TEACHING READING TO A MULTICULTURAL STUDENT BASE by Anna Gold A Project Submitted to the Faculty of The Evergreen State College In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the degree Master in Teaching 2007ii This Project for the Master in Teaching Degree by Anna Gold has been approved for The Evergreen State College by __________________________ Scott Coleman, Member of the Faculty ____________ Dateiii ABSTRACT This paper reviews 30 articles relevant to the effective primary literacy instruction in a multicultural classroom. The history of multicultural teaching in America has shown itself to be a subtractive process, in which there have been attempts to force minority cultures to assimilate to majority values, cultural practices, and language. This is the context into which many students of minority cultures enter into school. Identifying culturally relevant teaching practices is vital to the success of these students. The use of multicultural literature, acceptance by the teacher of a student’s use of heritage language and dialects, and specific culturally relevant methods for teaching reading are discussed as ways to engage students and to help all people’s children succeed in learning to read.iv TABLE OF CONTENTS TITLE PAGE ………………………………………………………..................................i APPROVAL ..……………………….………………...………………………………...ii ABSTRACT ..…………………………………………………………………………..iii TABLE OF CONTENTS ..…………………………………………………………..iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .…………………………………………………………..vii CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ...…………………………………………………...1 Statement of the Research Question and Rationale ..……………………………………1 Definitions ...…………………………………………………………………………...4 Statement of Purpose ……………………………………………………………………..7 Limitations …………………………………….……………………………………….8 Controversies …….……………………………………………………………………….8 Summary ….………..……………………………………………...………………..10 CHAPTER II: HISTORICAL BACKGROUND ...………………………………….12 Introduction ………….………………………………………………………………...12 Reading Instruction in the United States ..............…………………………………..12 Education of Students of Minority Religions ………………………………....…18 Education of African American Students ...………………………………………….18 Education of Native American Students .…………………………………………...21v Education of Hispanic and Hispanic American Students ...………………………….24 Education of Asian Pacific American Students ……………………………………25 History of the Production and Use of Multicultural Literature ..…………………..25 History of Heritage Language Development and its Use in Schooling .………...…26 History of Differentiation in Schooling Based on Socioeconomic Status ……………28 Summary .…………………………………………………………………………...28 CHAPTER III: INTEGRATIVE, CRITICAL REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE ....…32 Introduction …...…………………………………………………………………..…...32 The Effect of Tracking and Stereotyping by Teachers ...………………………….32 The Effect of Class and Socioeconomic Status on Teaching and Learning ...………….37 Effective Methods for Teaching Hispanic Students ……………………………………41 Effective Methods for Teaching Asian Pacific American Students ...………………….77 Effective Methods for Teaching Native American Students ……………………………84 Effective Methods for Teaching African American Students….………………………...89 The Effect of Teachers Attitudes and Expectations on Students Learning ..…………101 Culturally Responsive Literature and its’ Effect on Students ….……………………….108 Summary ….……………………………………………………………………….126 CHAPTER IV: CONCLUSIONS …………………………………………………..128 The Effect of Tracking and Stereotyping by Teachers ...………………………...128 The Effect of Class and Socioeconomic Status on Teaching and Learning …...……...130 Effective Methods for Teaching Hispanic Students ...………………………………...131vi Effective Methods for Teaching Asian Pacific American Students ...………………...133 Effective Methods for Teaching Native American Students …………………………..134 Effective Methods for Teaching African American Students….……………………….135 The Effect of Teachers Attitudes and Expectations on Students Learning ..…………136 Culturally Responsive Literature and its’ Effect on Students …….…………………….136 Summary …………………………………………………………………………..139 References ..…………………………………………………………………………140vii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank Sherry Walton, Anita Lenges, and Sonja Weidenhaupt for all their dedicated work in making me an effective teacher, and opening my eyes to many of the questions I sought to answer with this paper. Thank you to Scott Coleman for all the time he spent providing feedback and assistance on this paper. I would also like to thank my family, especially my mother, for moral support, encouragement, and technical advice.1 CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION Statement of the Research Question and Rationale What are teaching methods that help students from diverse culture and class backgrounds succeed in learning to read? This question is important because classrooms are becoming more and more diverse. According to Willis (2002), the shifting demographics will continue to construct an increasingly diverse American