In the spring of 1995 Northern Arizona University initiated a pilot program for a new content emphasis for elementary education majors. This new emphasis, "Diversity in Educational Contexts," is designed to prepare teachers to instruct the diverse children they will encounter in their public and private classrooms. The new program addresses effective teaching of ethnic minority children, non-English speaking children, handicapped children, and gifted and talented children, and issues relating to the differential treatment afforded boys and girls in U.S. schools. The program has three components: foundation knowledge, personal interactions with diversity, and professional interactions with diversity. The evaluation of the program looked at three areas: (1) the overall perceptions of persons involved in the content emphasis; (2) suggestions for improving the program; and (3) change among student participants (by virtue of their participation in the program) in the areas of knowledge, skills, and/or dispositions. Data for the evaluation came from student journal entries, tests administered in each content emphasis class, focus group interviews, and questionnaires. The preliminary results of the evaluation suggest that students were able to transfer the knowledge and skills they learned into classroom situations, and they demonstrated the desire to know more about other cultures and people outside the context of the classroom. Faculty responses indicate that the opportunity to participate in such a diverse curriculum as well as having on-going discussion of their experiences provided students with unique and valuable opportunities to learn and reflect about issues they will face in the classroom. (Contains 19 references.) (ND)