America - Reason & Solution for Declining Reading Levels

Over the last few years (since 2019), the reading skills of our children in schools has been on a steady decline. In a recent article from the Associated Press, which was also carried by USA Today, the Wall Street Journal, and others, this decline was covered - illustrating that "basic" levels of reading comprehension are accomplished by only 60-67% of 4th and 8th graders. 

The "joy of reading" is apparently scarce commodity. 

While there could be myriad reasons for the drop, one thing remains certain - if children cannot understand what they're reading, they're not going to want to read it, and even if forced to, they're not going to comprehend it. And the main reason they can't understand what they're reading: Lack of glossary and clear definitions of the words in the text. 

As an example, read the following sentence from F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby:

"When Michaelis’s testimony at the inquest brought to light Wilson’s suspicions of his wife I thought the whole tale would shortly be served up in racy pasquinade—but Catherine, who might have said anything, didn’t say a word."

Most people will read that and feel a bit blank, not really understanding what's going on, or what this is supposed to all mean.

Now clear up the definition of the following words: 

inquest: a formal inquiry, led by a judge, to determine the facts relating to an incident.
racy: lively, entertaining, and sometimes sexually suggestive.
pasquinade: a public speech criticizing someone or something.

Now re-read the sentence, and you can clearly understand what's happening. 

Magnify that by thousands of sentences with hundreds of uncommon words, slang from a century ago, and it becomes very clear why the "joy of reading" is declining. While theories abound, and many of them could be significant factors, there is no way around the simple fact that nobody likes reading something they don't understand.

Classics Made Easy is on a mission to address this exact factor, by providing classic literature - that's required reading in schools - with comprehensive glossaries. The joy, adventure, and excitement these books have contained and spread for generations is all still there - it just needs to be understood. 

Books are available on our website (www.classicsmadeeasy.com), as well as Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Lulu, and everywhere else books are sold. Bulk discounts are also available upon request.