In the past decade Ireland has witnessed substantial changes in policy and provision for children with general learning difficulties as government policies and legislation increasingly underpin the move towards more inclusive provision. Despite this series of policy initiatives parents of children who experience Down syndrome and general learning…

Over the past two decades in Australia, the field of gifted education has expanded considerably. The term "giftedness" has effectively entered mainstream discourse. The field of gifted education, which nowadays operates as a compensatory function of mass education, is comprised of groups of people who broadly share in the concept of…

Autism presents parents and families with many challenges under normal circumstances. Autism in a military family magnifies many of those challenges and adds a few more that are unique to the demands of military life and service, further complicating an already complex neurobiological disorder. Military sources indicate that more than 13,000…

This is an exploratory study concerned with understanding the role and experiences of teaching assistants (TAs) within primary schools. The analysis suggests that TAs are constructed within a policy discourse that tends to posit their role as peripheral to teaching and learning. I offer an alternative account, deploying a concept of liminality…

We are delighted to welcome you to the International Conference on Education and New Developments 2013, taking place in Lisbon, Portugal, from 1 to 3 of June. Education, in a global sense, is a right since we are born. Every experience has a formative effect on the constitution of the human being, in the way one thinks, feels and acts. One of the…

This report presents findings from a study conducted by The George Washington University Center for Equity and Excellence in Education (GW-CEEE) under the sponsorship of the National Center for Educational Statistics (NCES). The purpose of the study is to describe and analyze school-based decision-making practices relevant to the inclusion and…

Schooling in North America and northern Europe embodies salvation themes. The themes are (re)visions of Enlightenments' projects about the cosmopolitan citizen and scientific progress. The emancipatory principles, however, were never merely about freedom and inclusion. A comparative system of reason was inscribed as gestures of hope and fear. The…

This booklet summarizes research on best practices for implementing successful small learning communities and career academies. When well implemented, improvements in instructional and personalization strategies in combination with structural supports have demonstrated improved student attendance and learning. "From High School to Learning…

The author chronicles the search for augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) technology for her daughter Anna, who is now age 21. Though Anna has severe cognitive, visual and orthopedic disabilities, a more significant obstacle to finding a functional AAC system has been low expectations of her capability. Because Anna could not perform…

This report describes how progress monitoring--a set of techniques for assessing student performance on a regular and frequent basis--can be an essential and integral part of an inclusive standards-based assessment and accountability system. In order to meet the higher expectations of current standards-based systems, educators need information…

Inclusive education is here to stay. However, teachers remain fearful of their ability to deliver and assess curriculum and related activities for a diverse population of students. Current literature suggests that effective classroom planning includes four activities: a focus on planning to prompt and sustain student on-task behavior; an…

"The Routledge Companion to Education" presents the most comprehensive, up-to-date guide available to the key theories, themes and topics in education. Forty specially commissioned chapters, covering all aspects of education, introduce you to the ideas, research and issues that have shaped this most diverse, dynamic and fluid field. Part one…

The development of inclusive schools is not an easy task and not all people are committed to the development of inclusion because they have strong beliefs about where and how different "kinds" of children should receive their schooling. This article attempts to locate recent developments in inclusive practice and learning for all in a…

This study seeks to determine if a Midwestern group of diocesan Catholic schools considers it their mission to educate students of all abilities, the extent to which students with special needs are included in the population of Catholic schools, the types of special needs served, how students with special needs are served when included, whether…

Friend (2000) describes effective co-teaching as a special educator and a general educator teaching together in the general education classroom during some portion of the instructional day to accommodate the needs of students with and without disabilities. District administrators invited two University faculty into secondary co-taught classes to…