Reading Test

[BobbyBrandt]

I have mentioned in a few of my comments within other threads that my current work-in-progress is a children's/Young Adult story that will never appear here on Literotica.

Being new to this particular genre, I have found myself trying to learn as much as I can about the target audience in today's society. After all, I am writing for kids who have been exposed to a whole different world than I was at their age, or even my own kids were at their age.

I came across information claiming that as many as 60% of third-grade students in Tennessee risked retention this year due to them failing the mandated reading test.

The implications that this raises for my current project aside, I considered that in a decade or less, these students will be of legal age to read stories here.

Are you as a writer prepared for them, and if so, what did you do to prepare?

 

[HordHolm]

I have mentioned in a few of my comments within other threads that my current work-in-progress is a children's/Young Adult story that will never appear here on Literotica.

Being new to this particular genre, I have found myself trying to learn as much as I can about the target audience in today's society. After all, I am writing for kids who have been exposed to a whole different world than I was at their age, or even my own kids were at their age.

I came across information claiming that as many as 60% of third-grade students in Tennessee risked retention this year due to them failing the mandated reading test.

The implications that this raises for my current project aside, I considered that in a decade or less, these students will be of legal age to read stories here.

Are you as a writer prepared for them, and if so, what did you do to prepare?

I'm actually teaching their older brothers and sisters who are starting higher education (though in an ESOL environment, so there is some genuine leeway). Teaching has made me focus on the learning process, and where I was when I was their age. To be honest, I learnt far more after leaving school and developing my own reading than I ever did in the hallowed halls of academe, largely because set texts tend to be set for political reasons, not because the aim is to engage the reader.

Once the next generation gets to the point of seeking out their own reading material I believe they will, by and large, increase their understanding far more than when they have some bored drone trying to explain to them why Burnam Wood came to Dunsinane. Of course, that goes for those who choose to expand their understanding through reading. Many won't, and that's their choice. 'Twas ever thus...

 

[Rob_Royale]

A person who enjoys reading and does so for leisure enjoyment will become a better reader and writer as they get older. Someone who doesn't, will not. So I'm confident that any members we gain in the next decade will be better readers than you might expect, regardless of current test scores. I'm more worried that there will be far fewer of them as the years go on. I've started thinking the "comedy" film Idiocracy might end up being more prophetic than funny.

 

[BobbyBrandt]

If I understood correctly, you are asking whether I am prepared for the next generation of English-speaking morons who lack any talent, distinction, or culture, as they are already flooding the site like a swarm of locusts?

...and they vote.

 

[Bramblethorn]

I'm writing erudite smut so they have an incentive to learn the fancy words.

 

[TheRedChamber]

Emily likes to fuck.

See Emily fuck.

She fucks in the kitchen.

She fucks in the garden.

She fucks in the bathroom.

She even fucks in the bedroom.

Emily fucks everywhere.

She really is a dirty girl.

Sleep well Emily. You've had a busy day.

Actually that was surprisingly fun to write and a 4.5 for sure. When did you say this new generation of readers turns 18?

 

[onehitwanda]

I'm writing erudite smut so they have an incentive to learn the fancy words.

 

[onehitwanda]

Emily likes to fuck.

See Emily fuck.

She fucks in the kitchen.

She fucks in the garden.

She fucks in the bathroom.

She even fucks in the bedroom.

Emily fucks everywhere.

She really is a dirty girl.

Sleep well Emily. You've had a busy day.

Actually that was surprisingly fun to write and a 4.5 for sure. When did you say this new generation of readers turns 18?

This is wrong on so, so many levels.

Also, you owe me a fresh cup of coffee.

 

[ElectricBlue]

Are you as a writer prepared for them, and if so, what did you do to prepare?

It's their problem, not mine.

By the time I die/stop writing (whichever comes first), there will still be plenty of adults about. It's not a concern of mine - I don't think illiterate eighteen year olds are my target audience.

 

[Kumquatqueen]

Third grade is age 8, right? Equivalent to our Year 3.
We have similar reading tests at that age. Many kids don't pass because they panic or aren't yet confident readers, but then get extra help and catch up by the end of y6.

If anything, more kids are passing basic reading tests, partly because they're playing computer games with words, and needing to type the programmes they want to watch on their TV box.

The kids are all right.

Most popular newspapers are written for a sixth-grade reading level, ditto most Lit stories. They'll manage (once they hit 18, obviously).

 

[MajorRewrite]

I came across information claiming that as many as 60% of third-grade students in Tennessee risked retention this year due to them failing the mandated reading test.

As a Tennessee resident, I can tell you that those third-graders take after their parents. This ain’t a state that goes in for that edumacation stuff.

But even the dimmest can read my stories, so I ain’t worried.

 

[SeraphNocturne]

Third grade is age 8, right? Equivalent to our Year 3.
We have similar reading tests at that age. Many kids don't pass because they panic or aren't yet confident readers, but then get extra help and catch up by the end of y6.

If anything, more kids are passing basic reading tests, partly because they're playing computer games with words, and needing to type the programmes they want to watch on their TV box.

The kids are all right.

Most popular newspapers are written for a sixth-grade reading level, ditto most Lit stories. They'll manage (once they hit 18, obviously).

Ages 8-9, testing directly out of nearly two years of spotty "remote learning", following Covid. It's no secret most parents aren't as hands on with their children's education. I know for a fact a lot of students were pushed into poorly designed cyber-learning over the pandemic years, so they have almost two years to try to recover from. Doesn't surprise me in the slightest children are failing testing right now.

 

[astuffedshirt_perv]

This thread is somewhat related to my earlier thread on Young New Authors, which cites concerns about ivy league reading abilities. Now, I'm sure the kids will be fine. But I'm not sure our little hobby here at Lit will be fine. Consider bowling as an example: very popular in the 70's, 80's...then tailed off. There are still bowling leagues, but it is not as prevalent. Will Lit face the same fate?
If there was a precipitous decline in new readers, would we notice?
If there was a precipitous decline in new writers, would we notice?

 

[SimonDoom]

I give it no thought. I don't think the appetite for smut is likely to go away. Platforms will continue to improve at delivering it to people. It may change in form and become more interactive. I feel reasonably confident that erotica in some form or another is here to stay, and there will always be an audience for it.

I also don't concern myself with the reading ability of my readers. I write for myself as an intended reader, and so far there seem to be enough people interested in reading the kind of stuff I write to make it worthwhile.

 

[Bramblethorn]

This kitten is TOO YOUNG to be reading my stories.

 

[onehitwanda]

From the look on his face, he seems quite shocked. I wonder what category he's in.

How To

 

[TarnishedPenny]

Meh. Siri will read it to them…

 

[gunhilltrain]

If I understood correctly, you are asking whether I am prepared for the next generation of English-speaking morons who lack any talent, distinction, or culture, as they are already flooding the site like a swarm of locusts?

Thank you Tilan, we are very fond of you too.

 

[gunhilltrain]

From the look on his face, he seems quite shocked. I wonder what category he's in.

Bestiality? I know, that is not allowed here.

 

[gunhilltrain]

Third grade is age 8, right? Equivalent to our Year 3.
We have similar reading tests at that age. Many kids don't pass because they panic or aren't yet confident readers, but then get extra help and catch up by the end of y6.

If anything, more kids are passing basic reading tests, partly because they're playing computer games with words, and needing to type the programmes they want to watch on their TV box.

The kids are all right.

Most popular newspapers are written for a sixth-grade reading level, ditto most Lit stories. They'll manage (once they hit 18, obviously).

I don't know if it's really worse now, or if it's just nostaglia for a better time that never existed. I'd guess that it has gotten somewhat worse. Jay Leno and all of his Jaywalking imitators: of course they edit their videos, but they know they'll find what they want out in the street. And these are not mean streets either, like say Universal City or West LA, not Compton.

 

[TxRad]

Bobby, I've written several dozen Y/A novels and have a long series published and more to come. I target the nerds for several reasons. One they are smart and have learned to read and think for themselves. Second, I write for the kid I was at that age but I've changed the environment to something more modern. Kids are still kids and they still like the same things as long as it fits in with what they see and hear. Star Wars has replaced Buck Rogers but the ideas are all the same.

 

[alohadave]

I don't know if it's really worse now, or if it's just nostaglia for a better time that never existed. I'd guess that it has gotten somewhat worse. Jay Leno and all of his Jaywalking imitators: of course they edit their videos, but they know they'll find what they want out in the street. And these are not mean streets either, like say Universal City or West LA, not Compton.

Those man-on-the-street segments are always bullshit. They approach enough people, they will find exactly what they are looking for to make their point.

They could take the same video and find people who are well spoken and knowledgeable. But that's not funny, so...

 

[gunhilltrain]

Those man-on-the-street segments are always bullshit. They approach enough people, they will find exactly what they are looking for to make their point.

They could take the same video and find people who are well spoken and knowledgeable. But that's not funny, so...

It's impossible for me to verify what is going on behind the scenes of those videos. My own personal experience is only partially useful. I've known some people who were intelligent and good at their difficult jobs, but beyond that were virtually unaware of anything beyond their own personal concerns. Generally, I find that when it comes to historical knowledge, many people are very vague about events that happened before their own living memory. And usually they are not interested in finding out more from simply using an Internet search. And I don't mean the Middle Ages, I mean things that happened in the United States fifty or sixty years ago.

Of course, we at AH are unusually well informed.

 

[gunhilltrain]

I have mentioned in a few of my comments within other threads that my current work-in-progress is a children's/Young Adult story that will never appear here on Literotica.

Being new to this particular genre, I have found myself trying to learn as much as I can about the target audience in today's society. After all, I am writing for kids who have been exposed to a whole different world than I was at their age, or even my own kids were at their age.

I came across information claiming that as many as 60% of third-grade students in Tennessee risked retention this year due to them failing the mandated reading test.

The implications that this raises for my current project aside, I considered that in a decade or less, these students will be of legal age to read stories here.

Are you as a writer prepared for them, and if so, what did you do to prepare?

Frankly, I don't do anything to prepare for that nor do I care to. If they get it or like it, fine; it not, that's fine too.

Maybe someday we will be replaced by AI replicants. I'm already wondering if Laurel should just retire and be replaced by a replicant. Maybe she already has.

"A new life awaits you in the Off-world colonies! A chance to begin again in a golden land of opportunity and adventure!"

 

[ronde]

I have mentioned in a few of my comments within other threads that my current work-in-progress is a children's/Young Adult story that will never appear here on Literotica.

Being new to this particular genre, I have found myself trying to learn as much as I can about the target audience in today's society. After all, I am writing for kids who have been exposed to a whole different world than I was at their age, or even my own kids were at their age.

I came across information claiming that as many as 60% of third-grade students in Tennessee risked retention this year due to them failing the mandated reading test.

The implications that this raises for my current project aside, I considered that in a decade or less, these students will be of legal age to read stories here.

Are you as a writer prepared for them, and if so, what did you do to prepare?

I have taught math and several technical subjects at both the high school and junior college levels, and what I know is that at least half of that 60% failed because of ability. Ability isn't just IQ, but it does account for about 25% of the ability to learn. The rest has to do mostly with how the child views school and that view is usually taught at home.

That's not to say we should just abandon those kids to their fate. There are a lot of things that can be done.

Kids at almost any school level have a larger spoken vocabulary than a reading vocabulary. Part of the reason for that is we abandoned "Phonics", a method of reading words by understanding how letters and combinations of letters sound, for "sight" reading because it was supposed to be faster. Sight reading is faster, but it requires the student to memorize vocabulary in order to read it. The first time he or she finds a word they haven't been taught, they're stumped and hence their reading comprehension, the measurement used on most reading test, drops.

Another thing we could do is recognize that every child isn't going to become an engineer, chemist, or physicist and bring back the classes that teach subjects all people need to survive in today's world instead of teaching all students to prepare them for college. Some kids just need more help than others, but the theory is if they were in a slower class that would make them feel bad. In my experience, the kids who aren't quite as able as others already know that. They're not stupid. They just don't have quite as much to work with as the faster students.

I'm not concerned about the kids with average intelligence or above. They'll learn regardless of how they're taught even though it might take them a bit longer. They're also probably the level of readers who will continue to enjoy reading erotica as well as other types of reading that draws them in. Some will be interested in writing, and with help like the authors on this board, will get better with time.

I tend to write at what Word used to call "8th grade" level. My current copy of Word doesn't analyze a piece of writing and place it in a category of average readability by education. I wish it did.