Importance of Including Multicultural Education in
The US Curriculum

Introduction
The world is going through a cultural shift. According to the Federal Interagency Forum on Child and Family Statistics (1998), one of every three students enrolled in elementary and secondary schools today is of racial/ethnic minority background. Demographers predict that by 2020, student of color will make up about 46% of the student population in America. (Banks and Banks, 1997). This shows the growing rate of cultural diversity in the United States. The growing cultural shift will not only impact the nation, but will also impact the education system of the US. To accommodate this change America needs to incorporate multicultural education into its schools’ curriculums.
In opposition to the diversely growing student population, the teacher population in the United States is highly homogeneous. A typical American teacher would be a white woman, according to Hadaway the current teaching force is 90% Anglo, and the face of the future teaching population does not currently appear to be changing (Hadaway, 1993). So to deal with the increasing cultural student body we need to prepare the teachers and train them properly. While training the teachers we need to prioritize in helping them gain the skills, knowledge, and outlook on how to deal with a culturally diverse student body. We need to prepare them on how to effectively teach students from different backgrounds, regardless of race. While most teacher trainings programs do show the importance of increasing diversity, not many teachers are well trained
This paper focuses on the need for multicultural education in the United States and how it can be implemented. Three primary questions guided the research. In a culturally growing country like the United States 1) What is the conception of multicultural education: 2) What