ABSTRACT
Cultural and linguistic diversity issues have steadily gained attention within the field of school psychology. As this volume and numerous other scholarly publications attest, multiculturalism is no longer a marginal topic taken up by a few isolated researchers and practitioners (Canino & Spurlock, 1994; Geisinger, 1992; Rogers et al., 1999). Yet concerns about and understanding of human diversity issues continue to be poorly integrated in training, research, and practice in school psychology. As a rule, major texts in the field continue to address multicultural populations in separate chapters, if at all; and training programs address diversity through designated, but separate, courses. An obstacle to integrating cultural and linguistic differences more fully in the discipline is rooted in the implicit, but persistent, dichotomy whereby children are classified as members of exclusive categories: mainstream or minority cultures. Although clearly articulated understandings of these categories have not emerged, only cultural minority categories are routinely studied for their presumed influences on child behavior and performance. A reader of school psychology literature may be led to believe that there are two co-existing models of practice: one for minority populations and one for nonminority (regular) students.
