This comparative study surveys the educational policies and practices in response to language diversity in a dozen nations, and draws from them lessons for a more effective "whole-school" approach.Policies and practices are discussed in the context of political debate within the minority communities and in the wider society of each nation; the competing claims of integration and of language and cultural maintenance are taking widely differing forms in the nations studied and among the various minority communities. Perspectives from sociology, cultural anthropology, sociolinguistics, political science, and research on school effectiveness are brought to bear.