As the United States continues to become more ethnically, culturally, and racially diverse, schools face an increasingly heterogeneous population of students. Public schools have implemented programs to meet the needs of these diverse cultural groups and to assist them in integrating into society. This book presents an introduction to various concepts in the area of multicultural education as well as current practices and research within the area. The articles included are: (1) "Cultural Diversity and Intergroup Relations" (J. Banks); (2) "The Development of a Multicultural Environment within the Schools" (A. Stills); (3) "Assessing Teachers' Abilities for Educating Multicultural Students" (C. Bennett); (4) "Multicultural Education in the College of Education: Are Future Teachers Prepared?" (W. Wayson); (5) "Senior Education Students' Attitudes about Multicultural Education" (M. Moultry); (6) "Multicultural Attitudes and Knowledge of Education Students at a Midwestern University, 1987" (A. Contreras); (7) "Teachers' Perceptions of Race and Human Relations in a Multicultural Setting" (C. Heid; D. Kotze); (8) "Teachers' Perceptions on Factors Related to Student Discipline" (C. Heid and others); (9) "Effects of Children's Social Class, Race, and Gender on Teacher Expectations for Children's Academic Performance" (M. Smith); (10) "Starting from Strength: Accelerated Reading Progress for At-Risk Children" (G. Pinnell); and (11) "Effects of Home, School, and Academic Tracks: A Reanalysis of the IEA Data" (S. Clark). (JB)