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Running head: Current Trends Paper: Diversity in Education

Current Trends Paper: Diversity in Education Management and Student Achievement Gap
S.Duncan
University of Phoenix
Monday, February 20, 2006

Current Trends Paper: Diversity in Education Management and Student Achievement Gap
For the last two decades the themes of governance and management have continuously been on the top of education policy agendas in most countries. A great number of educational problems are now attributed to bad management or inappropriate mechanisms of governance, and politicians, as well as other social factors see increasingly the improvement of governance and management as a major tool for solving educational or education related social problems (Halasz, 2003).
The current trend of diversity in education management is not just nation-wide, it is international, as stated by the above quote taken from a paper prepared for the 21st session of the Standing Conference of European Ministers of Education on; “Intercultural education: managing diversity, strengthening democracy”(Athens, Greece, 10-12 November 2003 – Council of Europe).
Multicultural Education
Diversity in education begins with multicultural education or “the ability to create equal educational opportunities for students from diverse racial, ethnic, social class, and cultural groups so that they can function effectively in a pluralistic democratic society”: this is schooling for “equity, justice, and cultural democracy” (Banks & Banks, 1995, p. xi).
Racial and ethnic diversity has been increasing and continues to increase steadily in the United States. However, socioeconomic background is the major player in school drop out rates, learning disabled designation, and the experience of educational failure. In order for schools to provide a fair and equal education to all they need to provide diversity in curriculum and in hiring.
Diversity in education could encompass the...