Perhaps now more than ever, in the United States as well as other countries, diversity is an integral part of news, politics, law, and education. Fueled by worldwide immigration, globalization, and human rights documents, diversity in countries throughout the world has increased, especially since 1960. Even the population of the United States, a country of immigrants, has become much more diverse since the Immigration Reform Act became effective in 1965. The civil rights movement influenced other marginalized minorities to seek equal rights and equality in educational opportunities. “An important goal of this encyclopedia is to describe concepts, theories, practices, and programs that can facilitate educational reform that will increase educational equality for all students” (xlvii). This four-volume publication brings together interrelated subject matter pertaining to diversity and multiculturalism with emphasis on education, which will be useful for other disciplines as well.

“Diversity is defined broadly in this encyclopedia and includes race, ethnicity, social class, gender, sexual orientation (LGBT), religion, language, and exceptionality which includes giftedness and disability” (xlviii). The editor chose eighteen broad categories to cover diversity. He then identified eighteen scholars who, as the editorial board, worked with Professor Banks to determine entries and contributors for the encyclopedia. The assumption by the editor that helped guide the selection of entries is that these “variables are not discrete but are interactive, interrelated, dynamic, complex, and contextual” (xlviii). Therefore, while most entries focus on the United States, in order that the encyclopedia have the necessary global dimension to lend perspective, a significant number of entries focus on other countries and are contributed by authors from those countries.

The editor, James A. Banks, is the founding director of the Center for Multicultural Education at the University of Washington, Seattle. Professor Banks has received many honors and is known throughout the world as a leading researcher in this field. He holds several honorary doctorates, is the editor of the Multicultural Education Series of books published by Teachers College Press, and has published extensively. The editorial board and the contributors represent many states as well as countries outside the United States.

The front matter of volume 1 begins with a table of contents for all volumes, followed by an alphabetical list of entries numbering almost seven hundred. Next a reader’s guide organizes the entries under categories, some entries appearing under more than one category. Next is a page of information about Professor Banks followed by “Contributors,” which is a list of entry authors and their associated institutions. Last is the introduction by Professor Banks. The remaining volumes begin with contents for that volume as well as the complete list of entries. Volume 4 ends with a fifty-page “Diversity in the United States and Other Nations—A Chronology of Key Events and Publications” followed by a one hundred–page index. Each entry is followed by the contributor’s name, see also references, and a list of further readings. The encyclopedia also contains a number of essays by eminent scholars called “Perspectives in Education.” The volumes contain enough illustrations and graphs to provide contrast.

The fields of sociology, language, and education have yielded a number of monographs dealing with multiculturalism, diversity, and bilingual usage and teaching, several of which were written by Professor Banks. Josue M. Gonzales’ Encyclopedia of Bilingual Education (Sage, 2008) is a reference work in a somewhat related field. Peter Appelbaum’s Multicultural and Diversity Education: a Reference Handbook (ABC-CLIO, 2002) provided a guide to the literature in the field. However, there is no previous publication that is even close to this encyclopedia in length, scope, or subject matter.

The Encyclopedia of Diversity in Education is highly recommended for academic libraries and large public libraries. It is a unique, significant, well-organized work on a timely subject.