Description
Education is driven by excellence and equity for all students. There is a tenuous balance, however, between society’s desire to provide special education services and its ability to pay for them. Authors Jim Ysseldyke and Bob Algozzine examine the current educational landscape, focusing on the delivery of cost-effective, quality services to exceptional students. Public Policy, School Reform, and Special Education demonstrates how and why special education services are driven more by social, political, and economic factors than by actual changes in education, and the ways in which society’s values and beliefs affect the distribution of limited resources. Special features include: o Key vocabulary terms o Case studies illustrating how social, political and economic factors work together to affect special education practices o A pre-test and post-test to help readers assess their understanding of school reform and restructuring o Helpful books, articles, and organizations for further research and support Jim Ysseldyke, Ph.D., is Birkmaier Professor in the Department of Educational Psychology, director of the School Psychology Program, and director of the Center for Reading Research at the University of Minnesota. Widely requested as a staff developer and conference speaker, Ysseldyke brings more than 30 years of research and teaching experience to educational professionals around the globe. As the former director of the federally funded National Center on Educational Outcomes, Ysseldyke conducted research and provided technical support that helped to boost the academic performance of students with disabilities and improve school assessment techniques nationally. Today, he continues to work to improve the education of students with disabilities. The author of more than 300 publications on special education and school psychology, Ysseldyke is best known for his textbooks on assessment, effective instruction, issues in special education, and other cutting-edge areas of education and school psychology. With A Practical Approach to Special Education for Every Teacher, Ysseldyke seeks to equip educators with practical knowledge and methods that will help them to better engage students in exploring-and meeting-all their potentials. About A Practical Approach to Special Education for Every Teacher Acknowledgements About the Authors Self-Assessment I Introduction to Public Policy, School Reform, and Special Education 1.What Factors Drive Special Education? Social Values Political Factors Economic Factors 2.What Should Every Teacher Know About School Reform? National Education Goals REI and Inclusion Goals 2000 National Standards Opportunity-to-Learn Standards School Restructuring Impact of Reform on Special Education 3.Public Policy and School Reform in Perspective Impact of Laws on Special Education Current Reforms Importance of Teacher Training The Future of Special Education Closing Comments and Parting Thoughts 4. What Have We Learned? Key Points Key Vocabulary Self-Assessment II Answer Key for Self-Assessments On Your Own Resources Books Journals & Articles Organizationa References Index
