Competency 12: Diversity

Related Task:
12.1 Knowledge of multicultural issues and strategies for meeting needs of diverse student
populations.
Specific Task:
12.1.1 Analyze the English/Language Arts and Social Studies curriculum at the high school level
in terms of its satisfaction of multicultural standards endorsed by a national professional
association or society.
Narrative Description:
Multicultural curriculums are becoming increasingly important, especially within districts
that are a fairly homogenous demographic. I plan to examine the Social Studies and English
curricula that meet specified requirements to satisfy a culturally diverse curriculum and the
literary materials necessary to implement content-relevant course supplements. Furthermore, I
will identify a professional organization with appropriately specified diverse content to
assimilate into a course of study. The materials will be evaluated based on the potential to
implement the use of such materials and identify resources available to purchase materials to
decrease deficiency of culturally rich texts.
Description and Analysis of Administrative Task
There has recently been an increase in the need of differentiated texts that satisfy acrossthe-curricula initiatives in public schools. A recent discussion at Clio High School has been the
need for nonfiction texts in different disciplines. After speaking with administration, one of the
most important disciplines that could benefit from the addition of diverse texts is the Social
Studies curriculum. I set up a meeting with the head of the Social Studies department to discuss
the curriculum and which unit could benefit from the addition of a supplemental, nonfiction text.
Typically, nonfiction texts can be fairly inexpensive for schools to purchase through Amazon.
Last year, I purchased two class sets of novels for English through Amazon and received a price

break after 30 for 4.95 a copy of Catcher in the Rye. Because of this, I knew that it would be
possible to locate funds for the addition of a nonfiction text for the Social Studies curriculum.
After much deliberation, it was decided that the perfect opportunity for students would be
to read Night by Elie Wiesel. This nonfiction text would serve as a exemplary companion to the
Holocaust and WWII unit the Social Studies curriculum already covers. Two teachers currently
teach the United States History course that could utilize these texts and there are already several
units available to minimize planning on the behalf of the teachers who would implement it.
Primary Issues
Money is the issue for the addition of texts in core classes at the high school level. The
main reason that supplemental texts are difficult to obtain is because the core course textbooks
are expensive. However, the Social Studies department had approximately $960 set aside for
additional materials that could be utilized for the upcoming school year. The only stipulation was
that teachers would have to use class copies instead of providing students with individual books
because not much of it could be spent on materials for supplemental instruction.
Reflections
After meeting with the head of the Social Studies department, it was evident that two
disciplines can evaluate a curriculum and implement discussed options as solutions to
differentiate instruction to benefit scaffolding among students and enhance learning of a specific
topic. The addition of the Holocaust memoir Night will provide students with a direct testimonial
to Elie Wiesels horrific experiences in a Nazi concentration camp. Although it could be
considered an impediment to instruction, the availability of only class copies will provide Social
Studies teachers with the opportunity to interact with their students throughout the reading of the
novel. This text can provide students with a unique perspective of the Holocaust because survival

stories in novel form in a concise format are fairly rare. At the conclusion of the meeting with the
department head, the overall conclusion was that this was a solid initiative satisfy the addition of
a diverse, nonfiction text to supplement course instruction.