Explores the contribution of cognitive-academic language proficiency to second language acquisition in instructional contexts, using Cummins' concepts of bilingual education. Discusses Albania's educational practices and reviews a joint project by Austrian and Albanian universities that shows how cognitive academic proficiency, along with…

Examines 11 research projects on multilingualism and education in Lebanon, many of which focus on multilingualism and language learning. The research emphasizes three areas: different multicultural aspects of life and communication; specific patterns of multilingual communication (e.g., emphasizing home communication and children's language…

Recent developments in human capital formation theories are particularly relevant to the Gulf and Middle Eastern and North African regions. Discusses recent western reconfigurations of the theory, noting how much local work must be done to reshape theory appropriately in the Middle East and explaining how issues relating to employment, education,…

Examines incentives for remaining in teaching among educators in the Middle East and North Africa. Surveys of teachers in nine countries indicate that school facilities and classrooms are generally in poor conditions, classes are crowded, evaluation or supervision of instruction is almost nonexistent, and inservice training is ineffective.…

Introduces a theme issue that focuses on special and inclusive education in the Mediterranean region, describing special, integrated, and inclusive education and explaining that the collection of papers addresses diversity in the disciplines represented, methodology followed, terminology used, and philosophies outlined. (SM)

Examines the past, present and future of special education in Turkey, focusing on legislation and attitudes within Turkish society. The paper discusses governmental and official provisions initiated and developed in relation to the needs and demands of people with special needs, describes societal perspectives and attitudes toward people with…

Describes education and special education in Spain, examining different views on deafness among hearing and deaf people and noting educational models for deaf students (oralism versus bilingualism). Presents a vision of education for deaf people, focusing on the fact that teachers and administrators have a very early, intense role in the lives of…

Analyzes the discourse used when dealing with educational integration via legislation, highlighting philosophical and political solutions used as the basis for new legislation regarding education for children with special needs in Slovenia. Emphasizes the importance of considering parent, teacher, and student attitudes toward inclusive education…

Examines recent developments in Malta's inclusive education policy, discourse, and practice, noting the influence of United Nations policies, local political developments, parent associations, a National Commission for Persons with Disabilities, and a nongovernmental organization for persons with developmental disabilities. Discusses the…

Describes Israel's special education system and educational legislation, focusing on changes in special education concepts and ideological perceptions, systemic structural changes locally and nationally, and curricular and intervention perspectives. Examines diverse solutions for resolving the conflict between providing the most supports and…

Investigated the personality traits of Greek mothers of children with special needs, examining whether participation in parent support groups and sharing the care of the child with others would affect self-esteem, coping, and depression. Overall, mothers who received social support and help with care of the child had increased self-esteem,…

Presents a case study illustrating the educational turmoil faced by a child with special needs in Cyprus, focusing on the failure of the system in a country that does not provide adequate support for special needs children and their families. The study challenges assumptions about existing partnerships between home and school and notes the unequal…

The central messages of this paper are that (a) unequal variances may be more prevalent than typically imagined in educational and policy research, and (b) when considering tests of equal variances one needs to be cautious about what is being referred to as "Levene's test" because Levene's test is actually a family of techniques. Depending on…

What role does a person's support for local educational control play in determining her attitude towards equity-minded school finance reform? This article reports estimations of binary and ordered probit models of two state public opinion polls and discusses newspaper coverage from the same two states to determine if and how local control has such…

Over the last three decades 45 states have been confronted with school finance lawsuits. This phenomenon has led to a proliferation of school funding equity studies. However, to date, most studies of the equity of state school finance systems have focused on differences in expenditures between school districts. More recent research has found…