"With the idea in mind that America will continue to move toward a truly democratic society, however slowly, the contributors of these eight articles and introduction examine the possibility that language and culture will eventually not be an impediment to fulfilling the idea that America is a democracy. Diversity is at the heart of today's education debates. Often, school policies and programs designed to encourage and embrace diversity are met with public ire and a deep misunderstanding of how diversity serves learning. This work explains how diversity is an essential element in classroom settings. As children from around the world continue to pour into U.S. classrooms, an understanding of cultural and linguistic diversity in its broadest sense moves to the foreground. In a post 9/11 world, the benefits of understanding diversity take on urgent meaning. The introductory chapter, "Participating in Democracy Means Participating in Schools," sets the tone for the discussion to follow. As the geographic backgrounds of immigrants becomes increasingly diverse, religion must be added to previous discussions of race, ethnicity, and language. Thus, the need for the public to understand how shifts in population affect schools, makes this work a vital resource for anyone concerned with education today. This book contains nine chapters: (1) Introduction: Participating in Democracy Means Participating in Schools (Terry A. Osborn and Dina C. Osborn); (2) Emergent Possibilities for Diversity in Reading and the Language Arts (Cara Mulcahy); (3) Bilingual Education: Good for U.S.? (Mileidis Gort); (4) Accent and Dialects: Ebonics and Beyond (Timothy Reagan); (5) A Case Study in Cultural and Linguistic Difference: The DEAF-WORLD (Timothy Reagan); (6) Foreign Language Education: It's Not Just For Conjugation Anymore (Terry A. Osborn); (7) Multicultural Education Is Good for the United States Beyond Sensitivity Training (Wanda DeLeon and Xae Alicia Reyes); (8) Policies for a Pluralistic Society (Casey Cobb and Sharon F. Rallis); and (9) What September 11 Also Teaches Us (David Gerwin and Terry A. Osborn).