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On 11/11/13, I presented evidences via e-mail to School Board Chairman Don Hayes and Administrative Assistant Tabitha Adams
and asked for their consideration of additional funding for next year to purchase more multicultural literature in our children's
classrooms throughout New Hanover County. As of 11/27/13, I have not received a response from either of them.

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When I have my internship in the spring, I would love to continue using multicultural literature often and continue making observations of the minority students. After I compile my findings, I would like to continue to pursue additional funding from the School Board to purchase more multicultural books for school libraries and classroom libraries.

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My goal is to include multicultural literature as much as possible in the kindergarten class I am currently in for
field experience. I will then record the observations/level of engagement of the minority students in the
kindergarten class. I would hope this would further demonstrate the need for more of these types of lessons in
the mainstream classroom.

Another plan I have to increase multicultural literature in the classroom is to write an e-mail to the New Hanover
County School Board Chairman encouraging funding for an increase in multicultural books in schools. The measurement
of this would be the response I receive/don’t receive from the school board members.

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Project:
My advocacy policy project topic is increasing the amount of multicultural
literature available to teachers for use in regular lessons.

Need:
I selected this topic because I've read that there is a lack of multicultural books in
school and classroom libraries and how this has a negative effect on minority
students’ learning. I've also witnessed this first hand in seeing the lack of
multicultural books in classroom libraries and school libraries throughout my
field experience.

Research/Evidences of Positive Effects of Multicultural Literature in the Classroom:
1. According to the Cooperative Children's Book Center's statistics, 37% of the US
population are people of color, however, only 10% of children's books in the
past 18 years contain multicultural content (http://ccbc.education.wisc.edu/books/pcstats.asp).

2. According to the article, "Heightening Awareness about the Importance of
Using Multicultural Literature" by Susan A. Colby, assistant professor in the
Department of Curriculum and Instruction of the Reich College of Education at
Appalachian State University Boone, North Carolina and Anna F. Lyon, assistant
professor in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at East Carolina
University, Greenville, North Carolina, "Multicultural literature helps children
identify with their own culture, exposes children to other cultures, and opens
the dialogue on issues regarding diversity. Students need to be able to make
connections between literature and their everyday lives. Children need to
receive affirmation of themselves and their culture through literature and be able to connect
text to self in order to promote greater meaning."

3. Research has indicated that culturally authentic children's literature enhances language
development and thought processes of African- American children (Florez-Tighe,
1983). Grice and Vaughn (1992) were able to document that a measurable percentage of African
American children responded more positively to books with African American
themes than they did towards books with Caucasian characters (Grice &
Vaughn,1992). (source: http://www.edchange.org/multicultural/papers/literature.html)

4. Exposure to quality multicultural literature also helps children appreciate the
idiosyncracies of other ethnic groups, eliminate cultural ethnocentrism, and
develop multiple perspectives. From reading multicultural books about their own culture, children
have opportunities to see how others go through experiences similar to theirs, develop strategies
to cope with issues in their life, and identify themselves with their inherited culture.
(source: http://www.leeandlow.com/p/administrators_meiarticle.mhtml)

Relevant Stakeholders:
The stakeholders in this project are the classroom teachers and the New Hanover County
School Board members.

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Results of Student Responses I Observed as I Read Multicultural Literature in the Classroom 

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Results of Student Responses I Observed as I Read Multicultural Literature in the Classroom 

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* Yo! Yes! by Chris Raschka - features an African American character and a Caucasian character who become friends. The students really enjoyed this book
and asked me to read it several times. There is only one African American student in the class, so it was hard to measure the difference in level of engagement
for this particular minority students. Overall it had a very favorable response.

* Adios Oscar! A Butterfly Fable by Peter Elwell - tells the tale of butterfly migration to Mexico, features a few Spanish words. This book had very noticeable
engagement of the ESL students in the classroom. They were very excited to help me pronounce and translate the words. The other students enjoyed learning and
speaking a few Spanish words.

* Feast for Ten by Cathryn Fallwell - features an African American family getting ready for Thanksgiving. The students enjoyed the book, but not much added
excitement was noted.

* Ten, Nine, Eight by Molly Bang - features an African American girl and her father at bedtime. The students enjoyed the book, but not much added excitement was
noted.

* One Love by Cedella Marley - focuses on community and features characters from a variety of ethnicities. The students enjoyed the book, but not much added excitement was noted.

* Abuela by Arthur Dorros - features a Hispanic girl and her grandmother, includes Spanish words and phrases. This book had very noticeable engagement of the ESL students in the classroom. They were very excited to help me pronounce and translate the words. The other students enjoyed learning and
speaking a few Spanish words.

* Mama, Do You Love Me? by Barbara M. Joosse - features a mother and daughter in an Arctic setting. Uses words and phrases and illustrations of Arctic people. The students really enjoyed learning the new words and phrases in this book and seemed interested in learning more about the Arctic people.

* Ten Little Rabbits by Virginia Grossman & Sylvia Long - features Native American rabbits and their traditions. The students enjoyed the book and seemed to enjoy learning about Native Americans and their traditions.

* Rubia and the Three Osos by Susan Middleton Elya - an altered version of Goldilocks and the Three Bears featuring numerous Spanish words and phrases. This book had very noticeable engagement of the ESL students in the classroom. They were very excited to help me pronounce and translate the words. The other students enjoyed learning and speaking a few Spanish words.