Issues in Systemic Reform for Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Students

Abstract

The ethnic and linguistic diversity of U.S. schools has grown significantly in the last two decades. Such diversity provides distinct new challenges for school reform efforts. New policy and federal programs, particularly exemplified in Title VII of the 1994 reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, attempt to address this challenge. This act calls for integrated and comprehensive programming based on a new empirical and conceptual knowledge base, which has emerged in the last decade. This article addresses the demographic circumstances of student diversity, the emerging knowledge base, and the related federal educational reform policy changes related to these issues.