Multicultural texts for transitional readers

Over 50% of African American, Hispanic, and American Indian fourth graders are scoring below basic reading level. In comparison, just over 20% of white and Asian American fourth graders are scoring below basic reading level. Closing this reading gap has been of national concern for some time. There are many factors that contribute to this gap — including a lack of multicultural texts for young readers. Dr. Sandra Hughes-Hassell, professor at the UNC Chapel Hill School of Information and Library Science, recently conducted a study with Heather Barkley, Dixon Road Elementary School media coordinator, and Elizabeth Koehler, Darlington School librarian, on the multicultural presence in transitional texts.

Transitional readers & texts

Transitional readers are children who can recognize many words, including more difficult and content-related words; integrate meaning, syntax, and phonics consistently; employ many strategies to figure out new words; read independent-level text with fluency, expression, and proper phrasing; and summarize texts they’ve read. At this point these readers are becoming more comfortable with longer and more complex texts while growing more aware of story and text structures. Transitional readers need books that will foster and scaffold their reading development.

Books for transitional readers are called many different things: early chapter books, first chapter books, transitional books. Publishers may also have their own terms for these books; for instance, Random House calls them “Stepping Stones” and Harcourt calls them “Green Light Readers.” Regardless of what they are called, these books scaffold the readers’ needs in many ways, often by including features such as brief paragraphs, short sentences with line breaks at the end of each sentence, chapters that can be read in a single sitting, a table of contents that lists each chapter title, challenging and unusual vocabulary, and illustrations that enhance the text.

Multicultural literature, motivation, & achievement

Motivation has been proven to be a key factor that determines reading success. Research has suggested that children prefer to engage with literature that reflects their own experiences. When children of color encounter characters that look like them and have stories that mirror their own experiences and culture, they are more likely see how reading can play a role in their lives and are more motivated to read. Additionally, to become proficient readers, children must be able to make connections with what they read. In efforts to make meaning of what they read, children draw on experiences from their own lives. If the culture they are reading about is different than their own, they may not interpret the intended meaning. For instance, what one culture may view as verbal play, another may interpret as hostile or aggressive dialogue. Having the opportunity to see their own culture reflected in their reading can help motivate and increase the reading achievement of all children.

Critical race theory

Critical race theory (CRT) is a way of studying the effects of race in a wide variety of fields. In order to combat the inequities caused by racism, CRT explicitly addresses race. A basic premise of CRT is that racism is so embedded in our everyday lives that it seems normal to most Americans. An essential element of CRT is counter-storytelling: the telling of stories that question and challenge the premises or myths held by society, particularly those held by the majority. The ultimate goal of CRT is to create change that will bring about equity and social justice for all.

Research findings

Dr. Hughes-Hassell and her research partners used a CRT lens to examine transitional books. They were interested in finding what percentage of books recommended for transitional readers feature people of color, which individual groups of color are represented, to what extent those groups are represented, and the race or ethnicity of the authors of these books.

To determine which books they would focus on, the researchers used the Fountas and Pinnell Leveled Book List database, which contains more than 32,000 leveled books. These books range from level A, which is intended to support young children beginning to read, to level R, which is intended to support fluent readers. The books that can be identified as appropriate for transitional readers are those leveled J through M. The research group collected all of the titles in the leveled range, omitting picture books, nonfiction titles (excluding biographies), and books designed specifically for reading instruction. This left the researchers with a total of 556 titles.

Of the 556 books analyzed, 83.5% had at least one white main or secondary character while only 25.8% had at least one person of color as a main or secondary character. African American children were the people of color most frequently depicted, followed by Asian Americans. In the collection, there were more books featuring non-human characters as a main or secondary characters than there were books featuring an African American, Asian American, Hispanic, American Indian, or multiracial as a main or secondary character. There were no books that depicted characters from more than one race or ethnicity that did not contain a white character. Many of the titles that did depict multiple races were series books that depicted school groups. Finally, authors of color only accounted for 12 — that’s 2.2% — of the titles in the collection.

So what?

With just shy of 50% of the current student population being students of color, what the publishing industry is currently making available is not representative of our students. This creates a distinct disconnect between schools and our students’ home cultures. It is imperative that teachers and librarians work to bring more multicultural texts into the school and classrooms to help close the literacy gap that exists among our students.

Tips from Dr. Hughes-Hassell

It’s not just about the characters being the right color.

It’s important to remember that it is not just about the color of the characters. The characters need to be involved in believable situations in ways that are culturally appropriate and accurate. Otherwise, students will either identify the representation as inauthentic or feel further alienated in their own home culture.

Demand the books.

Above all else, publishing companies are businesses. If you want to see more multicultural books published, get in touch with your local book distributor and the publishing companies to let them know. The more a publishing company hears that their clients want multicultural books, the more likely they will be to print them. It is also important to be mindful of the book order forms you send home with your students. Do the books promoted on the order form reflect the diverse cultures in your community, school, or classroom?

Find the books.

It’s important to remember that the large publishing houses are not your only options. You will often be able to find a much better selection of multicultural texts through smaller, alternative presses. The Cooperative Children’s Book Center has compiled a list of small-press publishers and producers of multicultural materials that are owned and operated by people of color. This list is a great resource for locating a smaller press and finding the multicultural literature that is appropriate for your students.

Be proactive.

The first step is getting the books. Once you have the books, don’t just file them away on a shelf. Promote the books to your students. Use book talks or book trailers to let the students know about the books and to help develop their interest in the books. Don’t just be proactive with your students, be proactive with your colleagues and parents or guardians as well. When you find a good book, let your colleagues know about it. Let your students take their books home to share and, hopefully, read with their parents or guardians.

Researcher bio

Dr. Sandra Hughes-Hassell is a professor in the School of Information and Library Science and coordinator of the school library media program at UNC Chapel Hill. Her research interests include multicultural resources for children and young adults, delivery of information services to children and adolescents, information needs of underserved youth with a particular focus on urban teens, critical race theory in IS/LIS research, leadership roles of school library media specialists in education reform, and authentic integration of technology into the K-12 curriculum. Dr. Hughes-Hassell was recently awarded a grant from the federal Institute for Museum and Library Services to fund a summit on closing the literacy gap for young black males.

A full biography can be viewed on Dr. Hughes-Hassell’s website.

Dr. Hughes-Hassell has also compiled a list of transitional novels about African American children along with many other resources for teachers and librarians on her website.