Reflecting cutting edge scholarship but written for undergraduates, New Directions in Interest Group Politics will help students think critically about influence in the American political system. There is no shortage of fear about "the special interests" in American political debate, but reliable information about what interest groups do, who they represent, and how they influence government is often lacking. This volume, comprised of original essays by leading scholars, is designed to summarize and explain contemporary research that helps address popular questions and concerns, making studies accessible to undergraduate students and providing facts to butress informed debate. The book covers the mobilization of interest groups, their activities, and their influence. Each chapter briefly reviews research on a central question of scholarship before focusing on a particular empirical project designed to shed light on the topic. Rather than simply providing a descriptive overview, the chapters are designed to foster critical thinking by getting students to assess the role of interest groups in the American political system and supplying evidence of their effects. Importantly, a set of web resources associated with the book offer instructions for research and writing assignments. Students will be able to collect and analyze data on campaign finance, lobbying, and interest group involvement in governance. The eResource website includes materials for several classroom simulations, such as an interest group legislative battle, a Netroots convention, and a rule-making process. As they read about key questions in democratic government and current research trends, students can practice serving as interest group activists and conduct original research on topics that most interest them.

First published in 1992, Experiential Learning was written to explore in detail the ways in which the assessment and accreditation of prior and current experiential learning (APEL) was being practised in higher education, further education, community and voluntary provision, training organisations and employment, in provision for the unemployed, youth training schemes, and for updating and retraining. The book argues that individuals can be encouraged and motivated to learn if they are enabled to develop a due sense of their own capacity to learn. It looks at the background of APEL in Britain, and explores its progression into a day-to-day concern for policy-makers and providers of formal courses and training and development programmes in many sectors. It also considers how APEL can be used alongside other economic and social developments to improve the organisation and the provision of opportunities for learning at the post-secondary stage. Experiential Learning will appeal to those with an interest in the history and theory of the assessment and accreditation of experiential learning.

Drawing on historical writings about mental health consultation and on contemporary research and theory, Jonathan Sandoval lucidly explains the consultee-centered approach to consultation. The book provides an expert foundation on which to build a training program for future school-based consultants. Written for graduate students in school psychology, counseling psychology, special education, and social work, this book is an invaluable resource for mental health professionals working in schools who wish to upgrade their professional skills and grow as reflective practitioners. Individual chapters describe different stages in the consultation process; outline the processes characterized in each stage; detail useful consultant skills; review pertinent research; discuss the ethical principles underlying practice; and suggest self-monitoring questions for student consultants. Featuring a step-by-step developmental model of the consultee-centered consultation process, this book encourages consultants to prioritize those characteristics that contribute to a consultee's work difficulty, in addition to assessing the client more generally. By detailing this unique approach, this concise volume provides an applicable, contextualized, and strategic form of consultation, and fosters a professional-to-professional relationship distinguishable from supervision, counseling, therapy, coaching or other methods.

This book seeks to investigate gender differences in final year undergraduates' employment expectations of their starting jobs, including salary, occupational and working region expectations, and to identify factors that have contributed to gender differences in these expectations. It employs an on-site self-completion questionnaire survey and a follow-up semi-structured interview carried out in a university in Central China. The study adopts the conceptual perspective of 'choice and constraint', which means that male and female final year undergraduates are able to make their own choices towards employment expectations; however, their choices of employment expectations are limited by a number of constraints. Empirical studies find that there are gender differences in employment expectations. This study further reveals the influence of gendered economic roles, experienced or perceived sex discrimination in China's graduate labour market job preferences and parents' expectations on those gender differences in employment expectations.

- Explores hard to see practices that support inclusion in early childhood education. - Provides insight into the nature of inclusive learning interactions for a range of marginalised groups. - Explains ways in which children feel themselves to be included. - Offers guidance on effective inclusive practices in early childhood education. - Outlines developments in inclusion and early childhood education with a focus on the Welsh context.

This book is a critically important contribution to the work underway to transform schooling for students who have historically been denied access to a quality education, specifically African American children. The first section of the book provides some historical perspective critical to understanding the current state of education in the U.S., specifically for the education of African American children. The following sections include chapters on policy, learning, ethnomathematics, student identity, and teacher preparation as it relates to the mathematical education of Black children. Through offering "counternarratives" about mathematically successful Black youth, advocating for a curriculum that is grounded in African American culture and ways of thinking, providing shining examples of the brilliance of Blacks students, and promoting high expectations for all rather than situating students as the problem, the authors of this book provide powerful insights related to the teaching and learning of mathematics for African American students. As is made evident in this book, effective teaching involves much more than just engaging students in inquiry-based pedagogy (Kitchen, 2003). The chapters offered in this book demonstrate how mathematics instruction for African American students needs to take into account historical marginalization and present-day policies that do harm to Black students (Kunjufu, 2005). Empowering mathematics instruction for African American students needs to take into consideration and promote students' cultural, spiritual, and historical identities. Furthermore, mathematics instruction for African American students should create opportunities for students to express themselves and the needs of their communities as a means to promote social justice both within their classrooms and communities.

First published in 1998. This is Volume VIII of twenty-eight in the Sociology of Education series. During the nineteenth century and part of the twentieth the children now known as disabled or with accessibility needs were termed physically defective and mentally defective; the schools that they and the blind and the deaf attended were frequently called institutions; the education they received bore the name of instruction. This book is the story of the advance in opinion and outlook from 1760 to 1960, which brought about the change from instruction to education, from institution to school, and from mentally defective to those with special needs, that the book sets out to tell. Written in 1963.

From students as teachers' pets to teachers as Second Life avatars, or from being ridiculed for not knowing your syntax to ridiculing others through multimodal remixing, something has changed in the way people are acting and being acted upon through literacies. From parallel text processing "under a cloud" to text-as-process enhanced by cloud computing, or from one laptop per child to several laptops left behind by children in creative spoken interaction, learners and educators' actions through and around texts and technologies provide quite a telling example of such changes. From writing as technology to blogging as a tool for fostering critical mindsets within complexity, or from automatized knowledge acquisition routines to new forms of relating to knowledge and new perspectives on autonomy, social ordering and Self constitutional processes defy binaries such as agent/structure, global/local, social/technical, virtual/real, or even human/non-human. In this volume a team of scholars from some of the most prestigious Brazilian universities address these issues, and illustrate them with findings from research on the interplay between new literacies, digital technologies and social action in and out-of-school. The chapters introduce, or revisit, an array of theoretical constructs from education, sociology, linguistics and media studies, while presenting a new inside perspective about how research on new literacies is being carried out in Brazil. Altogether, they provide a very useful set of ideas, tools and analytical frameworks for researchers, teachers, and students of Education, Language and Arts and Communication worldwide, especially those concerned with technology-enhanced education and social inclusion.

From students as teachers' pets to teachers as Second Life avatars, or from being ridiculed for not knowing your syntax to ridiculing others through multimodal remixing, something has changed in the way people are acting and being acted upon through literacies. From parallel text processing "under a cloud" to text-as-process enhanced by cloud computing, or from one laptop per child to several laptops left behind by children in creative spoken interaction, learners and educators' actions through and around texts and technologies provide quite a telling example of such changes. From writing as technology to blogging as a tool for fostering critical mindsets within complexity, or from automatized knowledge acquisition routines to new forms of relating to knowledge and new perspectives on autonomy, social ordering and Self constitutional processes defy binaries such as agent/structure, global/local, social/technical, virtual/real, or even human/non-human. In this volume a team of scholars from some of the most prestigious Brazilian universities address these issues, and illustrate them with findings from research on the interplay between new literacies, digital technologies and social action in and out-of-school. The chapters introduce, or revisit, an array of theoretical constructs from education, sociology, linguistics and media studies, while presenting a new inside perspective about how research on new literacies is being carried out in Brazil. Altogether, they provide a very useful set of ideas, tools and analytical frameworks for researchers, teachers, and students of Education, Language and Arts and Communication worldwide, especially those concerned with technology-enhanced education and social inclusion.

This book is a critically important contribution to the work underway to transform schooling for students who have historically been denied access to a quality education, specifically African American children. The first section of the book provides some historical perspective critical to understanding the current state of education in the U.S., specifically for the education of African American children. The following sections include chapters on policy, learning, ethnomathematics, student identity, and teacher preparation as it relates to the mathematical education of Black children. Through offering "counternarratives" about mathematically successful Black youth, advocating for a curriculum that is grounded in African American culture and ways of thinking, providing shining examples of the brilliance of Blacks students, and promoting high expectations for all rather than situating students as the problem, the authors of this book provide powerful insights related to the teaching and learning of mathematics for African American students. As is made evident in this book, effective teaching involves much more than just engaging students in inquiry-based pedagogy (Kitchen, 2003). The chapters offered in this book demonstrate how mathematics instruction for African American students needs to take into account historical marginalization and present-day policies that do harm to Black students (Kunjufu, 2005). Empowering mathematics instruction for African American students needs to take into consideration and promote students' cultural, spiritual, and historical identities. Furthermore, mathematics instruction for African American students should create opportunities for students to express themselves and the needs of their communities as a means to promote social justice both within their classrooms and communities.

Contemporary and stimulating, Looking into Special Education provides an engaging overview of the key areas of special education, with each chapter providing valuable insight into the nature and practice of special education today. Aiding understanding and acting as a framework for further study, thought and practice, this innovative new book concerns a wide range of disabilities and disorders and is international in scope. Chapters discuss: The historical dimensions of special education How to engage with the structural frameworks (legal and definitional issues) of special education today The philosophical foundations of special education, including positivism Criticisms of special education and a consideration of future trends The fundamentals of evidence-based practice and how professional judgement is used The benefits of multi-professional collaboration Organisational issues of mainstreaming and special schooling. Including further reading material and 'concluding thinking points' at the end of each thought-provoking chapter, Looking into Special Education will be of particular use to professionals and students of special education and related fields looking to enrich their understanding and practice.

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.

For individuals with Down syndrome, the extent of the effect of intellectual disability depends largely on the degree of provision of appropriate support and intervention. In Educating Learners with Down Syndrome, editors Rhonda Faragher and Barbara Clarke have brought together a number of expert contributors, whose chapters review recent findings in the field of DS education, highlight promising practices, and identify areas for future research. While the emphasis is primarily on the school years, links to early intervention and to life post-16 are made, with chapters organized into three parts: conceptual overview of issues in learning and teaching, learning mathematics, and literacy development. The book is also united by the cohesive themes of assessment, evidence-based practice, and inclusive practices. Educating Learners with Down Syndrome importantly incorporates the voices of individuals with Down syndrome, whose personal narratives add significance to the research mission of the text and demonstrate the authors' inclusive philosophy. Aimed at researchers, teacher educators, higher degree students, and policy makers, this book is the first of its kind to provide a compendium of research on educating learners with Down syndrome.

• Every teacher will meet learners with dyscalculia or maths learning difficulties in their classroom • Teachers’ understanding of dyscalculia will lead to a more positive outcome for all their learners. • This book gives pragmatic information in an accessible format that can help teachers in supporting pupils with dyscalculia and difficulties in learning maths. • Some suggestions for immediate impact and ideas for more detailed interventions and departmental policies that can also help support these learners. • The strategies will improve learning for many pupils who have not been identified with maths learning difficulties or dyscalculia.

For individuals with Down syndrome, the extent of the effect of intellectual disability depends largely on the degree of provision of appropriate support and intervention. In Educating Learners with Down Syndrome, editors Rhonda Faragher and Barbara Clarke have brought together a number of expert contributors, whose chapters review recent findings in the field of DS education, highlight promising practices, and identify areas for future research. While the emphasis is primarily on the school years, links to early intervention and to life post-16 are made, with chapters organized into three parts: conceptual overview of issues in learning and teaching, learning mathematics, and literacy development. The book is also united by the cohesive themes of assessment, evidence-based practice, and inclusive practices. Educating Learners with Down Syndrome importantly incorporates the voices of individuals with Down syndrome, whose personal narratives add significance to the research mission of the text and demonstrate the authors' inclusive philosophy. Aimed at researchers, teacher educators, higher degree students, and policy makers, this book is the first of its kind to provide a compendium of research on educating learners with Down syndrome.

This research-based volume presents a substantive, panoramic view of ways in which Australia and countries in Africa, Asia, Europe, and North and South America engage in educational programs and practices to transform the learning processes and outcomes of their students. It reveals and analyzes national and global trajectories in key areas of educational development, and enhances readers' understanding of the nature and complexity of educational transformation in a global context. The book's comprehensive analysis of factors associated with transforming education within globally representative geographical, cultural, and political contexts contributes to critical scholarship; its discussion of individual country findings and cross-country patterns has significant implications for educational practitioners and leaders. The volume has direct practical relevance for educational practitioners and leaders, policymakers, and researchers, as nations remain in dire need of effective ways and means to transform their respective educational systems to (1) more ably realize educational equity, (2) make learning relevant to an increasingly diverse overall student populace, (3) ensure individual and general prosperity, and (4) promote substantive global collaboration in developing the new economy.

This highly popular and accessible text contains a wealth of information about how early years staff can work effectively with professionals and parents to help identify and meet a range of special educational needs. This book aims to explore the most effective ways of supporting the child and implementing that support across the child's day to day life. Now in its third edition Special Needs in the Early Years is fully updated to reflect current policy, and topics covered include: Early identification Effective communication with parents and carers An exploration of the legal context How to implement joint planning for identified needs A consideration of the issues affecting collaboration With case-studies, checklists, suggestions for good practice and cartoons to illustrate and enrich the text throughout, this book is structured to be easily accessible and invaluable for those who are in training to work in the early years sector. It will also be of interest to students on foundation and undergraduate students on Early Childhood Education and childcare courses as well as more experienced practitioners.

This book was first published in 1947.

This interdisciplinary volume aims to deepen and enrich the reader's understanding of children's lives in the Global South. At a time when provision for Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) is expanding across the globe, this book highlights issues around early childhood development as well as exploring the importance of including local traditions, culture and knowledge in developing professional practices in the sector. A range of international contributors, including key scholars in the field of early childhood, draw on topics identified for discussion at the Early Childhood in Developing World Contexts International Conference, held at University College Cork, Ireland, in 2011. Much of the exciting research being undertaken in this area remains unrecognized, and the volume aims to communicate some of the important debates currently taking place. The essays are organized into three broad themes: children's lives and livelihoods; early years policy and practice; and language and culture.

Most people working within the higher education sector understand the importance of making e-learning accessible to students with disabilities, yet it is not always clear exactly how this should be accomplished. E-Learning and Disability in Higher Education evaluates current accessibility practice and critiques the extent to which 'best' practices can be confidently identified and disseminated. This second edition has been fully updated and includes a focus on research that seeks to give 'voice' to disabled students in a way that provides an indispensible insight into their relationship with technologies and the institutions in which they study. Examining the social, educational, and political background behind making online learning accessible in higher and further education, E-Learning and Disability in Higher Education considers the roles and perspectives of the key stake-holders involved in e-learning: lecturers, professors, instructional designers, learning technologists, student support services, staff developers, and senior managers and administrators.

Based on extensive research, Addressing Tensions and Dilemmas in Inclusive Education presents a contemporary and critical analysis of the interaction between different perspectives and positions in the field of inclusive education. Referring to existing attitudes on the education of children and young people with learning difficulties and disabilities, Professor Norwich argues that despite the appeal of inclusion as a single powerful position, its practical realisation involves tensions and dilemmas that have to be addressed and resolved. This core analysis is illustrated by a review of relevant national and international concepts, principles, research and practices drawing on literature in areas of current interest and concern, such as: identification and classification; current national and international conceptions; pedagogic and curriculum issues; organisation of schooling; parental and student perspectives; the contribution of research to policy and practice. Engaging with the fundamental issues in the field and providing a coherent perspective that recognises and justifies the inter-connection between specialised and general school provision, this accessible and timely book will be of interest to all researchers and students of inclusive education.

Growing Children's Social and Emotional Skills examines how parent-educator partnerships can be achieved to enhance the development of children's social and emotional skills. The book presents the TOGETHER programme, a training programme that emphasises the importance of the relationship between caregivers and teachers with the children in their care, as well as deepening the collaborative partnerships between teachers, educators and caregivers. Using a case study approach, the book explores the application of the TOGETHER programme across various home and early childhood education contexts through the unique voices of those involved. The TOGETHER programme presented in this book is: * Easy to implement and adaptable, requiring minimal training time for parents, teachers and educators * Designed to emphasise the importance of relationships in developing children's social and emotional skills * Supported by photocopiable resources and a downloadable e-manual that can be used to implement the training With the vision to empower caregivers to take an active role in building children's social and emotional competence, this book is written in a way that will appeal to academic researchers and tertiary students, early childhood educators and other caregivers. It will assist in recognising children's strengths and deepening collaborative partnerships between families, educators and other caregivers.

Teaching Exceptional Children is the ideal textbook for introductory graduate and undergraduate courses on early childhood special education and teaching in inclusive classrooms. Bayat’s clear and accessible writing, the text’s visually appealing design, and the focused pedagogy included in each chapter help make it possible for students and instructors to cover a significant amount of material. This powerful text identifies specific behavioral characteristics and presents theoretical information grounded in neuroscience and child development research for a wide range of disabilities. Chapters provide research-based best practices for effectively working with children with various disabilities in inclusive classrooms. This third edition has been fully updated with recent research and includes new sections on Universal Design for Learning, adaptations, technology, and common challenges in inclusive early childhood classrooms.

This book is also accompanied by a robust collection of online resources for instructors and students, providing full support, including a Companion Website featuring an Instructor's Manual with additional ideas for assignments and projects, web and video links with reflection questions, a test bank, and lecture slides; and an eBook+ offering interactive links to videos, glossary terms, and more!

Table of Contents

Part I: Foundations of Early Childhood Inclusive and Special Education 1. Education of Children with Disabilities: An Introduction to the Field 2. Inclusive Education: Current Issues and Methods of Intervention in Early Childhood 3. Atypical Development 4. Families are the Most Important of All 5. Identification and Assessment 6. Developing IFSP and IEP Part II: Learning and Behavior Characteristics of Disabilities, and Best Practices 7. Children on the Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) 8. Children Who Have Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder 9. Children Who Need Mental Health Support 10. Children with Communication Disorders 11. Children With Intellectual Disability 12. Children with Hearing Loss and Visual Impairment 13. Children Who Have Motor Issues and Other Health Impairments Part III: Kindergarten Through Third Grade 14. Education of Children with Disabilities in Primary School Years – Grades K-3

Effective Interventions and Strategies for Pupils with SEND offers practical, tried-and-tested strategies for supporting and championing pupils with special educational needs and disabilities. Each strategy has been researched, trialled and reviewed, with the results presented accessibly and the concerns of real teachers a key focus of the discussion. With each chapter written by an experienced and innovative teacher working with children with SEND, this book covers a wide range of strategies for supporting pupils with SEND. These effective strategies include: Using a 'daily run' to improve concentration and behaviour Creating SEN champions and more effective teaching assistants Embedding anxiety-reducing strategies in the classroom. Written for teachers by teachers, Effective Interventions and Strategies for Pupils with SEND is an indispensable resource for all SENCOs and other educators and staff working with children with special educational needs looking to provide the best learning experiences possible.

Based on extensive original research, this book explores the early educational experiences of foreign children in Japan. It considers foreign children's experiences of Japanese schools, examines the special tutoring such children often have to improve their language proficiency, and explores the role of mothers in encouraging their children's education. It contrasts the experiences of foreign children with those of Japanese children and sets out the extensive difficulties foreign children encounter in becoming fully accepted by and integrated into Japanese society. The book concludes by discussing the nature of citizenship in Japan and the importance of education, including early education, in shaping Japanese citizenship.