The purpose of this paper is to present an argument for developing science teacher education programs that examine teachers beliefs about multicultural issues and their impact on science teaching and learning. In the paper we (a) delineate a rationale for the study of teacher beliefs about issues of culture and its impact on science teaching and learning (b) assert three major categories of teacher beliefs to examine for designing teacher education programs that aim to meet the challenges of increasingly culturally diverse classrooms and (c) discuss implications for science teacher education programs and research. Research has shown that knowing teachers beliefs and designing instruction and experiences to explicitly confront those beliefs facilitate refinement of and/or transformation of beliefs and practices (Bryan amp Abell J Res Sci Teaching 36 121 ndash 140 1999 Harrington amp Hathaway J Teacher Education 46 275 ndash 284 1995 Hollingsworth Am Educational Res J 26(2) 160 ndash 189 1989 Olmedo J Teaching Teacher Education 13 245 ndash 258 1997 Tobin amp LaMaster J Res Sci Teaching 32 225 ndash 242 1995). Furthermore prior to student teaching preservice teachers need to be at least culturally sensitive teachers (Gillette In Teacher Thinking in Cultural Contexts F. A. Rios (Ed.) Albany NY State University of New York Press 1996 pp. 104 ndash 128). Science educators need to continue to identify those beliefs and practices that undergird desirable and equitable science instruction. copy 2002 Wiley Periodicals Inc. Sci Ed86 821 ndash 839 2002 Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/sce.10043