Diverse Books Project
Our research team developed a collection of diverse picture books for children aged 3-6 years. In the 2023-2024 school year we piloted this program with the CMU Children’s School and observed measurable increases in positive racial attitudes. Participating teachers also reported that the book collection was a positive addition to their classroom activities. We are now looking to take this program to more schools in the Pittsburgh area during the 2024-2025 school year.
What does participation entail for the school/educators?
If a school decides to participate, we will either provide educators with a collection of books and guides to engage with the book collection in your classroom or our trained research assistants will visit your classroom and read the collection of books with your students. The collection was developed to be strengths-based and affirming for all students. We will also ask educators to fill out quick check-ins during the study. Throughout the process, our team will be available to answer any questions!
How did the research team select the books in the collection?
We selected age-appropriate, high-quality books in line with best practices from developmental and learning sciences. Books in the collection are organized around unifying themes (e.g., family time, cooking), with each theme including books with characters of multiple racial/ethnic backgrounds. Based on research in other domains of learning, this thematic approach can help children draw connections across the different characters, highlighting the shared humanity of many different groups of people while also celebrating specific aspects of cultural heritage.
What does participation entail for the students?
To assess the effectiveness of this program, we ask students to complete some thinking games before the start of the program and at the end of the program. These child-friendly thinking games are designed to help us gain insight into changes in students’ attitudes without putting pressure on the students and have been used extensively by our team and other researchers across the country. We have approval from CMU’s Institutional Review Board (IRB) to conduct this research and all our trained researchers have Act 153 clearances to work with minors. We will work with schools to schedule these thinking games with minimal disruption.
What time commitment will the program require?
We will deploy this program in 2 waves during the 2024- 2025 school year (Fall and Spring; please see attached flier). We would be happy to discuss a timeline that best fits your school’s needs!
My school is interested in learning more about the project! What should we do?
Wonderful! We would love to talk more with you! Please use this link to schedule a meeting with our team:
https://calendar.app.google/RLEYvfRws27i6Me18.
You can also email us at cogdevlab@andrew.cmu.edu or call us at 412-268-8912.
