Emerging Perspectives on 'African Development': Speaking Differently discusses numerous areas of interest and issues about Africa, including contemporary challenges and possibilities of development. The book critically engages the many ways of presenting 'development,' highlighting the interplay of tradition and modernity as well as contestations over knowledge production in 'post-colonial' Africa. It offers cautionary words to field practitioners, researchers, and social theorists who work in development using language that is easily accessible to laypersons. This book is also for undergraduate and graduate courses on development, global education, rural development, and Africa studies. For readers looking for something new about Africa beyond the old stories of catastrophes and human misery, this book will be indispensable. It demonstrates that even in the face of many failures, tragedies, and suffering, Africa's stories can be told with hope and a sense of possibility.

The Total School Cluster Grouping Model is a specific, research-based, total-school application of cluster grouping combined with differentiation, focused on meeting the needs of students identified as gifted while also improving teaching, learning, and achievement of all students.
This revised and updated second edition of Total School Cluster Grouping and Differentiation includes rationale and research followed by specific steps for developing site-specific applications that will make the important art of differentiation possible by reducing the range of achievement levels in teachers' classrooms. Materials to support staff development-including powerful simulations, evaluation, management, special populations, differentiation strategies, social and emotional needs, and recommended materials-are included.

First published in 1994. This book pays tribute to the many parents and professionals who work and live with people who have learning difficulties. Enabling people with learning difficulties to take control may be achieved in a number of ways, ranging from systematic application of theory in programmes of learning and development, to a largely intuitive response. The Editors hope that the issues and reflections raised in this book will inspire all practitioners to continue to adopt an enquiring attitude towards ways in which people with learning difficulties can exert effective control over the operation of their lives.

One pervasive educational issue is the national underrepresentation of Black and Hispanic students in gifted education. Virtually every school district is grappling with having too few students from these groups identified as gifted and served in gifted classes and programs. Recruiting and Retaining Culturally Different Students in Gifted Education addresses this long-standing national problem through the dual lens of recruitment and retention. The focus is on how to equitably recruit (screen, refer, and/or assess) culturally different students and, just as importantly, to retain them. Recruitment and retention require providing academic, cultural, and social supports to culturally different students and ensuring that educators are willing and able to address issues and barriers. No time is better than now to address and correct the underachievement albatross, and the focus on recruitment and retention holds the greatest promise. Nominated for a 2014 NAACP Image Award in the Outstanding Literary Work-Instructional Category

Seeking a more comprehensive vision for gifted education, this book offers a modern vision of programs and services for gifted and talented students. Beyond Gifted Education: Designing and Implementing Advanced Academic Programs provides the first comprehensive look at designing and implementing advanced academic student programs. Written by four leading experts in the field, Beyond Gifted Education reviews the current range of traditional gifted education practices and policies. Then, the book offers the concerned gifted program coordinator or school administrator a more expansive approach to educating gifted learners. The authors lead readers through the process of identifying needs, responding with programming, and then finding students who are well-suited for and would benefit from advanced academic programming. Detailed examples walk the reader through real-world scenarios and programs common to the gifted coordinator on topics such as cluster grouping, acceleration, and increasing diversity. Throughout the book, connections are made to Common Core State Standards, Response to Intervention, and a wealth of outside research in order to support ideas.

This fascinating text offers a compelling argument for the need to include insider perspectives of disability in teacher education programs, in order to enrich professional understandings and shed light on the reality of living with a disability. With contributions from a highly experienced team of authors from a wide range of educational settings, Bringing Insider Perspectives into Inclusive Teacher Learning includes case studies and research projects on how teacher educators gather, interpret and integrate insider perspectives into teacher education programs, along with practical strategies as to how educators can develop programs more sensitive to the experiences of 'insiders'. Questions addressed include: How do teacher educator researchers gather insider perspectives? What are some of the barriers and challenges involved? What critical experiences and lessons can be learned from teacher educators who have integrated insider perspectives? How can insider perspectives bring about a more meaningful inclusion of students with disabilities? Offering a range of different methodologies to engage students, parents, teachers, school leaders and teacher educators, this thought-provoking book provides practical ideas about how insider perspectives can enhance teacher learning and support greater inclusive practices in schools. This text will be useful to university lecturers, teachers and education specialists, as well as students of educational studies and ITE courses from foundation degree level through to undergraduate and postgraduate study.

This book examines the relationship between learner motivation and cultural contents for the teaching of English as a Foreign Language. It takes Chile as an example of the "Expanding Circle of English", where the 21st century has brought new challenges to English teaching. After providing background information on the presence of English in Latin America and Chile, this qualitative study includes the analysis of curricular frameworks, textbooks and teacher interviews. Conclusions propose an explicit, yet critical inclusion of both motivational strategies and cultural themes into educational and curricular policies, learning materials, and teacher training.

The studies collected in this volume embody the results of research conducted in the mid 1950s into various theoretical problems in international economics. They fall into three groups - comparative cost theory, trade and growth and balance of payments theory. This volume consolidates the work of previous theorists and applies mathematically-based logical analysis to theoretical problems of economic policy.

Polygons Galore! is a mathematics unit for high-ability learners in grades 3-5 focusing on 2-D and 3-D components of geometry by exploring polygons and polyhedra and their properties. The van Hiele levels of geometric understanding provide conceptual underpinnings for unit activities. The unit consists of nine lessons that include student discovery of properties of polygons and polyhedra, investigations for finding areas of triangles and quadrilaterals, study of the Platonic solids, and real-world applications of polygons and polyhedra. It also includes activities related to identifying, comparing, and analyzing polygons by using properties of the polygons; constructing meanings for geometric terms; developing strategies to find areas of specific polygons; identifying and building regular and nonregular polyhedra; and recognizing geometric ideas and relationships as applied in daily life and in other disciplines, such as art. Grades 3-5

This book has received the AESA (American Educational Studies Association) Critics Choice Award 2013. Drawing from rich data, International Struggles for Critical Democratic Education profiles teachers, students, and schools struggling to interrupt the reproduction of social inequalities from one generation to the next. International in its nature, the work collected here illustrates how forces of globalization create greater inequalities, and carefully describes and evaluates efforts to democratize educational opportunities. This text will be useful in undergraduate and graduate courses on diversity and multicultural education, international comparisons, educational studies, as well as graduate courses in sociology of education, critical educational studies, international comparisons, foundations of education, multicultural education, and qualitative research methods.

In recent years, the concept of teachers as researchers in both special and mainstream school settings has become part of our everyday language. Whilst many educational practitioners will see the need for research within their setting, many may not be familiar with the technical elements they believe are required.

Creating Meaningful Inquiry in Inclusive Classrooms shows how practitioners can engage in a wide range of educational research and explores its value to the practice of teaching and learning. It introduces the Accessible Research Cycle (ARC), an understandable and meaningful framework for classroom and school-based inquiry for educators. This supports practitioner inquiry and validates the role of the practitioner as both practitioner and researcher. The book offers guidance to practitioners on how to use the ARC using familiar language with accompanying illustrative examples from inquiry carried out in special educational settings. It promotes meaningful participation within the inquiry process for all students.

As the learner population in all schools is changing and becoming more complex, the role of practitioners in exploring evidence-based educational solutions to meet the educational entitlement of children is essential. In supporting a research informed profession within education, this book will empower practitioners to become the agents of change, helping them to become reflective, strategic, investigative and inquiring practitioners.

In the past few decades, making art has been used in special education classrooms as a way of offering psychic freedom, if not bodily freedom, by providing a partial antidote to the social problems generated in an impoverished environment. The art that has emerged has redeemed the inevitable isolation and loss and become its driving force. Wexler argues that the arts are most effective when they are in service of social growth, critical to identity formation. This book balances theory with practical knowledge and offers critical research that challenges the biases regarding the nature of art and education. It includes case studies, examples of the author's strategies with children and art students, as well as a chapter devoted to lesson plans.

One of the key challenges facing schools today is that of reducing marginalisation amongst pupils in educational contexts. This timely book provides guidance and illustrative examples of the ways in which primary and secondary schools can include all of their students in the academic and social experiences they provide. Developed around a framework that practitioners and researchers can use in order to understand and address marginalisation, the author 's approach takes account of the views of children and young people throughout. This framework consists of a unique four-step process:

• Step 1: Opening doors: Enabling voices to emerge.
• Step 2: Looking closely: Bringing concerns to the surface.
• Step 3: Making sense of the evidence: Sharing data with learners.
• Step 4: Dealing with marginalisation: Encouraging inclusive thinking and practice.

By helping practitioners to reach out to all learners, regardless of the labels assigned to them, the book explains how teachers can make sure that every child matters, and, in so doing, create a classroom that is all the more inclusive. Importantly, the book focuses on all learners, including those who might experience marginalisation but whose voices might have not previously been heard.

Relevant to teachers of pupils of all ages, students on initial teacher education and undergraduate and postgraduate students, this book will also be of interest to researchers and academics who are focusing on the role of children 's voices in promoting inclusive education.

One of the key challenges facing schools today is that of reducing marginalisation amongst pupils in educational contexts. This timely book provides guidance and illustrative examples of the ways in which primary and secondary schools can include all of their students in the academic and social experiences they provide. Developed around a framework that practitioners and researchers can use in order to understand and address marginalisation, the author s approach takes account of the views of children and young people throughout. This framework consists of a unique four-step process:

• Step 1: Opening doors: Enabling voices to emerge.
• Step 2: Looking closely: Bringing concerns to the surface.
• Step 3: Making sense of the evidence: Sharing data with learners.
• Step 4: Dealing with marginalisation: Encouraging inclusive thinking and practice.

By helping practitioners to reach out to all learners, regardless of the labels assigned to them, the book explains how teachers can make sure that every child matters, and, in so doing, create a classroom that is all the more inclusive. Importantly, the book focuses on all learners, including those who might experience marginalisation but whose voices might have not previously been heard.

Relevant to teachers of pupils of all ages, students on initial teacher education and undergraduate and postgraduate students, this book will also be of interest to researchers and academics who are focusing on the role of children s voices in promoting inclusive education.

In this inaugural book in their Inclusive Education for Students with Disabilities series, Michael L. Wehmeyer and Jennifer A. Kurth explore central, defining questions for the field of special and inclusive education: who, what and where do we teach; what works in inclusive education; and where does inclusive education go now? Arguing that the concept of disability for the past fifty years has emphasised students as incapable and incompetent, the authors propose instead to build on a growing understanding that students with disabilities can be successful and meet high expectations, and that educators have the knowledge and skills to achieve this. From this strength-based perspective, the presumption is that disability is part of, and not apart from, typical human functioning. Using this lens, Wehmeyer and Kurth describe effective practices to guide instruction in inclusive settings-practices that begin with a consideration of each student's strengths and capacities, rather than with a diagnosis.

Public relations experts and crisis management personnel have done an excellent job over the years of drawing attention to the grand scope of risks associated with crisis. Particularly in the present challenging economic conditions, organizations have become aware of the costs of crises and are willing to put forth effort and resources in crisis prevention. In this book, the editors and contributors offer significant insight into the critical considerations of crisis preparation as well as the importance of anticipation and pre-crisis planning. Pre-crisis planning has been a part of crisis management ever since scholars and practitioners began researching it. This book presents some of the most detailed and thorough insights published to date and serves as an example of where future research can go.

In today's schools the number of students who receive additional resources to access the curriculum is growing rapidly, and the ongoing expansion of special education is among the most significant worldwide educational developments of the past century. Yet even among developed democracies the range of access varies hugely, from one student in twenty to one student in three. In contemporary conflicts about educational standards and accountability, special education plays a key role as it draws the boundaries between exclusion and inclusion.
"Comparing Special Education" unites in-depth comparative and historical studies with analyses of global trends, with a particular focus on special and inclusive education in the United States, England, France, and Germany. The authors examine the causes and consequences of various institutional and organizational developments, illustrate differences in forms of educational governance and social policy priorities, and highlight the evolution of social logics from segregation of students with special educational needs to their inclusion in local schools.

Moving from primary to post-primary school and moving from post-primary to further/higher education pose significant challenges to many young people. Both transitions force young people toward greater personal autonomy, self-awareness and ideally self-efficacy. For students with Special Educational Needs and/or Disabilities (SEND), these challenges are potentially greater, and continuity in, or access to new, support may be necessary to facilitate these transitions in a manner that gives all students equal opportunities for taking charge of their own lives, including their education. The existing empirical literature on the transitions of students with SEND at these levels is limited. This book reviews the conceptual, policy and research evidence on young people's experiences of these transitions. The book also reports on new research conducted with young people with SEND and relevant stakeholders (including parents, educational professionals and voluntary agencies) involved in these transitions in Ireland. In so doing, the book provides a framework of evidence-based practice that can enable schools and professionals to develop effective and inclusive transition policies and programmes.

Students with mental retardation often struggle tremendously to complete the same tasks that many of their peers do without any difficulty - but with special assistance their struggles to learn can be highly successful. In Teaching Students With Mental Retardation, special and mainstream teachers will find highly effective strategies for enhancing the academic and social skills of students with mental retardation in their classrooms. Offering a pre-test, post-test, and key vocabulary terms, this exceptional resource also discusses: o Common causes of mental retardation such as genetic conditions, problems during pregnancy and birth, and health problems o Diagnosing mental retardation o Cognitive, academic, physical, behavioural, and communication characteristics of mental retardation o Methods for improving the functional academic, social, self-care, and work skills of students with mental retardation o Instructional approaches for students with severe disabilities o Influential trends and issues such as prevention of mental retardation and transitioning from school to work

Should disabled students be in regular classrooms all of the time or some of the time? Is the regular school or the special school or both the solution for educating students with a wide range of differences?

Inclusive education has been incorporated in government education policy around the world. Key international organisations such as UNESCO and OECD declare their commitment to Education for All and the principles and practice of inclusive education. There is no doubt that despite this respectability inclusive education is hotly contested and generates intense debate amongst teachers, parents, researchers and policy-makers. People continue to argue over the nature and extent of inclusion.

The Irregular School explores the foundations of the current controversies and argues that continuing to think in terms of the regular school or the special school obstructs progress towards inclusive education. The book contends that we need to build a better understanding of exclusion, of the foundations of the division between special and regular education, and of school reform as a precondition for more inclusive schooling in the future. Schooling ought to be an apprenticeship in democracy and inclusion is a prerequisite of a democratic education.

The Irregular School builds on existing research and literature to argue for a comprehensive understanding of exclusion, a more innovative and aggressive conception of inclusive education and a genuine commitment to school reform that steps aside from the troubled and troubling notions of regular schools and special schools. It will be of interest to all those working and researching in the field of inclusive education.

For use after the AEPS (R)-3 Test, the AEPS (R)-3 Curriculum is an activity-based, multitiered curriculum that helps professionals support every child's development with differentiated instruction in eight developmental areas: fine motor, gross motor, adaptive, social-emotional, social-communication, cognitive, literacy, and math. This Growing curriculum volume covers skills that typically appear during the toddler years (from 18 months to 3 years of age). Two additional levels, Beginning (for skills typically developing in the first year to 18 months of life) and Ready (covering more complex developmental and early academic skills), are also available. In this volume, professionals will find: a complete introduction to the curriculum's foundations, content, and organization helpful guidelines for selecting goals and outcomes strategies for matching tiered teaching/intervention strategies-universal, focused, and specialized supports-with young children's individual needs instructions on collecting progress monitoring data at each teaching/intervention tier evidence-based strategies for teaching specific developmental skills within 18 typical routines and activities, such as mealtime, naps, toileting, blocks, and art ABOUT AEPS-3 Streamlined and enhanced with user-requested updates, the new AEPS-3 gives your early childhood program the most accurate, useful child data and a proven way to turn data into action across everything you do, from goal setting to teaching to progress monitoring. Use this highly effective and efficient linked system to assess, develop goals, implement instruction/intervention, and monitor progress of every child you work with, from the first months of life through kindergarten. AEPS-3 HELPS YOU: Collect essential assessment data and use it across your key tasks: OSEP reporting, determining eligibility, building IFSPs and IEPs, planning teaching and intervention, monitoring progress, and sharing results with families Track and support emerging skills, where real growth and development happen Link assessment data to a tiered curriculum for designing teaching and intervention strategies that get results Pick up small increments of progress-important when demonstrating growth for children with disabilities Actively involve families, with handouts to support engagement, forms to gather input, and reports to share results Strengthen school readiness for every young child by checking and supporting core skills across all areas of child development, including pre-academic and social-emotional skills Streamline reporting and data management with AEPS (R)i, the user-friendly web-based system There's never been a more effective or efficient system for assessing, tracking, and nurturing the development of every child you work with, from the first months of life through kindergarten.

Covering a wide range of special educational needs and disabilities this book examines the perspectives of teachers, teaching assistants, children and parents with a focus on specific educational aspects, such as curriculum and pedagogy. Referencing recent policy changes in the special needs and inclusive education context, the book offers an introduction to the special needs and inclusive education field for teachers, SEN Coordinators and other allied professionals (e.g. speech and communication therapists, educational psychologists) as well as parents and policy makers, by: * Examining the lived experience of parents, teachers and children/young people with special educational needs/ disability in education * Illustrating some of their experienced tensions and how they deal with them * Exploring the significance of these experiences for policy and practice The book features 12 engaging case studies that are based on in-depth interviews with parents, teachers or teaching assistants and children or young people, exploring their experiences as regards their education. These accounts emphatically highlight positive models of practice as well as negative practices to avoid. In this way the book contributes to the professional learning of teachers and allied professionals. "A critical part of understanding any complex social phenomenon is to listen (really listen) to the views of the stakeholders - the children and young people, the parents and the professional educators. In this thoughtful book, Brahm Norwich, a leading scholar in the field of Disability and Special Educational Needs, faithfully presents these views through 12 insightful case studies. The stories told are direct and share the tensions, dilemmas, balances and dynamics of life. It is a very thought provoking book and an excellent addition to the field." Dr. Graeme Douglas, Professor of Disability and Special Educational Needs, University of Birmingham, UK "An invaluable book about the importance of getting to know each and every child, comprising up to date case studies that contextualise the experiences of 12 learners identified with special educational needs." Professor Lani Florian, Bell Chair of Education, University of Edinburgh, UK "In the era of person-centred planning, this book is a timely and essential key text for both general and specialist practitioners working for children and young people with special educational needs and/ or disability. The structured case study format provides accessible, comprehensive and detailed insights across a range of ages and types of educational placement. Whilst evidence from the individual experiences of children, their families and teachers are its main substance, the book also draws together case study themes, including advice directly given by parents and teachers to the readers. Professor Norwich is to be highly commended for providing this original, scholarly and useful research to the international field of special education." Professor Kevin Woods, Professor of Educational and Child Psychology, University of Manchester, UK "In his new book of 12 case studies of children and young people with a range of special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), Brahm Norwich skilfully presents the perspectives of the young people themselves, their parents, and the teachers and teaching assistants who support them. These careful, illuminating accounts bring to life the realities, complexities, challenges - and also the positive aspects - of the young people themselves and those that care and support them. They remind us all of the importance of seeing each child as an individual. Required reading for all who work with children with SEND." Professor Geoff Lindsay, Centre for Educational Development, Appraisal and Research (CEDAR), University of Warwick, UK

" Autismo?.. Pero mi hijo est sano, brinca, corre, le encanta jugar, r e mucho, es independiente, alegre y muy inteligente Una noticia que no pod a creer ." Es ste el caso de Elda Reyes Casta n, la autora del presente relato de vida, en la etapa m s dif cil: del proceso al diagn stico. En donde est la incertidumbre por saber que es "eso" que hace diferente los comportamientos de tu hijo. "No me mira a los ojos, no habla, lo llamo por su nombre y no responde, demasiados berrinches, le gusta correr en c rculos, alinear su juguetes..." C mo podemos identificar que nuestro ni o o ni a podr a presentar caracter sticas del espectro del autismo? C mo resolver la problem tica familiar y social que subyace a esta situaci n? Existe alguna luz al final del camino que ofrezca respuestas y permita reconstruir la vida en familia despu s de la tormenta que deja el diagn stico? A stas y otras preguntas la autora da respuesta de una manera vibrante y estremecedora, desde el centro mismo del hurac n que le toc vivir entonces, pero que luego de un importante y trascendente proceso, hoy ya est convertido en un colorido bosque de esperanza. "Del proceso al diagn stico, cada persona lo enfrenta de diferente manera, es claro que el autismo, no es una desgracia en s mismo: la verdadera desgracia reside en la ignorancia y la apat a. En la situaci n en la que estemos, no debemos quedarnos sin hacer nada, de los muchos o pocos recursos con los que contemos, tenemos el recurso m s importante: el amor a nuestro ni o o ni a Por ellos y por nosotros hay que seguir buscando, preguntado, inform ndose, tocar todas las puertas, alguna de stas tiene que abrirse. Nuestros ni os son guerreros innatos y nosotros aprenderemos de nuestros hijos a luchar, como padres somos las voces de ellos, que se escuchen Y nunca olvidar que ellos tienen autismo y no el autismo los tiene a ellos."

Confronting Obstacles to Inclusion uniquely and comprehensively addresses interpretations of inclusive education by drawing upon the experiences and expertise of leading writers and academics who have direct experience of teaching and researching this area around the world.

This landmark publication combines theoretical chapters with practical material demonstrating how the theories can be put in to action in the classroom. The contributors, who all have regular contact with pupils and teachers in inclusive settings, provide a broad spectrum of ideas, examine a number of key themes and interpret these in an international context, such as:

• the causes of exclusion, the obstacles to inclusion and how these can be overcome
• supporting families
• how we can learn from students
• professional development
• enhancing teaching and learning
• support in the classroom.

This authoritative text will be of immense interest and use to practitioners, policy-makers, researchers and campaigners who are working towards a more equitable and inclusive society. Through a synthesis of theory and practice the book offers readers an opportunity to explore local, national and international perspectives and raises questions with regards to our current understanding of inclusion. Whilst the interrogation of the concept of inclusion is, in itself important, the book provides examples of professional approaches to the key questions which are currently challenging the education of a diverse range of learners.

Debating Special Education is a provocative yet timely book examining a range of criticisms made of special education in recent years. Michael Farrell analyses several key debates in special education giving balanced critical responses to inform policy and practice for the future of special education.

The book identifies possible limitations to the current special education knowledge base and provision. Michael Farrell examines the value of labelling and classification, and asks if intelligence testing may have detrimental effects; and addresses a number of complex issues such as:

• how practitioners work within special education; and if, sometimes, professionals may be self-serving
• whether there is distinctive provision for different types of disabilities and disorders
• inclusion as mainstreaming offered as an alternative to special education, and the challenges this presents.

The author's conclusion is that in responding to these challenges, special education demonstrates its continuing relevance and strength. Presenting a range of international, cross-disciplinary perspectives and debates which are vital to an understanding of special education today, and written in Farrell's typically accessible style this book will be relevant for teachers of special children in ordinary and special schools; those on teacher training courses and anyone whose work relates to special education.