In this webinar, Dr. Joyce Epstein, Director of the Center on School, Family, and Community Partnerships and the National Network of Partnership Schools, discussed what the research says about effective family engagement. The webinar and PowerPoint presentation are also available. A brief list of resources is included.

This article explains principles of cooperative teaching using the analogy of a "team effort" to include special needs students within the general education classroom. Columns contrast "what it isn't" and "what it is" for the following aspects of cooperative teaching: (1) establishing the ground rules (e.g., it's not…

This article compares two educational approaches, intensive-explicit instruction and constructivist instruction, considering how both can affect instruction for students with disabilities. It concludes by urging the integration of these two approaches, possibly by using models focused on the transformation of explicit knowledge into tacit…

This article views differentiation as the process of identifying, with each learner, the most effective strategies for achieving agreed targets. It presents 10 elements of differentiation in special education, such as differentiation is multidimensional; differentiation is diagnostic; differentiation challenges classroom relationships; and…

This paper presents an overview of distance education technologies and a discussion of the potential benefits and abuses for special education of interactive television distance education. Technologies described include microcomputer systems, satellite transmission, and telephone lines as media transmitters. (Author/DB)

The article looks at two competing psychological theories, the componential and the constructivist, and the implications of each for the use of computers in reading instruction. The concept of "contextualization" as a basis for integrating the two approaches into a model of computer use in the special education classroom is proposed. (Author/DB)

The mainstreaming concept has dramatically changed the lives of enumerable special needs children in positive ways but in some cases has become a travesty as it is extended beyond its logical limits. Developmental appropriateness is the pivotal priority in the education of children, especially those with severe/profound mental disabilities. (JDD)

This newsletter theme issue focuses on issues in including students with disabilities in regular education. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act calls for students to be placed in the least restrictive environment, which is presumed by some educators to be the regular classroom. The drawbacks of separate programs are not felt to be…

This commentary on EC 605 995 argues that rendering services to students with disabilities in general education does not preclude future problems; general education is not equipped to deal with great student diversity; and training needs should be addressed through special education, community-based education, employment preparation, transition…

This keynote address argues that some efforts of early educational programs have, themselves, led to new risks for children. Issues discussed include the confusion between culture and development, services to poor children and families, and segregating young children with special needs. (JDD)

This response to Detterman and Thompson (1997) analyzes their criticisms of special education and presents evidence of the effectiveness of current instructional techniques for children with disabilities in contrast with the cognitive approaches favored by Detterman and Thompson. Assumptions about the significance of intelligence testing and…

The goal of the Hamilton and Waterloo Catholic School Boards in Ontario, Canada, is to meet the needs of all children, in ordinary, age-appropriate classes in neighborhood schools. This report focuses on this approach of teaching students and disabilities, terming it "full inclusion." The report describes local school board policy and…

This commentary on an earlier paper (EC 230 267) notes that the debate on the regular education initiative (REI) should focus on the future, teachers should become personalizers of curriculum and instruction, classroom teachers are one member of an interdependent teaching team, and an adhocracy should be developed among educators of all…

In this speech, the Secretary of Education identifies characteristics and principles common to all good schools including strong institutional and instructional leadership, a safe and orderly learning environment, teaching of the basics, high expectations, assessment of student progress, and accountability. Such principles are seen to apply…

Discussion of special education at the turn of the century raises concerns about the abandonment of core values and professional responsibility (as in the emphasis on general rather than special education), adoption of methodologies (such as co-teaching) without any evidence of effectiveness, and a "one size fits all" approach (inclusion of…