Teachers' beliefs are crucial to the success of inclusion programmes and reform efforts for children with special educational needs (SEN). Based on this evidence, one hundred and thirty-nine primary pre-service teachers from one training institution in the Netherlands completed an adapted version of a measure of beliefs towards inclusive…

The number of teaching assistants (TAs) in schools in the UK has risen in recent years, but there remains a lack of clarity about the roles being undertaken by these support staff. This article reports findings from a study investigating how the TA role is understood both by the pupils being supported and by TAs themselves. Eleven students with…

In this article, we provide commentary on the "state of play" of inclusive education in the United States. We focus on the promises and limitations of inter-related accountability- and market-driven policies and Response to Intervention (RTI) (Vaughn and Fuchs, 2003). We argue that these policies and practice have "hopscotched"…

This article illustrates, through the story of one mainstream primary school, the tensions between the inclusion agenda and the standards agenda. The school is situated in an area of social deprivation and nearly half of the school population have been identified as having special educational needs. The story presented in this article illustrates…

In this paper we examine different aspects of the inclusion debate, including how it has been shaped by the political context in England over the past 30 years. We then give consideration to the key argument that has dominated the inclusion agenda over the last decade: should effective inclusion be considered only as placement in mainstream school…

This study explored the perceptions of parents and teachers regarding the differential treatment or stigma experienced by pupils with challenging behaviour--more specifically, those with behavioural, emotional and social difficulties (BESD), as well as children with visible special educational needs (Down's syndrome and/or profound and multiple…

As a society, we have a responsibility to provide an inclusive built environment. As part of the need to promote inclusion, there is now a growing trend to place pupils with special educational needs (SEN) into a mainstream school setting. This is often facilitated by providing a specialist SEN resource base located within the mainstream school.…

The article describes a program at Connahs Quay High School in Wales (United Kingdom) which integrates 18 moderately disabled students and about 100 mildly disabled students into the regular school program. The support system includes a special needs coordinator, liaison with primary schools, and an active role by the school psychologist. (DB)

This article examines the role of the support and advisory teacher in serving handicapped students in the British educational system. Stressed is the process of developing a positive profile so that teachers perceive the support staff positively. A model of varieties of credibility is applied to the support teacher's role. (DB)

In this article, Laura Ann Currie and Victoria Prudnikova describe a three-year Russian/Scottish partnership designed to take forward an inclusive educational policy in the Samara Region of Russia. Education staff from West Lothian Council and Barnardo's visited the Samara Region to train staff there to help take forward their inclusion programme.…