Fiction, Nonfiction, and English Education

I want to preface this by noting that, obviously, I am neither an expert in the field of education nor in the study of the English language. All I have to base any commentary on is my own limited observations and experiences, which do not apply to every situation or individual.

While reading this article on proposed changes to the English curriculum in public school systems, I had various thoughts on the ideas it explained: some in agreement, some in disagreement, and some unrelated. Generally, I agree: having English place a greater focus on the study of nonfiction works would have significant practical benefits to students. I would argue that any subject of further study, be it engineering, history, mathematics, science, or even the study of literature requires a strong grasp of nonfiction reading - a skill which is sorely neglected in English classrooms. The stigma among students of nonfiction being "boring", bringing to mind dusty textbooks and dry biographies, should really be broken earlier than it is now. On the other hand, I don't feel that the extremes proposed by the CCSS are necessarily correct: 70% nonfiction reading, where additional such studies are present in other classes, is unnecessary and no longer helpful. A balance is necessary, and that's simply not present today.

This reminded me of another thought I had recently had, concerning the structure of high school English classes. While the two AP classes I've taken have had clearly defined, mostly distinct curricula with substantial amounts of new knowledge, I felt that my first two years of English courses were vague and largely review of concepts that had been covered in middle school. Perhaps as supplemental options for these level courses, additional courses could be designed that cover the necessary material while placing a stronger emphasis on nonfiction reading and writing. While this wouldn't be for everyone, it has the potential to offer a lot better option for those who wish to further their knowledge in a field that hadn't had as much of a chance to study.