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Special Education is defined as specially planned instruction that meets the needs of students with special needs and disabilities. Special needs is a term that relates to specific learning disabilities, and disability is a term that relates to physical and mental inabilities. In Education, and for the purposes of this paper, the terms are used interchangeably. Prior to the late 1960s and early 1970s, students with special needs did not have the right to special Education in the United States. Through parental advocacy groups, creation of laws began to emerge to protect students' rights to fare and appropriate Education. However, despite the legislation, the association of stigmas with inclusive Education continues to cause debate among those who support the idea that students with special needs have a right to quality education delivered by special education instructors in separate classrooms and those who support the idea that all students should have the opportunity to learn together in inclusive classrooms. The attitudes toward inclusive Education, comprehensive teaching practices, and resources are essential factors for implementing inclusion in classrooms. The rise of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is minimizing stigmas by promoting equality and individualized learning. AI focuses on areas of development to support students with special needs and therefore enables them to compete with their peers in regular classrooms. Research suggests AI can identify learning difficulties that may lead to students obtaining a diagnosis and receiving tailored support in a timelier manner. AI supports students with special needs in various categories, such as reading, writing, spelling, and math skills. As parents, students, and educators gain interest in the potential of AI in Education, there are still ethical concerns regarding the use of AI. Studies show that 89% of parents and 85% of students support having clear school guidelines on AI technologies. Despite the concerns, AI continues to increase classroom inclusivity and enables all students to attain academic achievement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, as a result of international treaties and domestic legislation, children's rights have moved to centre stage. In Scotland, under the terms of the Education (Scotland) Act 2016, those with additional support needs and disabilities (ASND) enjoy enhanced and legally enforceable rights, described by the Scottish Government as the most progressive children's rights regime in Europe. This paper assesses the extent to which children's rights have been prioritised during the COVID-19 crisis. Evidence is drawn from a qualitative study of the experiences of 16 families including a child with ASND during June and July 2020. We conclude that, particularly in the early days of the lockdown, scant regard was paid to the rights of children with ASND as education and care services were suddenly withdrawn. Existing inequalities were exacerbated, such as unequal access to IT, varying levels of support and differences in family resources. Families also reported some positive experiences, such as enjoying more time together and a release from school-generated stress. The paper concludes by arguing that the hiatus in educational provision is likely to have a negative impact on the educational progress and wellbeing of children with ASND, which will take determined efforts to rectify in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes daily report cards and the evidence relating to their use in schools for children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). This intervention typically involves teachers evaluating a student's behaviour at school against pre-determined targets and parents subsequently providing reinforcement at home for positive reports. Research suggests that the daily report card has been effective in treating a range of ADHD symptoms and improving school outcomes, including academic achievement in some cases. The daily report card also encourages collaboration between teachers and parents, and evidence suggests that the intervention benefits from the inclusion of reinforcement at home. Daily report cards are easy to implement and research finds that teachers consider them an acceptable intervention for ADHD. This paper also considers challenges in using daily report cards, including barriers to their use over the long-term and the risk of stigma for children with a report card. Ideas to address these issues are suggested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Developmental disabilities in children can be challenging to the family who desires a spiritual home for their family. Parents may hesitate to bring a special needs child to a church service, uncertain of the outcome. While public schools have amazing support for the differently abled, the Church very rarely has assistance in place for the families of handicapped individuals, let alone theology for the parents of mentally disabled children. This paper will examine possible ways for a local church leader or volunteer to educate children with mental disabilities, drawing on a variety of texts for support. The paper will conclude by offering resources for the teachers of special needs children in church education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper seeks to compare the evolution of inclusive education policy in the four countries of an EU-funded research project (QualiTYDES) operating under the shared policy environment of the UN, EU and European Commission. A shared policy cannot of course be assumed to result in common legislative or provisional outcomes at national level. The different sociocultural, political, historical and economic contexts in each country shape its journey towards ‘compliance’ with an international convention (both pre- and post-ratification), and neither the route nor the destination can be assumed to be shared, given the scope for different interpretations of the same texts. This paper places the implementation trajectories of four European countries side by side as they attempt to move towards ‘inclusive’ education systems. Following a brief overview of the international education policy environment relating to the education of people with disabilities, we describe the national education policy responses in Ireland, Austria, Spain and Czech Republic in recent decades, including both legislation pertaining to special educational need and implementation of policies in practice. The comparison highlights the different manifestations of inclusive education current in each country, and also explores the challenges which have arisen as individual countries attempt to align international policy with provision in existing education systems, each with their own legacy interests, pressures and priorities. Examples of ‘gaps’ in this alignment are where learners with disabilities/SEN are likely to be failed, and represent the critical points at which barriers to fully inclusive education arise and negatively impact opportunity over the life course. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper reports on a research project on information and communication technology (ICT)-based dynamic assessment. The project aims to reveal the mathematical potential of students in special education. The focus is on a topic that is generally recognised as rather difficult for weak students: subtraction up to 100 with crossing the ten. The students involved in the project were 8-12 years old. Their mathematical level was one to four years behind the level of their peer group in regular schools. In special education, teachers often use standardised written tests to assess their students' mathematical understanding and computational skills. These tests do not allow students to use auxiliary resources. In the research project, an assessment instrument was developed and used in which items taken from a standardised written test were placed in an ICT environment. The digitised items were enriched with an optional auxiliary tool that students could use for solving the problems. Currently, two sub-studies, investigating two different auxiliary tools for the same set of subtraction problems, have been completed. In the first study (n = 37), the tool provided students with digital manipulatives. In the second study (n = 43), an empty number line was included in the ICT environment. In both studies the students' scores in the ICT version of the test items were compared with the standardised written version of the test items. The results of both sub-studies show that the students could benefit from using an auxiliary tool. Consequently, the ICT-based dynamic assessment could help to reveal weak students' potential in subtraction. In addition, the studies disclosed that in the manipulatives study there was a clear preference for direct subtraction procedures (taking away), whereas in the number line study indirect addition or subtraction procedures (e.g. adding on) were frequently used as well. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is part of one of the extension projects carried out by the Chair of Clinical Psychopedagogy, University of Comahue together with some professionals from the Technical Team of Pedagogic Support (Rio Negro's Board of Education) with the aim of focusing on that part of the students' population, which was not receiving support from these teams and was labeled "'With Special Educational Needs'. Upon revision of the current legislation and after completion of the first interventions carried out (interviews to principals and teachers and class observations) we became aware of the need to focus on the particularities of teaching those students that show learning difficulties and do not receive attention from specialized teachers. What is the place that these students are offered? This paper introduces some considerations in relation to key points regarding teaching children with learning difficulties. The role of teachers and children, and the need to consider diversity issues, among other variables, are explored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In many western countries, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has achieved celebrity status, such that it probably no longer requires introduction. The disorder is a global phenomenon, spreading rapidly as result of the increasing dominance internationally of US psychiatric models, the need for new markets for major pharmaceutical companies, increasing use of the internet by parents and professionals and changing approaches to schooling. There is a broad consensus among international experts and organisations that ADHD is a genuine neurodevelopmental disorder based on empirical research. However, many critics have questioned the legitimacy of ADHD. This paper reviews the arguments for and against the ADHD construct. First, the review examines the literature and research endorsing ADHD as a 'real' disorder. Second, the criticisms levelled against the ADHD construct are examined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we examine different aspects of the inclusion debate, including how it has been shaped by the political context in England over the past 30 years. We then give consideration to the key argument that has dominated the inclusion agenda over the last decade: should effective inclusion be considered only as placement in mainstream school settings, or can one consider inclusion in a specialist placement as successful? Research studies examining the views of children, parents and teaching staff are also discussed. Consideration is given as to whether a 'universalist' view of inclusion (in which special schools should not be offered) is one that is feasible and desirable. The key arguments highlighted include those relating to 'quality' in education, academic and social inclusion, human rights, parental choice and teachers' attitudes and skills. The role of some professional groups in supporting inclusion, such as educational psychologists ( EPs) and Special Educational Needs Coordinators ( SENCos), is also examined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many adults with special needs, who did not finish high school, complete a GED® credential to go to college. As they prepare to transition, they may encounter barriers and likely require supports to succeed in college. The purpose of this qualitative research paper is to describe the college prospects of transitioning adults with a GED credential and special needs, in terms of characteristics, challenges, attributes, and supports. Findings emerged from qualitative interviews of GED passers in the recent Perceptions and Pathways research project. Tenacity motivated many interviewees toward resilience. Enrollees with special needs valued encouragement from a family member or an instructor during their college experience. The article concludes with interviewee and researcher recommendations for adult education programs and colleges to support transitioning adults. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Code of Practice of the Department for Education (1994) establishes the role of special educational needs coordinator (SENCO) to help facilitate the inclusion of pupils with special educational needs (SEN) in mainstream schools. SENCOs, thus, should form an integral part of the culture of all departments, including physical education (PE). This paper draws on the concept of hegemony to examine the processes and practices that shape the experiences and views of SENCOs and ultimately, the extent to which they facilitate an inclusive culture in PE. Our findings, generated via an online survey, suggested that most SENCOs are not a part of the senior management team (SMT) and do not have control of the SEN budget. The majority of SENCOs acknowledge, and often reinforce, the hegemonic status of English, mathematics and science vis-à-vis the prioritisation of SEN resources, which may constrain the ability of teachers to provide meaningful experiences for pupils with SEN in other subjects, such as PE. While 93% of SENCOs did not have PE-specific training for their role, 52% suggested that the learning support assistants (LSAs) in their school are not adequately trained to include pupils with SEN in PE. This is perhaps surprising, given that it is SENCOs themselves who are largely responsible for the training of LSAs. In conclusion, from the evidence provided by SENCOs, PE does not appear to constitute a significant dimension of their training programmes and SENCOs themselves may further subordinate PE, in the process of training LSAs. This may call into question the ability of both SENCOs and LSAs to contribute to the cultivation of an inclusive culture in PE. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This project aimed to create a descriptive map of international research which explores the notion of the continuum of educational provision for children with special educational needs. It also aimed to determine and examine the nature of how the continuum of provision is conceptualised, operationalised and enacted in a sample of selected countries. Commissioned by the National Council for Special Education, it also identified implications for the development of provision within the Irish context. The research involved a systematic identification and thematic review of theory, identifying and examining literature associated with the conceptualisation of the continuum; it examined the policy and provision across 55 administrations as publically reported, primarily to international agencies; it carried out more detailed examination of policy and practice in 10 countries using a survey and vignette study; and it involved a series of interviews with a range of individuals in a range of settings in four countries with differing approaches to supporting children with special educational needs. This paper outlines the overall findings of the research. It focuses in particular upon the need to change how we think about provision associated with continua, recognising the lack of international coherence in approaches to support for pupils with special educational needs. It identifies in particular the opportunities presented by a reconceptualisation of the class and the management of class resources, and the role key personnel can play in creating links between diverse services. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Background: Service learning (SL) is a collaborative relationship between university professors, their students, and community partners who combine academic learning and active participation to address community issues. Previous studies in SL and physical education teacher education (PETE) found SL projects increased opportunities for learning and applying pedagogical methods, prepared PETE students to teach children from diverse backgrounds, and promoted an understanding of individual teaching responsibilities. Given the number of PETE university programs in SL emerged over the past decade, minimal research has supported the specific use of SL in PETE.  It was suggested that PETE programs provided content knowledge and pedagogical strategies to deal effectively with immediate instructional challenges but paid less attention to anticipate future challenges through student teaching experiences. A SL project for children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) was designed which enabled PETE students to learn how to manage behavior while teaching physical education. Purpose: To explore the experiences of PETE students in a SL project for children with ADHD. Participants and setting: Four female and two male PETE students were the participants in this study which investigated their project experiences in SL at a major mental health institute in a large urban Canadian city. Research design: A phenomenological approach was used to describe the lived experiences of PETE students in the SL project. Data gathering: Individual semi-structured interviews were conducted and videotaped to acquire rich and deep knowledge of PETE students’ SL experience. Each student was requested to bring unit plans, lesson plans, written reflections, and final term papers to enhance the interview process. Data analysis: Each interview was transcribed verbatim and a line-by-line thematic analysis was performed. Findings: Three higher-order themes emerged from thematic analysis. The ‘where have I been’ theme suggested past teaching and community work experiences shaped decisions to become physical educators. The ‘it's all about caring’ theme involved reduction of stigma linked to teaching children with ADHD and merging theory and practice through application of instructional models and deliberate lesson plans. The ‘teaching to play’ theme revealed various benefits linked to PETE student participation in SL and challenges inherent with team teaching. Conclusions: Future research recommendations include capturing the experiences of other participants in the SL project for children with ADHD to gain much greater insight into the whole SL experience and help to shape future projects. Much research remains to be performed in SL and adapted physical education (APE) or local community recreation centers where students from allied health disciplines could participate together. A variety of different qualitative research approaches were also recommended to explore participant experiences in SL projects. Similar SL projects, conducted in multidisciplinary environments, may also be exciting new venues for PETE programs. Finally, the participants’ stories led us to suggest that SL is a contemporary pedagogy that addresses calls  for the development of caring pedagogies that prepare future teachers for the realities and challenges of a changing world. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Describing students with disabilities as presenting ‘challenging behaviour’ is common in US schools. The purpose of this paper is to reveal the discourse utilised by teachers in order to understand their beliefs and practices surrounding young students considered to present challenging behaviour. This study examines teachers’ language in four ways: which discourses they draw from, the consequences of engaging in the discourse on practice, what maintains the use of such discourse and finally the possibilities for change. The critical discourse analysis unpacked that teachers begin labelling the students as challenging, not the behaviour. Consequences of this thinking emerged as teachers excluded the students, or what they consider ‘the problems’ from the classroom. Exclusion was found to be the ‘necessary’ response when control is prioritised in the classroom. In sum, the discourse of control is available for shaping how teachers understand and support students. Developing a relationship with students empowers teachers to see past the labels, the control discourse, and truly support students in inclusive classrooms. Finally, implications for practice are shared to improve the experience of inclusive education for both student and teacher. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Leaders within education must weigh a number of fundamentals as they engage the needs of the stakeholders they represent within the political, social and economic context they operate within. Leaders must consider the unique needs and capabilities of individuals who might not possess similar abilities or talents to those of the majority. In this paper, we explore the capability approach as a frame to consider such contextual fundamentals in inclusive education leadership. In order to examine how educational leaders address the diverse needs of the groups they serve, we interviewed five central office educational administrators in the USA with the responsibility for leading programming for students with special needs. Using a human capabilities frame, we developed targeted questions to determine whether school leaders uphold the tenets of this theoretical foundation within their district's practices in an era of tight fiscal management and accountability. Findings indicate that those leaders whose districts had the highest level of inclusion for most students, including students with significant disabilities, most closely align with the capability approach. Recommendations for continued research and implications for both practice and policy are included. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

With moves towards inclusive education, there are demands for developments in initial teacher education as regards special needs and inclusive education. This paper outlines initial training in England within an international context. It then reports findings of a recent national survey of Programme directors and subject tutors of Post Graduate Certificate in Education programmes (PGCE) for primary and secondary teachers about the initial training provision in this aspect teaching. The main findings are about varied practices across placement schools, the commitment to the training partnership, coordination problems across the partnership and organising teaching experience of pupils with SEN. The implications of the study are also discussed in national and international terms. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The paper examines variations in the extent of special education needs (SEN) in different socio-economic contexts, drawing on data from 46 English primary schools. It examines the implications of variations in SEN for individual pupils and for school organisation and processes. It reviews funding allocations for SEN and what they mean for the provision of support in different settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper attempts to illuminate a central concept and idea in special education discourse, namely, 'special needs'. It analyses philosophically what needs are and on what grounds they are defined as 'special' or 'exceptional'. It also discusses whether sorting needs into ordinary and special is discriminatory. It is argued that individualistic tendency in special need rhetoric has serious shortcomings, although it does not inevitably lead to discrimination against those with 'special needs'. Improving individuals' capabilities as well as social conditions are the means to create societies and schools which are inclusive, and which put justice into practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Preservice teachers have indicated that they are somewhat less comfortable working with students with disabilities. Research shows that curricular modifications in teacher education pro grams would enable preservice teachers to be more prepared for classrooms that include students with disabilities. Much of the work in teacher education dealing with preparing teaching candidates for working with students with disabilities has focused on attitudes and program revision. This paper is a preliminary look to determine the need for further study of anxiety levels of preservice teachers in physical education before and during lessons with students with and without disabilities. Preliminary findings suggest that more research is needed that focuses on preservice teaching performance and other outcomes in lessons with students with disabilities. Additionally, it is recommended that teacher education programs construct a systematic structure to track anxiety levels as they relate to teaching performance in clinical teaching experiences with students with disabilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports a study aimed at revealing special-educational-needs pupils' learning potential by means of an ICT-based assessment including a dynamic visual tool that might help pupils when solving mathematics problems. The study focused on subtraction problems up to 100, which require ‘borrowing’. These problems, in which the value of the ones-digit of the subtrahend is larger than the ones-digit of the minuend, are known as a serious difficulty for weak pupils in mathematics. Seven of such problems from a standardised test were placed in the ICT environment. Data were collected from two test conditions: the standardised written test format and the ICT version of the test items including the tool that provided pupils with a set of virtual manipulatives. The 37 pupils involved in the study were 8–12 years old and from two special-education schools in the Netherlands. Comparison of the performance scores in the two formats showed that an ICT-based assessment format, including a dynamic visual tool, can reveal weak pupils' learning potential and strategy use. The study also pointed out that ‘partial-tool use’, ie, not carrying out the complete subtraction operation with the tool, can provide sufficient support to find the correct answer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper, while broadly arguing in favour of the common school, nonetheless accepts the possibility of distinct specialist institutions in the later years of secondary schooling. It also argues for a careful distinction between a comprehensive school and a comprehensive classroom; further distinguishing between grouping by reference to alleged overall or all-round ability (‘streaming’) and grouping by reference to current preparedness for particular studies (‘setting’). It favours the latter and is critical of a policy of inclusion that tends towards the placing of students with special needs in the regular classroom. It argues throughout that practice and policy must be based on educational rather than social grounds, should they be in conflict. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the contemporary Swedish school the model student should be able to take responsibility for and carry out her/his schoolwork autonomously. Free choices in education have also increased, and equality in this context is no longer, as before, synonymous with the standardization of schooling. The abandoning of the national timetable for a trial period in a large number of Swedish schools was representative of these tendencies. Another guiding principle for policy-makers is the formation of an inclusive school, where every student is able to experience participation and community, as well as having the chance to learn. This paper focuses on students with special educational needs in four schools that have abandoned the national timetable for a trial period of five years. Is the pedagogical process in these schools productive or counterproductive as regards the aim of creating truly inclusive educational environments? Which students are able to meet the required standards of self-discipline, responsibility and autonomy, and which are not? Such questions relate, among other things, to students' ability to carry out schoolwork in the time allotted, make good use of time, etc. Special education teachers and students have been interviewed regarding these questions. The students were divided into groups according to whether or not, in the opinion of their teachers, they made good use of their time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Do young men and women diagnosed with special educational needs succeed in finding full-time employment that provides sufficient income to live on? The analyses presented in this paper are based on interviews conducted between October 2001 and April 2002 of nearly 500 young people with various types of disabilities. The young people who were interviewed have been studied prospectively since they entered upper secondary school as special needs students six or seven years earlier. These adolescents are followed through a critical phase of life when they are trying to find their way in society as adult individuals. This process is gradual and involves making tentative steps in various arenas. A crucial topic is how these young men and women, between 23 and 25 years of age, succeed in gaining employment that allows them to become economically independent. This is a vulnerable process for most youth, but it is especially challenging for young people with functional difficulties who have experienced protracted and disjointed transitions throughout their educational trajectories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In her recent pamphlet Special Educational Needs: a new look (2005) Mary Warnock has called for a radical review of special needs education and a substantial reconsideration of the assumptions upon which the current educational framework is based. The latter, she maintains, is hindered by a contradiction between the intention to treat all learners as the same and that of responding adequately to the needs arising from their individual differences. The tension highlighted by Warnock, which is central to the debate in special and inclusive education, is also referred to as the ‘dilemma of difference’. This consists in the seemingly unavoidable choice between, on the one hand, identifying children's differences in order to provide for them differentially, with the risk of labelling and dividing, and, on the other, accentuating the ‘sameness’ and offering common provision, with the risk of not making available what is relevant to, and needed by, individual children. In this paper, I argue that the capability approach developed by Amartya Sen provides an innovative and important perspective for re-examining the dilemma of difference in significant ways. In particular, I maintain that reconceptualising disability and special needs through the capability approach makes possible the overcoming of the tension at the core of the dilemma of difference, whilst at the same time inscribing the debate within an ethical, normative framework based upon justice and equality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]