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"Multicultural education means different things to different people. However, the differences are not as great, confusing, or contradictory as some critics and analysts claim. Many of these differences are more semantic than substantive, a reflection of the developmental level in the field and the disciplinary orientation of advocates. One should expect people who have been involved in a discipline or educational movement for a long time to understand and talk about it differently from those who are new to it. Similarly, educators who look at schooling from the vantage point of sociology, psychology, or economics will have differing views of the key concerns of schooling. Yet, these disparate analysts may agree on which issues are the most critical ones. Such differences over means coupled with widespread agreement on substance are naturally found in discussions of multicultural education. But this diversity should not be a problem, especially when we consider that multicultural education is all about plurality. The field includes educational scholars, researchers, and practitioners from a wide variety of personal, professional, philosophical, political, and pedagogical backgrounds. Therefore, we should expect that they will use different points of reference in discussing ethnic diversity and cultural pluralism. Yet, when allowances are made for these differences, a consensus on the substantive components of multicultural education quickly emerges. Such agreement is evident in areas such as the key content dimensions, value priorities, the justification for multicultural education, and its expected outcomes. Only when these fundamentals are articulated do variations emerge. Some advocates talk about expected outcomes, while others consider the major determining factor to be the group being studied; the arena of school action is the primary focus for one set of advocates, and still others are most concerned with distinctions between theory and practice. Some people

Rethinking Schools began as a local effort to address problems such as basal readers, standardized testing, and textbook-dominated curriculum. Since its founding, it has grown into a nationally prominent publisher of educational materials, with subscribers in all 50 states, all 10 Canadian provinces, and many other countries. While the scope and influence of Rethinking Schools has changed, its basic orientation has not. Most importantly, it remains firmly committed to equity and to the vision that public education is central to the creation of a humane, caring, multiracial democracy. While writing for a broad audience, Rethinking Schools emphasizes problems facing urban schools, particularly issues of race. Throughout its history, Rethinking Schools has tried to balance classroom practice and educational theory. It is an activist publication, with articles written by and for teachers, parents, and students. Yet it also addresses key policy issues, such as vouchers and marketplace-oriented reforms, funding equity, and school-to-work. Brazilian educator Paulo Freire wrote that teachers should attempt to "live part of their dreams within their educational space." Rethinking Schools believes that classrooms can be places of hope, where students and teachers gain glimpses of the kind of society we could live in and where students learn the academic and critical skills needed to make that vision a reality. Rethinking Schools attempts to be both visionary and practical: visionary because we need to be inspired by each other's vision of schooling; practical because for too long, teachers and parents have been preached at by theoreticians, far-removed from classrooms, who are long on jargon and short on specific examples.

The effort to provide an equitable education to all students has led to extensive research on the effects of racial and ethnic differences, and of gender, on access, learning, and achievement. It has also led to great debate about which student population has been most shortchanged, with the argument about gender inequities perhaps most fierce. The impact of ethnicity on gender differences had been only minimally considered by researchers, however, until the Educational Testing Service (ETS) began looking at the topic several years ago, first with a study on test taking (Willingham & Cole, 1997) and now with a report on a variety of education and employment measures (Coley, 2001). The ETS publications, while demonstrating generally that there are "more similarities than variations in gender differences among racial/ethnic groups" (Coley, 2001, p. 3) present statistics showing some interesting twists in the way the differences are manifested. They also raise some questions about educational equity that transcend the issue of gender fairness. Thus, as part of an ERIC Clearinghouse on Urban Education series consisting of facts about specific student groups, this digest presents highlights from the education findings in Richard Coley's Differences in the Gender Gap: Comparisons Across Racial/Ethnic Groups in Education and Work.

This Policy Brief looks at how to improve equity in education in three key policy domains: the design of education systems, practices both in and out of school, and resourcing. It proposes ten steps which would help reduce school failure and dropout rates, make society fairer and help avoid the large social costs of marginalised adults with few basic skills.

NAME is a non-profit organization that advances and advocates for equity and social justice through multicultural education. Objectives: * To provide opportunities for learning in order to advance multicultural education, equity and social justice. * To proactively reframe public debate and impact current and emerging policies in ways that advance social, political, economic and educational equity through advocacy, position papers, policy statements and other strategies. * To provide the preeminent digital clearinghouse of resources about educational equity and social justice.

The Equity Alliance at Arizona State University is one of 10 regional Equity Assistance Centers in the U.S. that are funded by the U.S. Department of Education to support the work of the Office of Civil Rights and the Department of Justice in enforcing federal civil rights laws. While the efforts of the Office of Civil Rights have improved educational opportunities for formerly excluded and marginalized students, there is still much work to be done to address achievement gaps and to ensure that all students are provided with high-quality education (Artiles, Rueda, Salazar, & Higareda, 2005; Donovan & Cross, 2002; Klingner, Méndez Barletta, & Hoover, 2008; Losen & Orfield, 2002).

Federal law prohibits sex discrimination in schools, yet inequities remain. For examples, teachers often treat boys and girls differently when it is not appropriate to do so. Other issues include limiting access or dissuading girls from participating in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) courses, over-representation of boys in disciplinary actions, and the impact of stereotyping on access and inclusion. Frances Guzmán, M.Ed., an IDRA education associate, discusses where gender inequities tend to show up in classrooms and how educators can make changes to ensure equity for girls and boys. Frances is interviewed by Aurelio M. Montemayor, M.Ed., director of the IDRA Texas Parent Information and Resource Center.

The site, sponsored by EdChange and completely free of charge, contains resources related to education equity and multicultural education for educators, students, and activists. It includes free print-outs, an international listserv, classroom activities, and other resources.

In the United States, where technological progress is portrayed as humanistic progress, computer technologies often are hailed as the great equalizers. Even within progressive education movements, such as multicultural education, the conversation about instructional technology tends to center more on this or that wonderful Web site or piece of software than on equitable access to these technologies. In this article, the author challenges people working at the intersections of multicultural and instructional technology, insisting that our first concern must be the elimination of digital inequities. It is only when we reframe the dominant

I EXercise My Rights is a public service, informational campaign designed to educate the public about Title IX. Simply stated: Title IX is a law passed in 1972 that requires gender equity for boys and girls in every educational program that receives federal funding. Many people have never heard of Title IX. Most people who know about Title IX think it applies only to sports, but athletics is only one of 10 key areas addressed by the law. These areas are: Access to Higher Education, Career Education, Education for Pregnant and Parenting Students, Employment, Learning Environment, Math and Science, Sexual Harassment, Standardized Testing and Technology. Since Title IX was passed 35 years ago, it has been the subject of over 20 proposed amendments, reviews, Supreme Court cases and other political actions. That's why we call it a living, breathing law. It is puzzling why there have been so many attempts to change Title IX since the intent of the law (gender equity) has not been met. Thousands of schools across the country are not in compliance with the law. This website explains the regulations in easy-to-understand language and uses real case studies as examples. In addition, it provides ways to find out about Title IX in your local community, links to many governmental and educational organizations for more detailed information and an easy-to-use e-mail system whereby you can contact the Secretary of Education in Washington, D.C. about Title IX.

The premiere organization advocating for educational excellence, opportunity, and equity for American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian students, the mission of the National Indian Education Association (NIEA) is to support traditional Native cultures and values; to enable Native learners to become contributing members of their communities; to promote Native control of educational institutions; and to improve educational opportunities and resources for American Indians, Alaska Natives and Native Hawaiians throughout the United States.

EdChange is a team of passionate, experienced, established, educators dedicated to equity, diversity, multiculturalism, and social justice. With this shared vision, we have joined to collaborate in order to develop resources, workshops, and projects that contribute to progressive change--change in ourselves, our schools, and our society.

American Association of University Women (AAUW) is a nationwide network of more than 100,000 members and donors, 1,000 branches, and 600 college/university institution partners. For 130 years, AAUW members have examined and taken positions on the fundamental issues of the day - educational, social, economic, and political. Our commitment to our mission is reflected in all aspects of our work. AAUW's Mission AAUW advances equity for women and girls through advocacy, education, philanthropy, and research. AAUW's Value Promise By joining AAUW, you belong to a community that breaks through educational and economic barriers so that all women have a fair chance.

"We must address the deeply ingrained inequities of today's schools by asking difficult questions related to equity and access."

A consensus panel of interdisciplinary scholars worked over a four-year period to determine what we know from research and experience about education and diversity. The panel was cosponsored by the Center for Multicultural Education at the University of Washington and the Common Destiny Alliance at the University of Maryland. The panel was supported by a grant from the Carnegie Corporation of New York and chaired by James A. Banks. The 12 major findings of the panel, which are called essential principles, constitute this publication. They are presented in this Executive Summary. This publication also contains a checklist designed to be used by educational practitioners to determine the extent to which their institutions and environments are consistent with the essential principles.

"The purpose of this website is to provide anyone interested in improving U.S. schools with valuable information and resources about important issues in education and teaching. The information and resources presented here are the product of ongoing work by an education professor, Jeff Claus, at Ithaca College, in Ithaca, NY and students in one of his courses. "

This resource gives you access to Chapter 1. Definitions of Multicultural Education from Reissman's (1994) book titled "Evolving Multicultural Classroom".

This resource is the web site for the National Center for Culturally Responsive Educational Systems (NCCRESt). NCCRESt provides technical assistance and professional development to close the achievement gap between students from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds and their peers, and reduce inappropriate referrals to special education.

Inequity in education has many causes and correlates, but one important element is often left out. Racism is hard to discuss and its devastating effects hard to understand, but there are ways to begin the conversation and start the healing.

Deciding to Teach Them All