This book is an account of the epic struggle for special education in America's schools. It chronicles the actions of community leaders, families, caregivers, instructors, physicians, scientists, lawyers, judges, lawmakers, businesspersons, journalists, social activists, and persons with disabilities. It details the creation of facilities in which special learners would be safe, productive, independent, respected, and self-fulfilled. The book discusses techniques for assessing the presence, scope, and etiology of disabilities. Finally, American Special Education describes novel, sometimes expensive, and frequently controversial interventions, and places each development within the remarkable confluence of social and political circumstances that propelled the transformation of special education.

Special education teachers, as a significant segment of the teaching profession, came into their own with the passage of Public Law 94-142, the Education for All Handicapped Children Act, in 1975. Since then, although the number of special education teachers has grown substantially it has not kept pace with the demand for their services and expertise. The roles and practice of special education teachers have continuously evolved as the complexity of struggling learners unfolded, along with the quest for how best to serve and improve outcomes for this diverse group of students. High-Leverage Practices in Special Education defines the activities that all special educators needed to be able to use in their classrooms, from Day One. HLPs are organized around four aspects of practice collaboration, assessment, social/emotional/behavioral practices, and instruction because special education teachers enact practices in these areas in integrated and reciprocal ways. The HLP Writing Team is a collaborative effort of the Council for Exceptional Children, its Teacher Education Division, and the CEEDAR Center; its members include practitioners, scholars, researchers, teacher preparation faculty, and education advocates--Amazon.com

"Elizabeth Farrell made inclusion, individualized education, and comprehensive assessment her causes at a time when prominent psychologists argued to segregate people with disabilities from society. In this male-dominated field, Farrell made a case for what would become special educaiton and found success, but she could not have anticipated that her efforts to reoganize other teachers around her cause would evolve into the world's largest and most influential special education association, the Council for Exceptional Children. This engaging work ensures Farrell's incredible story wil not be forgotten." from the cover.

In this third edition, Sacks offers both specific information developed and implemented since the second edition (published in 2009) and provides an interdisciplinary lens offering a global perspective of the field moving the reader beyond information to actualization. -- Introduction.

The field of special education constantly changes as a result of legislation, instructional formats and research investigations. Addressing the issues and trends in Special Education, this title covers identification, assessment and instruction. It also covers research, technology, and teacher preparation.

This text provides a comprehensive and current overview of the major federal laws that apply to the education of children with disabilities. The text helps students understand what the law requires so that when they become educators, they can develop policies and make decisions that comply with these laws.