ABSTRACT
The United States faces a critical task in the effective and equitable education of its ethnically and linguistically diverse school-age learners. Ethnic groups, traditionally considered the minority, will likely become the majority of our public school students by the 21 st century. It is estimated that by the year 2000, one third of all American school-age children will be either Asian, Hispanic, or African-American. In striking contrast, the teaching force remains predominantly Euro-American, with a decrease in minority representation from 10% to 5% since 1990. Of the 700,000 teachers who will be entering the workforce between now and the year 2000, only 35% are estimated to represent the ethnic minority populations of their students (QEMP 1990).
