Encyclopedia of diversity in education /

Banks and a variety of global contributors present some 700 entries in this 2,330-page, alphabetically arranged encyclopedia. A reader's guide in volume 1 categorizes items into 16 related topics: "Alternative Educational Models," "Curriculum Issues and Pedagogy," "Exceptionality," "Family and Community," "Gender and Sexual Orientation," "Global Dimensions of Diversity," "Immigration and Education," "K-12 Education," "Language Diversity," "Law, Politics, and Public Policy," "Postsecondary Education," "Racial and Ethnic Diversity," "Religion in Society and Schools," "Socioeconomic Status," "Teacher, Administrator, and Staff Education," and "Testing and Assessment." Entries include definitions, statistics, historical information, a see also section, and further readings appropriate to a specific topic. The last volume features a chronology of key events and publications regarding diversity in the US and other nations, with an index including "Perspectives in Education" essays--noted by bold type and box frames throughout all volumes. Banks states, "The major aim of this encyclopedia is to describe the most important concepts, theories, research, policies, case studies, and programs at the pre-school through the postsecondary levels and their implications for educational reform." This set achieves this aim by presenting important information in a scholarly, academic format. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Four-year and graduate institutions; lower-division undergraduates through researchers/faculty. M. L. Melita SUNY College at Cortland

Given the importance of diversity in education at all levels, the intensity of debates around high-profile court cases over many decades, and the increasingly diverse composition of American society, the wonder is that a reference work of this scope and depth hasn't been produced sooner. The global range of topics found in this A-Z encyclopedia will stretch many readers' concept of diversity. In addition to coverage of gender-equity topics, the effects of Title IX, indigenous languages, and the digital divide, examples include Campus balkanization and segregation, Intelligence testing, Bilingualism, Hmong Americans, Islam in Asian education, Puerto Rican studies, and Religious pluralism. The majority of contributors, most of them academics, are affiliated with American universities, greatly outnumbering authors from other countries. Their 700 signed articles explore multiple aspects of their subjects and analyze how issues relate to the broad subject of diversity. Standard encyclopedia features such as cross-references; end-of-article bibliographies; a thematic table of contents, complementing the alphabetical list; and a comprehensive index expand the articles' information value and enhance access to the articles. Selected Perspectives in Education articles step outside the objective norm for encyclopedia entries. These treat issues such as African American Students: Creating Excellence, Teacher Accreditation Programs, Christian Privilege in Schools and Society, and Persistence of Ethnicity. A lengthy, selective chronology of key events and publications spans the period from the institution of China's civil-service test in the seventh century to 2012 (ending with an odd entry describing this encyclopedia itself). This unique encyclopedia will prove its value, especially in academic libraries, in cultural studies, education, history, public policy, and other fields.--Rettig, James Copyright 2010 Booklist

Banks (diversity studies, founding director, Ctr. for Multicultural Education, Univ. of Washington at Seattle; Educating Citizens in a Multicultural Society) aims with this set, as put forth in the introduction, "to describe the most important concepts, theories, research, policies, case studies, and programs at the preschool through the postsecondary levels and their implications for educational reform." The almost 700 signed entries cover such varied topics as legislation ("Equal Educational Opportunities Act of 1974"), organizations ("National Association for Multicultural Education"), court cases ("Brown vs. Board of Education [1954]"), and ideas or ideologies ("Equity in Assessment"). While the perspective here is global, the majority of entries focus on the United States; especially helpful, however, are the overview articles covering the world's major nations, such as "Japan, Multicultural Education in." Overall scholarship is impressive but there is a general lack of analysis; the "what" is commendably covered, but there is little "how" or "why." VERDICT Well written and feature-rich (reader's guide, chronology, sidebar articles), and the only recent work of its kind, this set will work in large public libraries and is highly recommended for academic collections, especially those that support teacher training programs.-Michael F. Bemis, St. Paul, MN (c) Copyright 2012. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.