Schools and districts have long grappled with race- and disability-based exclusionary discipline inequities. Research on the topic has uncovered a variety of systems that maintain such disparities, including school policies and practices that exacerbate the problem. Researchers and practitioners have increasingly considered school context and…

The role of social work education is to prepare students to work with individuals, families, and communities, many of whom have one or more disabilities. Yet most social work programs include limited disability-specific content in their programs, and with a deficit-model focus. Recent changes in the National Association of Social Workers Code of…

Racial disproportionality in special education is a deep seated and complex educational inequity plaguing the United States educational system. In this article we outline how the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, although a civil rights based legislation, cannot sufficiently address racially disproportionate outcomes in special…

Schools should be safe, nurturing, and welcoming environments for all students. Frequently, exclusionary school discipline practices, which remove students from the classroom--even for minor infractions of school rules--through suspension or expulsion, prevent students from participating fully in their education. Suspensions, expulsions, and other…

Response to Intervention (RTI) is a process by which schools identify students with disabilities using research-based interventions. As schools across the United States struggle to redefine district structures and processes required for RTI, special education administrators have become primarily responsible for implementation. Research describing…

The government in Hong Kong has mandated that all schools should start to accept children with special educational needs by employing a whole school approach. This is not a simple move for teachers as inclusive education is complex, involving a range of issues including developing appropriate government and school policy; providing relevant…

A study investigated inclusion policies and practices of 12 British local education authorities (LEAs). Results found six overlapping and interconnecting themes that seem to be crucial to the development of more inclusive practices within LEAs: policy development, funding strategies, process and structures, the management of change, partnerships,…

This guide is intended to help schools in the United Kingdom move toward greater inclusion of students with disabilities or other special educational needs in regular programs, with appropriate support. Following an introduction, which encourages local education agencies (LEAs) to move towards "inclusive" policies and practices, the…

This guide is designed to facilitate the debating of local policy options in school restructuring which have implications for the education of students with disabilities and other learners with special needs. The guide summarizes special education issues and policy options described more fully in preceding booklets and then asks the reader to…