Bridging the Special Education Divide

Ethics and Special Education

“…The issues are of vital interest to the field and, more important, to the children whom special educators serve. Andrews et al (2000) distinguished between incremental reformers and substantial reconceptualists in special education. Incremental reformers emphasize the positive, known features of special education and support systematic improvement of practice through established approaches.…”

Searching for the Grand Unifying Theory: Reflections on the Field of LD

“…Throughout that time ubiquitous "paradigm wars" have been a prominent feature of the discourse surrounding the field (Andrews et al, 2000;Brantlinger, 1997). The early focus on remediation of visual/perceptual and visual/motor processing difficulties slowly gave way to the behaviorally rooted direct instruction approach targeting discrete, observable behaviors.…”

A Study of the Relationship Between Educational Placment and the Achievement of Urban Low Socioeconomic Hispanic Middle School Students With and Without Specific Learning Disabilities

“…Kirkpatrick-Johnson, Crosnoe, and Elder (2001) commented that even within a general education setting, racial and ethical minority youth spend significantly less time directly engaged in academic learning than do their White counterparts. Subsequently, professionals continue to have many questions about how to provide an appropriate educational program for these minority SWD that will enable them to master the general education curriculum (Andrews et al, 2000).…”

“…While purposeful sampling may pose some limitations because the information attained was from a specific site, this approach provided opportunities to gain in-depth insights regarding student engagement within varying educational settings (Patton, 2000). This study purposefully sought a school located in an urban setting with Hispanic students of low socio-economic status as indicated by 70% or more of the student population receiving free and reduced lunch.…”

“…These discrepancies are Varieties of educational service models, governed by laws, have been developed and have guided special education practices over the last five decades in special education (Andrews et al 2000). The history of special education suggests that the continuum of exclusionary practices will not be useful in an era of educational reform due to an ongoing lack of improved performance (Rea, McLaughlin, & Walther-Thomas, 2002;Strieker & Logan, 2001;Wallace, Anderson, Bartholomay, & Hupp, 2002).…”