Language and cultural diversity in U.S. schools : democratic principles in action / edited by Terry A. Osborn.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Introduction : participating in democracy means participating in schools / Terry A. Osborn and Dina C. Osborn -- 1. Emergent possibilities for diversity in reading and the language arts / Care Mulcahy -- 2. Bilingual education : good for U.S.? / Mileidis Gort -- 3. Accents and dialects : ebonics and beyond / Timothy Reagan -- 4. A case study in cultural and linguistic difference : the DEAF-WORLD / Timothy Reagan -- 5. Foreign language education : it's not just for conjugation anymore / Terry A. Osborn -- 6. Multicultural education is good for the United States beyond sensitivity training / Wanda DeLeon and Xae Alicia Reyes -- 7. Policies for a pluralistic society / Casey Cobb and Sharon F. Rallis -- 8. What September 11 also teaches us / David Gerwin and Terry A. Osborn.

"In a post-9/11 world, the benefits of understanding diversity take on urgent meaning. As children from around the world continue to pour into U.S. classrooms, an understanding of cultural and linguistic diversity in its broadest sense moves to the foreground. However, diversity is at the heart of today's education debates, and school policies and programs designed to encourage and embrace diversity are often met with public ire and a deep misunderstanding of how diversity serves learning. This work explains how diversity is an essential element in classroom settings."--BOOK JACKET.