Judging a Book by Its Cover: An Evaluation Tool for the Evaluation, Selection and Inclusion of Multicultural Children's Literature in the Elementary Classroom
Graduation Date
Summer 2010
Document Type
Master's Thesis
Document Form
Degree Name
Master of Science
Program Name
Education
Program Director
Madeliene Peters, EdD
Abstract
Today’s elementary classrooms are made up of a representation of all cultures, races, religions, ethnicities and abilities. The reading instruction of elementary students should equally represent the demographics of our rapidly growing student population. Students are not being provided with an equal education through a lack of accurate and authentic literature in the classroom. The portrayal of our diverse society is limited in the elementary curriculum due to the lack of knowledge and access of multicultural literature by elementary teachers.
This study is an extensive literature review including an interview with an expert in children’s literature and reading instruction. The research findings are synthesized to provide an evaluation model for teachers to use in evaluating and selecting multicultural children’s literature for inclusion into their classroom and reading curriculums.