The task of hiring special education teachers may seem daunting because they serve in what is undeniably the most complex of teaching roles. This article provides guidance and suggestions for identifying key competencies that a viable special education teacher candidate should possess. Although many building leaders may still subscribe to gut…

This article explores the "two faces" model of education through which Kenneth Bush and Diana Saltarelli (2000) describe the positive and negative roles that education can play in situations of ethnic conflict. The authors apply it more narrowly to analyze the effect of inclusion and diversity in education in a conflict situation. In…

Internationally, the number of students with disabilities entering higher education institutions is on the rise. Research estimates that 8-10% of students attending higher education are registered with disability, with learning difficulties being the most commonly reported disability. Widening participation in higher education has been supported…

Pupils with special needs can have difficulties in building relationships with peers in inclusive education. An important condition for developing positive relationships with peers is having the age-group appropriate social skills. It seems likely that pupils with an insufficient set of social skills face a larger risk of being excluded. This…

Background: Inclusive education/mainstreaming is a key policy objective for the education of children and young people with special educational needs (SEN) and disabilities. Aims: This paper reviews the literature on the effectiveness of inclusive education/mainstreaming. The focus is on evidence for effects in terms of child outcomes with…

In their call for proposals for this themed issue, the editors maintain that higher education institutions should graduate future P-12 teachers who think globally, have international experience, demonstrate foreign language competence, and are able to incorporate a global dimension into their teaching. In contrast, the authors argue that future…

The purpose of this study was to investigate preservice teacher candidates' attitudes and confidence levels in working with students with special needs. Confidence levels have been shown to increase with training, exposure to specific situations, and knowledge utilizing explicit interventions. Also examined were the strengths and improvement of a…

In January 2005, the Roma Education Fund (REF) came into existence as a Swiss foundation with the goal of increasing the inclusion of Roma children in mainstream classes in Central and Eastern Europe. The fund gives priority to countries that make a political commitment to design and finance actions to improve Roma living conditions, by taking…

Background: Over the past 20 years or so policy and practice on the education of children with special educational needs (SEN) has been aimed at placing increasing numbers of children in a mainstream school environment. Although this policy has been supported in principle by many teachers, parents and local authority officers, there has been much…

This paper describes the development of an improved scale for measuring sentiments, attitudes and concerns about inclusive education in pre-service teachers based on an examination of data gathered from 996 pre-service teachers from five tertiary institutions using a modified version of the Interactions with People with Disabilities scale…

This theme issue provides guidance on school district compliance with the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) in the inclusion of students with disabilities. It provides a summary and analysis of four recent decisions in federal appellate courts, which all affirmed the right of students with significant disabilities to attend…

This paper lists five principles to consider that will enable beginning teachers to defend Individualized Education Program (IEP) decisions for students with disabilities in due process hearings. The first principle urges teachers to consider placing children with disabilities in regular education with supplemental aids and services when making…

Elementary school teachers (N=109) were surveyed regarding their use of pretesting to determine individual student instructional needs prior to teaching units of the regular curriculum. Teachers varied in their amount of teaching experience and possession of specialized endorsements--33 teachers had an endorsement in gifted/talented education and…

The A.I.M. (Avondale Integrative Model) Program of Avondale School District in Auburn Hills, Michigan, is a developmental, language-based, preschool program, combining federally funded Head Start and district-funded Pre-Primary Impaired programs. The program is designed to utilize a developmentally appropriate curriculum in order to successfully…

Two secondary students with severe disabilities and 28 high school sophomores enrolled in a life sciences class participated in this study. The two students with disabilities also participated in a special education classroom with a community-based instructional program. A cooperative learning intervention was implemented using Johnson and…