Abstract

Globalization has made evident the importance and complexity of addressing diversity in teacher education programs. The main purpose of this research was to explore teacher candidates’ perceived competency level to manage diversity in the classroom with the intention of identifying program strengths and opportunities for improvement. Data gathered by surveying exit-level pre-service teaching candidates in a university in Puerto Rico indicated that they have sufficient theoretical knowledge and some practical skills to address most topics related to diversity in school. The results of this study will provide teacher education programs valuable data for assessing diversity competency in the teaching process.