Policy Issues in Multicultural Education in the United States

Abstract

It is of particular significance that this issue of the Journal of Negro Education focus on Multicultural Education in this International Year of the Child (IYC). The focus is significant because it signifies a recognition of the fact that multicultural education can have a significant impact on the education and lives of all children. The purpose and content of this paper are directed toward supporting the specific objective of the IYC-that is, provide a framework for advocacy on behalf of children and for enhancing the awareness of the special needs of children on the part of decisionmakers and the public. In exploring the issues as they relate to the development of policy that impacts upon multicultural education, some attention will be given to clarifying the term multicultural education and to describing what it encompasses as it is addressed in this article. Further, this discussion will assess the progress multicultural education has made during the last decade and the effect that the development of this concept has had on existing policy and practice. Following the definition of the concept and the analysis of the state of the art, some attention will then be directed toward future considerations and implications for policy and legislation.