Inspired by critical race and feminist perspectives, this paper complicates the conversation on preparing arts educators for diversity and equity. The authors ground their research on the premise that arts educators committed to challenging social inequalities must understand sociocultural influences on art, curriculum, teaching, and learning. The…

The number of English language learners has grown significantly across the United States and this is reflected in Missouri's public school system. English language learners lack the academic achievement as compared to their peers. General education teachers are responsible for children of diverse backgrounds; children enter school with limited or…

A survey instrument was developed to examine preservice teachers' understanding of classroom issues related to exceptional needs and cultural diversity. The instrument was administered to 832 preservice teachers at universities in Alabama, Michigan, Montana, New York, and Washington at 3 levels (beginning, middle, and end of program). Data are…

Focuses on how second-language children are portrayed in reading and language arts methods textbooks and in practice-oriented reading and language arts journals. Suggests that, although teachers probably have had some contact with issues in second-language reading, professional writings do not provide a thorough discussion of second-language…

Evaluated a restructured literacy methods course intended to empower teachers to teach linguistically diverse students, examining the impact of the course redesign and team teaching. Data from observations of student teachers and focus group interviews indicated that participants felt well-prepared to teach second language learners, though they…

This collection of papers describes efforts of the Westchester Teacher Education Group (WTEG) to incorporate multicultural concepts into teacher preparation courses. Part I gives an overview of the WTEG and the activities of its task force on diversity and the family, in three papers: "The Westchester Teacher Education Group: History and…

Explains that many preconceptions and misconceptions ethnically different children bring to science instruction originate in their particular cultural heritage. In many cases these conceptions inhibit or interfere with the learning of scientific concepts. It is advised to impart to teachers with information about this source of difficulties in…

Papers from the fourth annual conference on Technology and Teacher Education are presented. The keynote address, "Teaching Matters: The Role of Technology in Education" (K. Fulton) explores some of the key findings of educational technology studies conducted by the Office of Technology Assessment over the last five years. Conference…

Articles in this issue include the following: "Chat in EFL: Communicative Humanistic Acculturation Techniques" (Daniel Evans); "Task Interpretation and Task Effectiveness: A Vygotskian Analysis of a French L2 Classroom Task" (Lindsy Myers); "Envisioning a Standards-Based Methods Course: Preparing Second Language Educators…