Special Education Past Present And Future

Teachers report being unprepared for the difficult behavior they encounter in classrooms, and administrators find themselves under increasing pressure to maintain safe and orderly schools. IDEA regulations have also resulted in ongoing confusion about how schools can and should discipline students with identified disabilities.

Annotation This volume explores serious challenging behavior in schools, with an emphasis on promising and research-based approaches to dealing with such behavior. Topics include what we know about (a) the nature and extent of the problem (e.g., rates of aggression, violence, and noncompliance in schools); (b) addressing extreme forms of noncompliance; (c) dealing with serious disruptive behavior; (d) violence prevention programs; (e) schoolwide response to aggression and violence; (f) issues of covert antisocial behavior (e.g., vandalism, truancy, theft); (g) functional behavioral assessment and function-based interventions; (h) legal and policy considerations in disciplining students with disabilities; and (i) promising and needed avenues for further research.

In the late 20th century, a tidal wave of calls for reform and inclusion of special needs students swept over public special education. The current debates over implementing these themes today are authoritatively addressed by 19 distinguished scholars in this thorough volume. Organized into three cohesive sections, it begins with the issues of educational reform and the emerging discourses of disability and integration in the inclusion movement. Respective chapters appraise specific arguments for inclusion and the federal legislation and litigation surrounding and supporting special education. The second part features the thorny issue of assessment, the technological revolution in special education, and the disposition of teacher training. The third section scrutinizes the inclusion of various populations of students with exceptional needs, particularly how teachers can make an easy transition from ideology to educational practice. Special Education in the 21st Century sets the standard for extrapolating future directions by wisely weighing classroom practices for different groups and the technical problems of resources, management, social groupings, instructional design, and the supposition that teachers will automatically change to accommodate an even greater diversity of learners.

This book discusses key aspects of life in schools and classrooms, and surveys the changes that have occurred over the years in educational research, policy making and practice in these school and classroom settings. It not only examines cutting-edge research in these areas, but also showcases good practices in the field. Among the topics reviewed are recent developments in assessment, methods for collecting and analysing data on classroom practice, school leadership and the pros and cons of class size and small-class teaching; topics which are currently hotly debated in education systems around the globe. As such, the book objectively examines the various debates, and surveys the full range of evidence available. Education researchers, policy makers and practitioners often hold differing views about the reasons for teacher and student behaviour in classrooms and, for example, its relevance to class size. Many of these views are based on ‘gut feelings’ rather than hard evidence. Unfortunately, these three groups, with differing perspectives, often ‘talk past each other’ rather than engage in a productive, mutually beneficial dialogue. The book builds an effective bridge between researchers, policy makers and practitioners regarding the impact of these various aspects of classroom life, so that the viewpoints of each can be carefully considered and evaluated.

In straightforward terms, the authors address the issues arising as a result of the legislation and the implications for the financing and management of schools through the local management of schools provision. They show that the National Curriculum poses problems concerning pupils with special needs.

This volume is an excellent resource for special education professionals who teach and serve learners with disabilities, and other related professionals involved in the educational process such as administrators, school counsellors, and psychologists.

This book examines the role that technologies play in the lives of adults with learning disabilities. It analyses how design and support practices can be used to support access to technology in ways that can enhance opportunities and life experiences.

This book, first published in 1994, explores the impact which changes in thinking and policy at national and local level have had upon the educational experiences of children and young people with special needs in England, Scotland and Wales. Two major factors are discussed. Firstly, there is the thinking of the late 1970s which emerges in documents such as the Warnock report and the legislation which followed it. Secondly, the authors examine the educational policy and legislation of the 1980s and early 1990s which aimed to encourage the operation of market forces. Through the various articles in this collection, the contributors discuss both the common themes and the tensions created by these changes, and assess the effect these have had on special needs education in practice.