The inclusion of multicultural material in middle school science teachers' resource manuals

We examined and categorized multicultural teaching information found in middle school science teachers' resource manuals to determine how multicultural information relates to guidelines for teaching in multicultural classrooms. A content analysis of 21 teachers' editions of middle school science textbooks determined: (a) the extent of multicultural content; Cb) the distribution within foundational knowledge categories; and (c) the relationship to the science content. Data were identified through the use of ERIC descriptors. All data were analyzed by using frequency counts. The results indicate that support for multicultural education in middle school science teachers' resource manuals varies remarkably. The relationship of the multicultural information to the science content revealed that 11.7% was highly related, 49.2% was somewhat related, and 39.0% was not retained. (C) 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.