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Thought and Language by Lev Vygotsky is translated into English
His ideas revolutionize developmental psychology, and how aduluts (including teachers) think about children. -
First Bilingual and Bicultural School in U.S.
In response to the large influx of Cuban immigrants, a Florida school is the first to offer an English/Spanish curriculum. -
The Civil Rights Act goes into effect
Discrimination based on race, sex, or national origin is now prohibited in American schools. This paves the way for multicultural educational institutions. -
Higher Education Act goes into effect
The Higher Education Act provides funding for access to education by lower- and middle-income students, allowing the poor--a greater percentage of whom are racial and ethnic minorities--more opportunities to enter the classroom. -
The Bilingual Education Act goes into effect
This law, until its repeal in 2002, encouraged cultural diversity and instruction in other languages in schools. -
Title IX Takes Effect
The Title IX provision of The Education Amendments of 1972 prohibits discrimination based on sex in federally-funded schools. This is a key step to integrating classrooms not just by race or ethnicity, but by sex. -
Refugee Act takes effect
Signed by Jimmy Carter, the Refugee Act allows millions of refugee children emmigrate to the U.S., engendering countless new multicultural classsrooms. -
The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1990 is signed into law by President Bush
This law increases the annual immigration into the United States, adding diveresity to the nation's classrooms. -
The Higher Education Act is renewed
The Higher Education Act continues to provide funding for access to education by lower- and middle-income students, allowing the poor--a greater percentage of whom are racial and ethnic minorities--more opportunities to enter the classroom. -
Great Recession
The economic hardship leads to a familiar and predictable reaction: xenophobia. Multiculuralism is seen as an affront to the American identity in the years ahead, and minorities are feared more and more by the white middle class.
