Given the interdisciplinary influences on school psychology along with its requirement to comply with federal and state law in the United States, scientific progress in the area of cognitive assessment and specific learning disabilities (SLD) identification has experienced slow, if not stagnant, progress. Extrapolation of research from one…

This article examines how recent policy reforms in Nova Scotia, Canada, encouraged and constrained distributed leadership in the provincial public education system. The study found the language of newly enacted legislation and policies encouraged distributed leadership by endorsing collaborative team processes for school improvement and special…

Recently, the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) reported that although countries around the world must ensure that students with disabilities receive free, inclusive, and appropriate education, students with disabilities are less likely to complete primary or secondary school in many countries. Though this…

This paper deals with foreign experience of implementing inclusive education for children with special educational needs in the United States and Canada. Legal documents on inclusive education in foreign countries have been analyzed. The most relevant topic of American and Canadian scholars' researches on reforming special education is related to…

Canada prides itself for being multi-cultural, valuing diversity, and having educational outcomes that have been identified as excellent and equitable with above average performance and lower than average impact of socio-economic status and immigrant status in PISA. The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, plus policies concerning child care,…

This paper examines Special Education Tribunals, in Ontario, Canada through a Luhmannian theoretical lens. At total of 58 Special Education Tribunal summary hearings were analyzed using the constant comparative method through NVivo software. The results revealed that these Tribunals appear to favour the assessment testimony of teachers and other…

The Identification, Placement, and Review Committee (IPRC) process has been long established within Ontario special education practice and provincial legislation. Borne out of advocacy for advancing the right to education for children with disabilities, the IPRC process is now being critically explored as to whether the process itself creates an…

An often-used idiom states: "you can't lose what you never had." Yet contrary to this expression, it "is" possible to lose what you never had--at least when special education support is concerned. In Ontario, as in other jurisdictions, special education exists as a codified system. An ever-changing nexus of discourses and…

This article reviews the historical context in which Canadian legislation and policy for children with special needs has evolved. The potential for the rights of students with special needs in light of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms is outlined. The role of the Federal and Provincial governments in legislation and policy vis-à-vis…

Educational policies and practices are influenced by cultural, political, and economic factors, and this is also true of specialized educational approaches such as gifted education. Factors such as a country's cultural tendency toward egalitarianism or meritocracy, whether the political system is centralized or decentralized, and the degree to…

While the geographic landscape of Manitoba has changed very little since the last review of school psychology in Manitoba was published 15 years ago, the school psychology landscape here has changed considerably, and we continue to be alive, well, and flourishing. Two previous articles in the "Canadian Journal of School Psychology"…

The volume provides a comprehensive discussion of special education from across the globe. The volume includes chapters from major countries such as United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Russia and Japan as well as countries such as Nigeria, Israel and Pakistan. Discussions related to these countries will include information on origins of special…

This paper provides a synthesis of educational reforms in Canadian schools over the past century to present times. The unique emphasis is to document the broad movements of change in both special and regular education. We begin our analysis with a detailed discussion on the many meanings of school restructuring and highlight the ongoing nature of…

Policy documents related to gifted education and 18 forms of accelerated learning practices were collected from all Canadian provinces and territories. Where they were found, policies continue to be permissive and flexible. "Explicit" support for gifted education and acceleration was strongest in Alberta, British Columbia, New Brunswick,…

This purpose of this paper is to provide a theoretical foundation for inclusion in Canadian schools for this Special Issue on Inclusive Education. In response to the need for an interdisciplinary framework, this paper uses an interpretive literature review methodology to construct a framework for educational inclusivity based on four disciplinary…