. Better reading experiences don’t have to be expensive.
• Ask the State Education Department to create pamphlets explaining to teachers
  and parents that the volume of reading in students’ lives matters. Volume is what
  builds fluency.
• Retitle courses to make their new purposes clear. American History would
  become Reading American History with Biographies and Autobiographies, etc.