A current controversy is whether special education is basically sound and needs incremental improvement in practices or needs radical restructuring for inclusion. The rationale for inclusion is summarized. Subsequently, the conceptual orientation underlying a special class for students with emotional or behavioral disorders is articulated, and the implementation of this philosophy in a special class is described. The separate, special class was structured to meet the special needs of students whose behavior made them unwelcome in general education classes. Interviews with school personnel suggested that the class provided an invaluable service that could not be provided in more inclusive arrangements.A current controversy about special education is whether it is best improved through radical restructuring or incremental improvement of its practices (Andrews et al., 2000). The first point of view typically includes the recommendation that children with disabilities be fully included in general education. The second point of view typically includes the reaffirmation of the wisdom of a full continuum of placement options. Both points of view have typically been presented without clear descriptions of actual classroom practices. Our purpose is to contrast the two ideas and then illustrate our own view-that special education is basically a sound idea that needs incremental improvement-by describing one special class for students with emotional and behavioral disorders. SPECIAL EDUCATION IS DEEPLY FLAWED AND NEEDS RADICAL RESTRUCTURINGOne point of view, which we detail in this section, is that special education is defective in concept and structure (for elaboration, see Danforth & Rhodes, 1997; Requests for reprints should be sent to James M. Kauffman, Curry School of Education,

We examined the empirical literature dating from 1979 to 2002 on the involvement of parents of African American students with special needs in their children's schooling. The purpose was to determine (a) the quantity of empirical studies on this topic, (b) the overall quality and form of this research, (c) specific outcomes of the studies, and (d) efforts by researchers and/or schools to improve any of these factors. Findings suggest the lack of a substantive body of empirical work in this area and insufficient reporting of critical information such as a sample selection, data collection, and data-analysis procedures. A substantial increase in the number of studies published within the last decade indicates that schools and researchers are beginning to acknowledge the need for further investigations in this area.