This study approaches inclusive schools by looking at how conditions for participation are expressed for pupils with additional support needs in education policy documents in Sweden and Scotland. By using five dimensions of the environment--availability, accessibility, affordability, accommodability and acceptability--expressions of conditions for…

Under the aegis of inclusion, greater numbers of learning support assistants (LSAs) in mainstream and special schools are increasingly required to assist teachers with pupils who have complex needs across the full age range. Because of the numerous and wide-ranging learning difficulties and learning disabilities in addition to sensory impairment,…

The importance of storytelling in social, cultural and educational contexts is well established and documented. The extension of storytelling to people with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities (PIMD) has in recent years been undertaken with an emphasis on the value of sensory experience and the context storytelling provides for social…

During the last few years, across Europe, special education has been orientated towards an inclusive model. Accordingly, in Greece, special education functions as an integral part of general education. However, few studies have investigated how children in the mainstream school understand diversity issues and specifically learning difficulties.…

This article reports the latest phase of research in the "Sounds of intent" project, which is seeking, as a long-term goal, to map musical development in children and young people with severe, or profound and multiple learning difficulties (SLD or PMLD). Previous exploratory work had resulted in a framework of six putative music-developmental…

In this article, 3 concerns voiced by legal analysts and advocates for students with disabilities regarding charter schools are reviewed, the extent of special education services in charter schools in Texas is reported, and the validity of those concerns is examined. Data submitted to the Texas Public Education Information Management System were…

The 1997 amendments to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act required states to provide access to the general curriculum and alternate assessments for students with disabilities who were unable to participate in statewide assessments. For this study, we examined the curricular focus of alternate assessments using performance indicators…

This article examines the policies and implementation of and barriers to integration within the parallel system of general and special education in Hong Kong. The article begins with a discussion of the history, organization, and current status of special education. Then, policies supporting integration and efforts to implement integration are…

Long-term follow-up information on children who have participated in early childhood special education (ECSE) has seldom been available. In the present study, the cognitive and academic performance of 171 thirteen-year-old graduates of 2 ECSE curricula is examined. Although preschool cognitive measures continued to predict later performance…

This study examined the perspectives of parents of children with specific speech and language difficulties in the United Kingdom and described the issues they raised when considering provision to meet their children's needs. The study used a mixed-methods approach. Data from interviews were analyzed using a computer-based qualitative interview…

The shortage of fully certified special education teachers, which has been described as severe, chronic, and pervasive, threatens the quality of educational services that students with disabilities receive. Over the last decade, researchers have investigated the magnitude of the special education teacher shortage problem and factors that…

The need for special education teachers from culturally and/or linguistically diverse (CLD) backgrounds has become a national concern. The majority of school districts nationwide list the recruitment and retention of teachers from diverse backgrounds as a priority. Many cite difficulties with finding adequate personnel, a problem that is…

In the authors' response to the other articles in this special series, they acknowledge the dilemma that chronic teacher shortages and recent demands for a quality teacher for every child pose for securing sufficient numbers of special educators. We provide information about current policies and programs that states and districts are implementing…

The lack of qualified special education teachers threatens the quality of education that students with disabilities receive. Attrition plays a part in the teacher shortage problem, and efforts to improve retention must be informed by an understanding of the factors that contribute to attrition. Specifically, the author provides a thematic analysis…

There is a critical shortage of special education teachers in the United States. This shortage is chronic and severe and exists in every geographic region of the nation. This article provides an analysis of factors influencing the supply of and demand for special education teachers. Initially, the magnitude of this shortage is addressed,…