Fully-funded Literacy Projects in Forsyth County
By Ali Chohan
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Introduction The Merriam-Webster dictionary (n.d.) defines literacy as “the ability to read and write.” In terms of this very basic human ability, I wanted to see what kind of supplies teachers were asking for to support literacy teaching on DonorsChoose.org. In Forsyth County, NC, in the context of fully-funded projects under the supplies category, the total number of projects in the literacy and language category were 321. Out the 321 projects, about 72% (231 out 321) were specifically for the literacy category.
Findings Roughly 95% (218 out 231) projects in the literacy category under supplies were for elementary schools. Only 10 projects (4%) were for middle school, and there were no projects for high schools in the literacy category. 3 projects (1%) were not categorized in any of the school level categories.
In analyzing the data, I categorized it into the following three categories: Learning Tools (64%), Office Supplies (20%), Seating & Furniture (16%). Learning tools, which included a wide-range of products, made up the largest category with 147 out of the 231 projects (64%). The second largest category was office supplies, which had 46 projects out of 231 (20%). The third largest was seating & furniture, with 37 projects out of 231 (16%). There was one project asking for food; I did not categorize this project or include it in my analysis because it was an outlier against remaining data set. Teachers in seating & furniture were asking for carpet, different types of chairs (regular, beanie, rocking), tables, and book shelves. In the office supplies category, teachers asked for a broad range of supplies including: dry erase supplies, composition books, arts & craft supplies, storage bins, folder bins, display units, organization shelves, and basic supplies (crayons, scissors, markers, pencils, etc.) Teachers in the learning tools category asked for various tools to help students with writing, reading, and subject-specific topics, including but not limited to learning games & kits, ABC rugs, magazine subscriptions, geometry blocks, reader programs, phonics & word building tools, dissection kits, reading centers, alphabet bags, manipulatives, word binders, work stations, and whisper phones. I felt that some categories overlapped. For example, ABC rugs could be classified in seating & furniture or learning tools. I made a judgement on what category I thought each project most closely associated. I chose to categorize them in learning tools because ABC rugs served a specific pedagogical purpose for literacy and went beyond the basic domain of being ordinary furniture. An ABC rug was not just a rug students simply used as furniture; instead, it was a learning tool where students learned the basic ABCs and developed their literacy understandings. Some outside subject area projects, including math (manipulatives), science (dissection kids), and social studies (magazine subscriptions) were also categorized in the literacy category on DonorsChoose.org. Instead of excluding these projects because DonorsChoorse.org already has categories for other subjects, I decided to include them in my analysis, especially if the projects were intended to better the understanding and learning of the specific subjects. I came to this conclusion based on the second definition for literacy, which is “knowledge that relates to a specified subject,” (Merriam-Webster, n.d.). In my analysis, I decided to focus on a few case studies in learning tools that caught my attention and interest. Ms. V from an elementary school kindergarten class was asking for whisper phones for reading groups. This tool was intriguing to me because I had never used whisper phones in my schooling nor heard of their existence. Ms. V described them as “research-based tools to assist in building phonics skills, which is the most important stepping stone to reading. With whisper phones, students can practice reading aloud and also I can hear my students reading aloud without them becoming embarrassed.” She believed the project would give her students a more hands-on way of learning how to read. The cost of the project was $189.00 and it was fully-funded by four donors. In her response and thank you to the donors, she said she was grateful for their contributions and looked forward to using the whisper phones to make learning and reading “a fun and positive experience” for her kindergarten students. One of the recurring themes in the literacy category was that many teachers were asking for subscriptions to magazines. Mrs. E asked for 26 subscriptions to TIME for Kids magazine for her students. Mrs. E worked with low-income and refugee 3rd and 4th grade students in a Title I school. Her intent for the Time for Kids magazine subscription was to enable her students to better understand the news and “make real life connections.” I found this project inspiring because I also believe delivering news to students, of all ages, is an important endeavor. Mrs. E’s pitch seemed genuine and interesting, where the $205.00 project was fully funded by two donors. In her thank you letter to the donors, she stated that the TIME for Kids subscription really helped her students through increased student engagement in the news and meaningful discussions in the classroom. Implications One of the fundamental questions that emerged after conducting this analysis was whether or not our teachers have adequate resources to teach literacy, especially in the elementary grades? I understand the need for using DonorsChoose.org for special projects, like magazine subscriptions, field trips, or special seating that can make the classroom more exciting; however, I was disheartened to find that many teachers were asking for supplies such as pencils, erasers, learning kits, and other basic tools for literacy learning that I believe should already be provided. On the other hand, I was encouraged to see the innovative ways teachers were using new resources to inspire literacy learning. Nevertheless, some of the classroom needs represented on DonorsChooose.org should sound an alarm for our communities and, in particular, our policy-makers because if classroom supplies are not adequately provided, there is no way teachers can teach America's youth to take the reins of our economy, their citizenship, and the institutions that support them.
ReferencesDonorsChoose.org: Support a classroom. Build a future. (n.d.). Retrieved July 01, 2016, from https://www.donorschoose.org/
Literacy [Def.1, 2]. (n.d.). Merriam-Webster Online. In Merriam-Webster. Retrieved July 1, 2016, from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/literacy |