I think that this article makes a very valid point. Maybe English classes should be more structured and focus on smaller aspects of English at a time similar to how math is taught. Rather than reading and analyzing a whole book, English teachers should focus on smaller aspects of English such as sentence structure for a few weeks and then test them on it. If kids are doing better in math, then maybe the solution is to teach English more like math is taught.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/30/education/reading-gains-lag-improvements-in-math.html?ref=todayspaper
Being in a journalism class, we are all proficient in English, but is it easier to learn new ideas in Math? What can be done to bridge this gap and improve English skills?