The transition to primary school is one of the greatest challenges of early childhood. Handled well, it can set children into virtuous cycle of learning. But how can transitions be made more effective? Based on a background paper for UNESCO's Education for All Global Monitoring Report 2007, this paper assesses the literature and draws lessons…

The democratic changes that occurred in Croatia within last two decades are oriented towards European values and multi-intercultural perspectives. Let us remember that, according to the census from 1991, Croatia was inhabited with people from 27 nations, with Croats being a majority. During the Homeland war, basically a defensive war against the…

The "ISSS Annual Conference Proceedings" is a peer-reviewed professional publication published once a year following the annual conference. (Individual papers contain references.) [For the 2011 proceedings, see ED518589.]

This document reports on the background, purpose and proceedings of a policy forum entitled, "High Quality Inclusion Opportunities for Preschool-Age Children with Disabilities," held on December 13-15, 2004. Project Forum at the National Association of State Directors of Special Education (NASDSE) convened this policy forum as part of its…

In our current climate of standards-based reform, efforts abound to have all students reach the same goals. At the same time, other educational reforms, such as inclusion, are creating increasingly diverse populations of students in general education classrooms. Consequently, teachers often view inclusion and standards-based reform as incompatible…

The present paper is part of a larger study carried out in North Queensland, Australia, between 1999 and 2001. The original study focused on the perceptions of 15 women who each have (or had) a child who was medically, educationally and socio-culturally constituted as having a disability. Qualitative methods were used for research design and to…

During the past ten years in the UK there has been a considerable increase in the number of teaching assistants (TAs) appointed to work alongside teachers in schools. A significant number of these colleagues are appointed to support pupils with special educational needs (SEN), including those with social, emotional and behavioural difficulties…

This paper reports on an Appreciative Inquiry project called "Growing Talent for Inclusion" which has been running since 2002. The project grew out the authors' work in a Local Authority Support Service assisting schools to meet the needs of pupils with a range of additional educational needs. Faced with a large number of individual referrals,…

This technical report describes the development, pilot testing, and revision of a survey instrument designed to measure secondary school teachers' perceptions of their efficacy working with students from diverse backgrounds. A brief review of relevant literature frames the current study in the context of survey development that is technically…

This study serves as a pilot study for a longitudinal study that will be conducted a year later. The purpose of this research is to determine how a course in special education has impacted secondary general education pre-service teachers' attitudes towards individuals with disabilities, teaching students with mild disabilities and the degree of…

Perspectives of 107 pupils, parents and school staff involved in inclusion initiatives in two Local Education Authorities in the UK were obtained though interviews and focus groups. The format of the interview was semistructured, with a predetermined set of questions and prompts being delivered according to a standardized protocol. Transcripts…

What an honor to have political and educational theorists of such caliber take up ideas from my work! What a daunting task to try to respond! My remarks will touch on the following questions: What are some key issues of distributive justice in education today? Why does defining justice in terms of oppression and domination imply that issues of…

Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) "Special Education at a Glance," which includes a copy of the "Guide to Planning and Assessing School-Based Special Education Programs," provides in a single document, information about the special education population at each Montgomery County (Maryland) public school, including…

Before the second world war, pupils in Czechoslovakia were expected to conform to discipline and to accept the teacher's style of teaching. Selection was accepted, with the highest attaining pupils siphoned off at age 11 to academic schools. After 1945, the countries of the Soviet bloc adopted the Soviet system of single-stream comprehensive…

Relatively little work has been carried out upon the effect of educational environment upon the sporting involvement of children with disabilities. This paper is concerned with the educational experiences of a group of athletes who competed in the Sydney 2000 Paralympic Games. It highlights the major influence that the impact of the educational…