Every day, the number of children born with disabilities is increasing. One of the many disabilities is Down's syndrome, which occurs on average in one of 650 infants. For a child born with this disability, it is much more difficult to normally grow, develop and function in everyday life. In the past, children born with Down syndrome were…

There is a growing trend of using paraprofessionals to augment the education of students with disabilities. Paraprofessionals are often the least educated and trained member in a classroom, yet can be asked to provide assistance to students with complex needs. Students with disabilities require the use of practices that are grounded in scientific…

This issue of "Equity Dispatch" seeks to interrogate and redefine what it should mean to have a diverse workforce, specifically at the district level. When we begin to recognize the importance of holistic representations of difference, we can begin to shift the culture of our districts in equitable and inclusive ways.

According to the Regulations of Special Education program and Institutes of Saudi Arabia (RSEPI), students with disabilities can be educated for all or part of their school day in general education classrooms with nondisabled peers. However, hard of hearing students are still educated full-time in self-contained classrooms, which prevents them…

There are a greater number of inclusive postsecondary education (PSE) programs for students with intellectual disabilities (ID) in the U.S. than ever before. Consequently, there are a greater number of students with ID who now have the opportunity to participate in fully inclusive PSE programs with the intent of improving their transition outcomes…

This study examines the impact of the Special Olympics Unified Champion Schools program in high schools across the country. Data were analyzed from 2,774 students from 11 high schools implementing the program concerning their perceptions and attitudes toward including students with intellectual disability (ID). Students participating in 1 or more…

The purpose of this article is to examine the leadership beliefs and practices of three school leaders in a large urban school district in the Rocky Mountain West to determine whether any are consistent with transformative leadership. We sought to (a) describe the challenges faced by these school leaders in addressing the needs of changing…

The purpose of this qualitative study was to investigate the role of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) in inclusive settings in which students with and without disabilities learn and gain knowledge. Five teachers from Kuwait participated in the study. Twenty-five consecutive observations were conducted to derive the primary data for this study.…

In this article, we focus on the life and accomplishments of Ed Roberts, leader of the Independent Living Movement for people with severe disabilities, to consider ways he envisioned and enacted a radical shift in professional practices within the field of rehabilitation. Using the field of rehabilitation as an adult parallel to the field of…

This article explores the effectiveness of a mandatory training workshop for faculty. Our center for teaching and learning (CTL) was charged with designing and implementing a diversity training workshop for all full-time faculty. The workshop included an introduction to diversity and inclusion, analysis of microaggressions, discussion of inclusive…

This paper argues that whilst inclusive education in early childhood is gaining wider acceptance in the equity and diversity movement, the value and contribution of educators' voices about what is working and challenging are frequently ignored. This small-scale research explored five early childhood educators' understandings and experiences of…

Guided by feminist standpoint theory and scholars' calls to move beyond merely counting individuals to understand the extent to which higher education institutions are diverse, the authors invited faculty members, staff members, and administrators from minoritized groups to describe their perceptions and experiences, including those associated…

This article examines the experiences of parents of students with disabilities when they shop for schools in Stockholm. It looks at the motivations behind school choice, the kinds and sources of information used and the constraints that parents encounter in the school choice process. The results, based on interviews with parents, demonstrate…

Students in foster care frequently experience barriers that influence their personal, social, and academic success. These challenges may include trauma, abuse, neglect, and loss--all of which influence a student's ability to be successful in school. Combined with these experiences, students in foster care lack the same access to resources and…

This paper examines attempts by a joint Dutch-Afghan capacity development project to bring more gender-responsive elements into the Agricultural High School (AHS) curriculum in the fragile context of Afghanistan. It reviews the gender-specific results of semester-long piloting (including classroom observation and interviews) of the redesigned…