Since the 1990s, ethnic studies and other components of multicultural education have been criticized by neo-conservative and assimilationist scholars who maintain that school diversity initiatives weaken national identity and fail to help students attain the knowledge, attitudes, and skills needed to function effectively in the national mainstream…

Reviews recent and historical immigration trends in the United States focusing in particular on education. Argues that schooling of immigrants must result in their ability to compute, read, write, and speak standard U.S. English, and to express and to act on the nation's democratic beliefs and ideals. (JDH)

This book consists of articles and papers written over a 10-year period that examine issues, concepts, perspectives, and possibilities for educating citizens in a pluralistic democratic society. Part I (Chapters 1through 3), which includes an introductory essay written for this volume, describes the challenges and possibilities of educating…