In the past few years, there has been an influx of immigrant children into the school system, many with a limited understanding of English. Successfully teaching these students requires educators to understand their characteristics and to learn how to engage immigrant families to support their children's academic achievements. The Handbook of Research on Engaging Immigrant Families and Promoting Academic Success for English Language Learners is a collection of innovative research that utilizes teacher professional development models, assessment practices, teaching strategies, and parental involvement strategies to develop ways for communities and educators to create social and academic conditions that promote the academic success of immigrant and English language learners. While highlighting topics including bilingual learners, family engagement, and teacher development, this book is ideally designed for early childhood, elementary, middle, K-12, and secondary school teachers; school administrators; faculty; academicians; and researchers.

Given the importance of the development of intellectualism and the need to ensure equity and access to learning experiences, educators at all levels must be aware of research-based protocols to identify, serve, and evaluate programs for diverse gifted learners. It is essential to understand how gifted education can increase equity in identification practices for historically underrepresented groups, what the specific curricular opportunities are that must be provided to learners to develop gifted programs, and what the key considerations are to the design and implementation of authentic and equitable programs for gifted learners. Creating Equitable Services for the Gifted: Protocols for Identification, Implementation, and Evaluation curates cutting-edge protocols in the field of gifted education related to the areas of equitable identification, implementation of services, and programmatic assessment. These protocols seek to initiate discussion and critical discourse regarding diverse gifted learners among higher education faculty, state department personnel, district administrators, and classroom teachers. Covering topics such as digital differentiation, equitable assessment, and STEM education, this text is ideal for teacher education programs, preparation programs, university degree programs, university credential programs, certificate programs, faculty, graduate students, state departments of education, superintendents, coordinators, administrators, teachers, professors, academicians, and researchers.

This updated edition of the bestselling All Cats Have Asperger Syndrome provides an engaging, gentle introduction to autism. All-new cats take a playful look at the world of autism, and these fun feline friends will strike a chord with all those who are familiar with typical autistic traits, bringing to life common characteristics such as sensory sensitivities, social issues and communication difficulties. Touching, humorous and insightful, this book evokes all the joys and challenges of being on the autism spectrum, leaving the reader with a sense of the dignity, individuality and the potential of autistic people.

While the written word is an important means of communication among people, the technological revolution has increased the demands on mental processes involved in the processing of written information, which endangers the quality of life of people who have reading difficulties and are not completely functionally literate. Educational technologies have vastly improved in past decades, especially in the realm of aiding individuals with development and learning disorders. With these learning technologies becoming more mainstream, individuals struggling to maintain a sense of normalcy in everyday life now have a chance to overcome various barriers. Dyslexia and Accessibility in the Modern Era: Emerging Research and Opportunities provides emerging research on a literacy portal that offers the virtual background for the support and strengthening of reading skills and for leading the user while using the internet. The book also creates a tool based on user feedback with instructions on how to adapt current tools to meet the accessibility requirements for people with dyslexia. Featuring coverage on a broad range of topics such as e-learning, lifelong learning, and neurodevelopment disabilities, this book is ideally designed for teachers, software developers, academics, researchers, students, and learning professionals.

Issues of cultural identity and cultural heritage are at the heart of contemporary discourses in many parts of the world. They are used to identify and address the inequalities by marginalized groups; however, they also feed the re-nationalization and ethno-purist fantasies. But what exactly is culture? In this volume, the authors explore how culture is conceptualized and practised by young people in eight countries in numerous and very diverse contexts - schools, interest clubs, organizations and informal youth groups. The chapters show that concepts of culture vary widely within and across sites, regions and countries, highlighting the common, as well as particular, challenges that notions of identity and heritage pose for young people who often aspire to an inclusive and open society

Much of the research about teachers focuses on "those who can't/don't/aren't good" in the classroom. However, teachers who are gifted and talented exist, but there has been little attention to date on the characteristics and practices of such teachers in the classroom. While few, the examples of research on positive teacher attributes include work on the "expert," "authentic," and "creative," as well as examples of research on eminent adults. Identifying, Describing, and Developing Teachers Who Are Gifted and Talented is an essential reference source that discusses behaviors and traits in teachers who are considered gifted and talented as well as case studies on the identification and preparation of teachers who fall into this category. Featuring research on topics such as creative innovation, emotional intelligence, and skill development, this book is ideally designed for educators, administrators, researchers, and academicians.

When children with learning challenges are identified, the educational community in the United States diligently applies a well-established model of remediation that has, for the most part, yielded positive results. Research, however, has demonstrated that the American perception of disability may vary from those in Eastern cultures. These cultural differences can play a significant role in the failure to achieve learning success on behalf of children from the Middle East, North Africa, and Southwest Asian (MENASWA) families. It is critical for the school community to recognize and acknowledge these differences and bring them into alignment in order to meet these students' learning needs. Learning Challenges for Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CLD) Students With Disabilities is an essential reference publication that identifies ways in which CLD families can be involved with schools to help build educators' cultural competence and explores the idea of disabilities as a social model with a focus on strengths rather than a medical model focused on needs and weaknesses. Featuring coverage on a wide range of topics including racial identity, leadership wisdom, and family-school collaboration, this book is ideally designed for educators, principals, administrators, curriculum developers, instructional designers, policymakers, advocates, researchers, academicians, and students.

Providing all students, particularly those with learning disabilities, with the skills necessary to succeed in school and, by extension, the real world is vital in today's educational landscape. Due to this need, innovative language and literacy tools have been developed to support these students in their learning endeavors and ensure they are receiving the best education possible. Cutting-Edge Language and Literacy Tools for Students on the Autism Spectrum covers the root causes of the language and learning challenges in autism, their consequences for language acquisition and literacy, and a variety of tools and strategies for addressing them, from teaching technologies to assistive technologies. Drawing on what the most current evidence shows about the nature of autism and which therapies and technologies are most successful, the book reviews the efficacy of existing language therapies, literacy strategies, and assistive technologies. Covering topics such as speech deficits, language learning, comprehension, and assistive communication tools, this reference work is ideal for clinicians, behavioral specialists, speech-language pathologists, special educators, researchers, academicians, practitioners, scholars, educators, and students.

This book is designed to be a valuable resource for all educators who seek to gain a better understanding of learning disabilities, effective classroom practices, and meeting the instructional, emotional, and social needs of struggling students. Educators will benefit from the extensive research provided in the book and they will gain a thorough understanding of the importance of creating, supporting, and maintaining valuable interventions and how to do so effectively.

Preparing multilingual students with diverse learning needs and abilities to meet the demands of the Next Generation Learning Standards and the 21st Century workforce requires a re-envisioning of teacher preparation and classroom instruction. Multilingual learners with disabilities must be acknowledged for the assets they bring and engaged in classroom learning that is rigorous and relevant. This book addresses the historical context of the field, while also delving into the programmatic and pedagogical practices that will prepare students for success. It explores aspects of general education, special education and bilingual education, and how these fields intersect and overlap in districts, schools and classrooms. From the culturally and linguistically sustaining multi-tiered systems of support necessary in the general education and bilingual classroom, to the referral and identification processes, to appropriate service delivery models, this book addresses the apparent as well as the nuanced considerations that will assist educators in providing educational services to some of our most vulnerable students. This book particularly addresses the complex intersection of bilingual education and special education. It provides practical solutions to current dilemmas and challenges today's educators of multilingual learners with, without, and at risk for disabilities, face in the classroom. Addressing the needs of these students through an intersectional lens is paramount to closing the achievement gap that exacerbates the negative academic outcomes of culturally and linguistically diverse students with and without disabilities. It provides a comprehensive introduction to bilingual special education in today's educational landscape.

Structured Discovery Cane Travel (SDCT) is an Orientation and Mobility (O&M) curriculum which focuses on the foundational techniques necessary to develop future independence for students who are blind or visually impaired. The ABCs of Structured Discovery Cane Travel for Children addresses essential non-visual concept development, techniques and mobility skills needed to travel efficiently, gracefully and safely within a myriad of natural environments while using the long, white cane with a metal tip as the primary mobility tool. This curriculum utilizes transformational knowledge and problem-solving opportunities through teachable moments to develop personal reflection and mental mapping which can be utilized post instruction. These students maximize their cognitive intrinsic feedback while completing everyday mobility tasks. Parents and instructors of children who are blind or visually impaired will comprehend the essentials of SDCT by reading The ABCs of Structured Discovery Cane Travel for Children; in addition, they will receive a treasure trove of O&M skill-building activities.