Introduction

Teaching and learning require intentional selection of media materials—a given in most schools and classrooms within the United States. The materials students read, watch, and listen to helps them learn new words and concepts and gain knowledge in science, history, and a myriad of other subjects. But what stories compel students to further engage with the content? Are students exposed to authentic representations of people that look like them and people from different cultural groups? And how do those representations affect how students learn, advance through school and choose careers, and understand themselves and others?

New America is exploring these questions to examine the impact of educational materials. This report provides an overview of what the research says about why the consideration of materials—and a close look at characters in educational media—is essential. It summarizes what studies say about how these issues affect student learning and their understanding of themselves and different people. The report synthesizes the results of more than 160 studies to convey the connection between culturally responsive materials and learning, frequency of racial, ethnic, and gender groups represented in educational, materials and the portrayal of those groups within those materials¹ and the portrayal of those groups within those materials. These studies include quantitative, qualitative, and meta analyses of educational materials—fiction and nonfiction—published in peer-reviewed journals, professional publications, institutional reports, dissertations, and books dating from the mid-1900s to the present.²

This report is an offshoot of an academic study that examines race, ethnicity, and gender in media for young children and examines the representation of these groups.³ It includes research on materials for adolescents. There are different social identity factors and groups not included here that also need exploration and that scholars are already analyzing. However, presenting research on teaching and learning practices will help support work on different social identity groups and help educators and policymakers gain a more comprehensive understanding of what is presented in educational materials.