"In 1954, the United States Supreme Court established the means for desegregating America's schools. In addition, the United States has become more pluralistic. Therefore, educational institutions have been charged with preparing students for a diverse school setting, work force and client base. As schools increase in diversity, the issue of teacher and student readiness to deal with diversity has been the topic of discussion. This research examined the readiness of 117 White Catholic High School students for such diversity to occur in their school. Cultural Diversity Instruction was provided for 117 White male and female high school students (attending an either all-male or all-female school) at grades 9 and 11 during regular class sessions 1 meeting time per week for 10 weeks. These students were compared to a group of students who did not receive cultural diversity instruction. A 2x2x2 ANOVA (instructional x comparison group; male x female; juniors x freshmen) and a linear regression model as calculated through a panel design were used to assess outcomes. Dependent measures included racial attitudes as measured by the Racial Attitude Survey (Byrnes & Kiger, 1987) and White Racial Identity Development (WRID) as measured by ratings of Journal Writings. Overall, it was found that females had statistically significant more positive racial attitudes when compared to males on the Racial Attitude Survey. Overall, there was no significant difference between ninth and eleventh graders on the Racial Attitude Survey. The within subjects analysis of variance of the Racial Attitude Survey indicated no statistically significant change for the 9th grade female or male instructional group or the 11th grade male instructional group after 10-weeks of cultural diversity instruction. The 11th grade female instructional group displayed a significant increase in positive racial attitudes after the instruction on the Racial Attitude Survey. When compared to the comparison groups, the 9th grade female or male instructional groups or the 11 th grade male instructional group did not display statistically significant change after 10-weeks of cultural diversity instruction. The 11th grade female instructional group displayed a statistically significant increase in racial attitude after 10-weeks of cultural diversity instruction when compared to the 11th grade female comparison group. The 11th grade male instructional group showed a more negative racial attitude when compared to all other instructional groups on the Racial Attitude Survey. However, as a function of grade level, 9th grade males showed significantly more positive racial attitudes than 11th grade males Finally, the 11th grade male instructional group showed the only statistically significant increase over the 10-week period in White Racial Identity Development."
