Dark themes in books get students reading

Teachers at Evanston High School in suburban Chicago, like educators elsewhere, have been supplementing the traditional classic texts like The Odyssey, The Scarlet Letter and other standards with recently published books to provide a more varied, and palatable, literary menu for students. Such decisions, some experts say, can add the kind of engaging and relevant content that high school reform advocates have been calling for. Nevertheless, the use of popular literature has run up against traditionalists, who fear it will dumb down the curriculum, and parents who object to the controversial themes that characterize many of the selections. Read more about this debate in this article from Education Week.