This symposium proceedings reports on the background, purpose, and implementation of meetings held on May 19-21, 1997 that focused on race, language, and special education. Participants from school districts in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, and Vermont formed teams that included two or more of the following: local directors of special education, principals, parents, superintendents, counselors, social workers, bilingual specialists, and psychologists. Technical assistance providers and State Education Agency staff also participated in the symposium. Presentations and workshops focused on helping participants better understand the Office for Civil Rights' role, process and procedures, and provided information that would enable district/state teams to develop preliminary plans in the areas of teaching and procedural strategies, community/family involvement, staff development, information gathering, and evaluation related to race, language, and special education. Specific presentations included: "Literacy Development and the Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Student" (Patricia Landurand); "Community Involvement and Parent Empowerment" (Beth Harry); "The Past, Present and Future of Nondiscriminatory Assessment" (Richard A. Figueroa); "Effective Literacy Instruction of Bilingual Students in Special Education" (Nadeen T. Ruiz); and "Approaches to Self Evaluation for School Districts" (Beth Harry). The report includes a synopsis of all presentations and plenary sessions, a summary of the "next steps" generated by state and district teams, and a summary of evaluation feedback from the participants. (Presentations contain references.) (CR)