Mission Statement of The Multicultural & Diversity Committee *

The emerging philosophy of the Multicultural and Diversity Committee is that excellence in _education cannot be achieved without educational equity for all who enter our schools. This includes (but is not limited to)females, males, people of color, people who live in poverty, people who live alternative lifestyles, people with disabilities, people with a language background other than English, people of all ages, and people who have recently immigrated to the United States. Educational equity is defined by processes that work against marginalization and foster knowledge of and respect for the diverse nature of our population.
A curriculum reflecting educational equity focuses on providing every individual with the sense that he or she is situated within a school community that values his or her current and potential contributions. Such a curriculum also reinforces the historical and contemporary role of people from diverse backgrounds, including multiple perspectives in relation to the teaching of core subject areas.

*We invite comment on our Mission Statement. The committee views this as a dynamic Mission Statement that can and will change over time.

Goals

TEACHING

1. Develop and identify curricula and field experiences to help teacher education students understand the importance of diversity in teaching and learning and construct a frame of reference and inquiry to combat all forms of discrimination in schools and our society.
2. Assist students to develop and teach lessons that incorporate diversity and develop a classroom and school climate that values diversity.
3. Provide for, and create opportunities for reflection on, diverse fieldwork
   and school experiences involving faculty and students who represents diverse ethnic, racial, gender, language, exceptionality and religious groups.
4. Develop self awareness and different teaching and learning styles that are shaped by culture.

RESEARCH

1. Explore and conduct research on practices that will close the achievement gap of diverse students.
2. Promote research related to multicultural education instruction and school, university and state policy.
3. Generate new knowledge through systematic inquiry in areas of multicultural education and explore an interdisciplinary approach to research with ethnic groups such as women’s studies, international student services, and minority services.
4. Encourage all researchers to consider the influence of culture on the design,
   data collection, analysis, reporting, and probable impact of their research.

SERVICE

1. Develop programs to meet the professional development needs of the COE faculty and staff as they relate to culture, class, ethnicity, gender, exceptionality, religion, language, age and other issues.
2. Design and implement retention and recruitment programs to attract student’s faculty and administrators from diverse populations for all programs offered in the College of Education.
3. To collaborate with the Clark County School District in meeting the needs in diversity education.
4. To assist faculty with the infusion of diversity issues into the COE curriculum at all levels.