discrimination, and xenophobia to the larger societies. Consequently, I suggest that the first order of business of the proposed forum be the creation of an affirmative language of equal educational opportunity. I imagine that this language will emphasize the larger benefits of inclusionary educational policies and practices. Imagine how the future development of the United States might have evolved in Thomas Jefferson had not included in the 1776 Declaration of Independence the following sentiment: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.” This sentiment made it impossible for the political leadership first new nation in the “New World” to continue to rationalize slavery in the 19th century. Jefferson’s interpretation of human rights also made it impossible for the United States of America to continue to justify State-sanctioned racial discrimination against the descendents of slaves in the 20th century. Jefferson’s perspectives also played a major role in motivating USA political leaders in the aftermath of World War II to push for the establishment of the United Nations. Language that would advance the educational aspirations of minorities in the same manner that Jefferson’s sentiments set the table for the eventual inclusion of the United State’s most historically despised minority into the mainstream of the nation’s social, economic, and political life, strikes me as a self-evident benefit. There is much in the various documents issued by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNICEF) that come close to providing this language. However, the type of transformational language we need is not yet at hand. My second recommendation is that the most advanced communication technologies be used to make demonstrably effective curricular materials, professional development programs, and learner-assessment rubrics and be put at the disposal of this community of change agents. An educational initiative that proves to be effective in activating the intellectual capabilities of Black Students in the United Kingdom is likely to be useful to proponents of equal education in the United States. A language teaching method that is effective in helping immigrant children acquire proficiency in academic English in California may hold important lessons for Roma educators in Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Spain, and Portugal, as well as champions of minority languages in South Africa. An educational initiative that has proven to be unusually effective in increasing the performance of Arab-Israeli female high school students in physics and chemistry is likely to contain lessons regarding the nurturing of female academic potential that transcend the borders of Israel and Palestine. The production, gathering, and sharing of such examples in an accessible format would help champions of equal educational opportunity across the globe to challenge the erroneous misconceptions used to justify exclusion and oppression In the long run, this type of virtual community will lead to conceptualizations in educational policy that cease to treat pluralistic curricular materials and educational practices as burdens imposed upon the majority political system by ungrateful demanding minorities. In fashioning this location-independent community of change agents, we will have to take into account existing inequities in the distribution of communications resources. A permanent connection to the Internet cannot be assumed. Accordingly, the finished document should challenge technologists from advanced countries to collaborate in the design and implementation low-cost communication technologies, such as solar-powered computers, inexpensive devices for using broadband

Select target paragraph3