Collection Evaluation and Development Plan

Chrissonna A. Flint

Georgia Southern University

FRIT 7134

Spring 2010
DESCRIPTION OF SITE AND LEARNERS

I currently teach 6-8th grade Business and Computer Science classes at Freedom

Park School (Fort Gordon, GA). Even though Freedom Park School (FPS) is located on

Fort Gordon, it is still part of the Richmond County School System. FPS is one of three

K-8 schools in Richmond County. In this school system, there are also 33 elementary

schools, nine middle schools, and 10 high schools. At FPS, there are currently 806

students enrolled. The school is located in a military community with 47.39% of students

eligible for free or reduced meals. There are 2 administrators, 1 math coach, 1 language

coach, 1 ½ counselors, 56 certified teachers, and 25 classified staff members.

The school’s media center is adjacent to the administrative offices and is

accessible to each classroom. It houses approximately 7,295 books. There are also 6

desktop computers in the media center. Students are able to use the computers for

research, take AR Tests, and to search Destiny for various resources. In addition, the

media center has a media room.

Fort Gordon is located on the western edge of Augusta, GA. Augusta is the

second largest as well as oldest city in Georgia. As a matter of fact, Augusta was

established in 1736. It is located in the east central part of the state. The Boyhood Home

of President Woodrow Wilson is located in Augusta. In addition, Augusta is the home of

the world famous Masters Golf Tournament which is held the first full week of April.

Famous Augustans include James Brown and Jessye Norman just to name a few.

Augusta’s current population is approximately 200,000. Thirty-one percent of the

population is under the age of 20. Forty-four percent of the population is white, 52% is

African-American, two percent is Hispanic, and two percent is Asian/Pacific Islander.

The mean household income is $68, 049. In addition, the five largest employers are

Caresouth of University Hospital, Doctors Hospital of Augusta, Gracewood State

Hospital, MCG Health, and the Medical College of Georgia.

There are three 8th grade teachers at Freedom Park School. In addition, there are a

total of 46 eighth graders. The ethnic breakdown is as follows:

Hispanic: 2

African-American: 21

American Indian: 2

Two or More Races: 1

Pacific Islander: 1

Asian: 0

Caucasian: 19

The reading level of the students is varied. There are a total of 5 special education

students in the 8th grade. A special education teacher goes into the general education

classroom in order to service the students each day.

CURRICULUM REVIEW

The unit that I have chosen is the Civil Right Movement. This particular unit is

covered in 8th grade. The following standard is addressed in this unit:

SS8H11 The student will evaluate the role of Georgia in the modern civil rights
movement.
a. Describe major developments in civil rights and Georgia's role during the 1940s
and 1950s; include the roles of Herman Talmadge, Benjamin Mays, the 1946
governor's race and the end of the white primary, Brown v. Board of Education,
Martin Luther King, Jr., and the 1956 state flag.
b. Analyze the role Georgia and prominent Georgians played in the Civil Rights
Movement of the 1960s and 1970s; include such events as the founding of the
Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), Sibley Commission,
admission of Hamilton Holmes and Charlayne Hunter to the University of
 Georgia, Albany Movement, March on Washington, Civil Rights Act, the election
of Maynard Jackson as mayor of Atlanta, and the role of Lester Maddox.
c. Discuss the impact of Andrew Young on Georgia.

Standard Tasks/Activities/Products Resources

SS8H11 • Explain the significance of the
1946 governor’s race.
• Explain how the Supreme Court
ruling of Brown v. Board of
Education effected schools in
Georgia.
• Identify the events that had a major
impact on the outcome of the Civil
Rights movement. Create an
illustrated and annotated timeline
of the events that had a major
impact on the outcome of the Civil
Rights movement. The timeline
must be placed on a 22" x 28"
poster board.
1. Social Studies Textbook
2. Current media center
resources (books, videos, etc.)
3. Numerous Websites (The
New Georgia Encyclopedia,
Biography, etc.)
4. United Streaming Videos
5. Persons who have memory of
specific events, key people, and
key groups during the Civil
Rights movement

• Identify key people and groups

during the Civil Rights movement.
Choose one key person or group
and locate pertinent information
about that person or group. Be
sure to include the person’s or
group’s contributions to the Civil
Rights movement. The
information must be presented in
the form of a PowerPoint
Presentation.

• Explain the purpose of the Civil

Rights Act of 1964.

• Read at least one book that is

related to the Civil Rights
movement. After completing the
book, visit the school’s website
and post a review of the book on
the book blog.
COLLECTION REVIEW

For the collection review, I decided to visit the Freedom Park media center for a

visual inspection. The biography section is located on the right side of the media center.

The books in the biography section are shelved together with their own call number

which begins with the letter B. Books that are housed in the biography section are

arranged alphabetically by the author’s last name. The reference section is located on the

left side of the media center. The easy section is located in the center of the media center.

Books in the easy section are arranged alphabetically by the author’s last name. The non-

fiction section is also located in the center of the media center. A poster containing the

Dewey Decimal System is found on the side of the shelf containing the non-fiction

books. The shelves are labeled with specific Dewey Decimal numbers. The fiction

section is located on the far left wall. The call number begins with FIC and the books in

the fiction section are arranged alphabetically by the author’s last name.

After making a visual inspection, I searched for all books related to my

curriculum. Of the 7, 295 books available (which is about 9 books per student) in the

media center, only 29 of the books are related to my curriculum. These books are in

several different areas of the media center. My evaluation revealed that there are a total of

19 books in the biography section, 7 books in the non-fiction section, and 3 books in the

fiction section. The only books in the reference section that the students can utilize are

the encyclopedias. Furthermore, the collection contained only one video that is related to

my curriculum. Freedom Park is a PK-8 school and I noticed that only 4 of the books in

the collection that is related to my curriculum are actually geared towards young

adolescents. The remaining books are intended for elementary students. Therefore, it is
imperative that I address this issue in my budget plan. The books in the reference,

biography, fiction, and non-fiction sections that are related to my curriculum all seem to

be in pretty good condition. I did notice that there were a few books that had normal

wear and tear. I discovered that the last time that a book (yes, a single book) related to

my curriculum was purchased was 2009. As far as the age, books in the collection were

published between 1989 and 2008 which is another issue that I need to address in my

budget plan.

Once I located the books that are related to my curriculum, I determined just how

close these books matched the required curriculum. In my evaluation, I noticed that the

majority of the books in the collection are about Martin Luther King, Jr. and Rosa Parks.

Yes, they were important figures during the Civil Rights movement. However, there are

a number of other people that played a major role during the Civil Rights movement.

These people include: Herman Tallmadge, Benjamin Mays, Hamilton Holmes,

Charlayne Hunter, Maynard Jackson, Lester Maddox, and Andrew Young. There are not

any books in the collection about any of these people. The only place in the media center

that students can gather information about the people stated earlier is to look in the

encyclopedias that are located in the reference section or to use a computer for online

research. Therefore, I need address this issue in my budget plan.

The last step in my evaluation is to see how many books that are related to my

curriculum are printed in other languages. To my surprise, there were not any books in

the collection that are printed in other languages. I was surprised primarily because

Freedom Park is in a military community and students are of multiple nationalities. This

issue will most certainly be addressed in my budget plan.

Summary of collection needs:

1. Choose reference, biography, non-fiction, and fiction books that are geared

towards young adolescents.

2. Select resources that have been published within the last 10 years.

3. Pick a few videos. There is no need to spend a lot of money on videos because

teachers have access to online videos as well as United Streaming.

4. Choose books and other resources that are in other languages.

BUDGET SUMMARY

I used three vendors in order to research this topic in great detail and have come

to the conclusion that I will need $1025.18 in order to complete this order. The resources

that I discovered will greatly improve the collection. The titles that were found relevant

cover topics such as key people and groups during the Civil Rights movement, Brown v.

Board of Education, and the Civil Rights Act of 1964 just to name a few. In order to

thoroughly cover the standard for this particular unit, videos, books, and reference books

can be used. The spreadsheet contains specific titles. In addition, I have located

numerous websites that can be utilized throughout this unit. These websites have been

added to my wiki. In order to gain access to my wiki, click on the following link:

http://civilrightsresources.pbworks.com/.