The face of English education is changing, not always for the better. Education as a whole has made leaps and bounds over the past 50 years, aided by many other factors, including technology, new teaching techniques, and better teacher training, among others. One of the areas that has changed the most is English teaching. Three recurring problems have persisted over the past decades. These are debates that have valid arguments on both sides of the issue, which is why no real solutions have been proposed. The first and one of the most debated topics, even outside of the classroom, is the fiction versus nonfiction debate. The current trend is toward more nonfiction at the secondary level. It has been studied that the percentage of English reading in grade 8 is around 55% and only four years later, in grade 12, it rises to 77%. The trend toward more nonfiction comes from the belief that our English education focuses too much on self-expression. What many consider a skill that can be used in the workplace (Mosle). Even with this push toward nonfiction reading, achievement among 17-year-olds has not shown much improvement since the 1980s (Mathews). The problem may not be the quantity of non-fiction or their existence in the English curriculum, the problem lies more towards the quality and type of non-fiction taught. The nonfiction currently taught is generally a narrative. There is a subgenre of nonfiction that will entertain children and give them the skills they need to read nonfiction. This subgenre is the literary narrative. There are many examples of these types of texts and novels that can be taught, but they rarely are. A very popular and best-selling example of a lightweight medium that we need to deal with to continually provide a good English foundation for future generations. Reading and writing well will remain lifelong skills that will enable you to succeed later in life. By addressing some of the issues facing our English teachers, we will continue to produce educated children. Brenyo, Michael. “Book Banning in the American Education System.” Journal of Law and Education. July 2011: 541. Researcher on SIRS issues. Internet. March 19, 2014.2. Toppo, Greg. “Contemporary versus Classic.” The United States Today. Yahoo!, May 24, 2004. Web. April 1, 2014.3. Damschen, Kalli. “Classics versus contemporary: Maybe schools should try to find more balance between the genres available to readers.” Standard Examiner. Standard Examiner, 30 4 2012. Web. April 1, 2014.4. Mosle, Sarah. “What should children read?” New York Times. The New York Times Company, November 22, 2012. Web. April 13 2014.