The Encyclopedia of Multicultural Education has been created to provide educators with an easy-to-use, single-volume reference work. the encyclopedia consists of more than 400 terms, phrases, concepts, U.S. Supreme Court decisions, significant contributors to the American macroculture from the country's various racial and/or ethnic backgrounds and key events, and court cases related to multicultural education. Arranged alphabetically, each entry is defined and/or discussed in keeping with its relationship to multicultural education.

The entries were chosen by the authors and an advisory group consisting of persons who have played prominent roles in various areas of multicultural education. Advisory group members include Dr. Felix Boateng from Vanderbilt University, Dr. Roberto Ponce, ex-Assistant Superintendent of Public Instruction in California, Al and Sally Miller, educators from the Colville Indian Reservation, Mr. Mike Cantlon, an elementary school teacher in Spokane, Washington, and Mr. Joe Franklin, a secondary social studies teacher in Portland, Oregon.

Encyclopedia entries were selected based on their relationship to the content and method of multicultural education, rather than simply on the basis of historical prominence or celebrity of the individual or event cited. For example, Louis Armstrong was not only an internationally famous musician, but he also spoke out against racial insensitivities, such as the government's handling of the Little Rock, Arkansas, school desegregation issue, an important topic in multicultural education. the biographical information on Armstrong places him in an historical context which lends further credence to his views on the need for racial equity in American education. As with Armstrong, other exemplary persons of color were included in the encyclopedia based on their perceived importance and relationship to multicultural education. Others, equally worthy of inclusion in a more general work, were not included in this encyclopedia if there . . .