Written during a period of reexamination and change in the field of special education, this book was developed in order to provide a better understanding of the contexts in which children receive their formal education. The movement toward the "least restrictive environment" for the education of children with disabilities is weathering a wave of reinterpretations including mainstreaming, the regular education initiative, and inclusion. While each interpretation has its proponents and critics, limited theory and few data are available to guide these important policy decisions. Focusing specifically on classrooms -- the settings where educators can have the most immediate impact and where research is most needed -- this volume's goals are: * to establish what is known about classroom ecologies from both general and special education perspectives, * to integrate the perspectives of researchers and practitioners, and * to chart directions for further research specifically related to children with learning disabilities. The construct of classroom ecology is defined as three interrelated domains: instruction, teacher and peer interaction, and organization and management. This scheme provides the structure for the book. Taken as a whole, the content of the volume underscores the limits of current knowledge and at the same time provides directions for needed changes in both research and practice.

First Published in 1996. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

This groundbreaking volume brings together major figures in Disability Studies in Education (DSE) and Critical Race Theory (CRT) to explore some of today’s most important issues in education. Scholars examine the achievement/opportunity gaps from both historical and contemporary perspectives, as well as the overrepresentation of minority students in special education and the school-to-prison pipeline. Chapters also address school reform and the impact on students based on race, class, and dis/ability and the capacity of law and policy to include (and exclude). Readers will discover how some students are included (and excluded) within schools and society, why some citizens are afforded expanded (or limited) opportunities in life, and who moves up in the world and who is trapped at the “bottom of the well.” Contributors: D.L. Adams, Susan Baglieri, Stephen J. Ball, Alicia Broderick, Kathleen M. Collins, Nirmala Erevelles, Edward Fergus, Zanita E. Fenton, David Gillborn, Kris Guitiérrez, Kathleen A. King Thorius, Elizabeth Kozleski, Zeus Leonardo, Claustina Mahon-Reynolds, Elizabeth Mendoza, Christina Paguyo, Laurence Parker, Nicola Rollock, Paolo Tan, Sally Tomlinson, and Carol Vincent “With a stunning set of authors, this book provokes outrage and possibility at the rich intersection of critical race, class, and disability studies, refracting back on educational policy and practices, inequities and exclusions but marking also spaces for solidarities. This volume is a must-read for preservice, and long-term educators, as the fault lines of race, (dis)ability, and class meet in the belly of educational reform movements and educational justice struggles.” —Michelle Fine, distinguished professor of Critical Psychology and Urban Education, The Graduate Center, CUNY “Offers those who sincerely seek to better understand the complexity of the intersection of race/ethnicity, dis/ability, social class, and gender a stimulating read that sheds new light on the root of some of our long-standing societal and educational inequities.” —Wanda J. Blanchett, distinguished professor and dean, Rutgers University, Graduate School of Education

This book describes and documents one school’s experiences in achieving their environmental literacy goals through the development of a place-based learning environment. Through this iniative, a longitudinal, descriptive case study began at the Bowen Island Community School to both support and advocate for ecological literacy, while helping the school realize its broad environmental learning goals. Conceptualised as an intensive case study of a learning environment (with an environmental education focus), the program was part of a larger ecological literacy project conducted in association with preservice and graduate education programs at a nearby university and research centre. Following both (empirical) learning environments and participatory (ethnographic) research methods, the project is described from a variety of perspectives: students, teachers, teacher educators, researchers and administrators. The volume describes a variety of forms of place-based education that teachers devised and implemented at the school while giving evidence of the development of a supportive and positive place-based learning environment. The programs and initiatives described in this volume provide the reader with insights for the development of place-based programming more generally . The final chapter outlines participatory methods and action research efforts used to evaluate the success of the project and recounts the development and validation of a learning environment instrument to assist with this process. The new instrument coupled with qualitative descriptions of the learning environment experienced by many at the school give unique insights into the various ways the study of learning environments (as a methodology) may be explored.

e-Learning Ecologies explores transformations in the patterns of pedagogy that accompany e-learning—the use of computing devices that mediate or supplement the relationships between learners and teachers—to present and assess learnable content, to provide spaces where students do their work, and to mediate peer-to-peer interactions. Written by the members of the "new learning" research group, this textbook suggests that e-learning ecologies may play a key part in shifting the systems of modern education, even as technology itself is pedagogically neutral. The chapters in this book aim to create an analytical framework with which to differentiate those aspects of educational technology that reproduce old pedagogical relations from those that are genuinely innovative and generative of new kinds of learning. Featuring case studies from elementary schools, colleges, and universities on the practicalities of new learning environments, e-Learning Ecologies elucidates the role of new technologies of knowledge representation and communication in bringing about change to educational institutions.

This all-new set of original science tales for children utilizes the power of storytelling to explore ecology's big ideas, providing extensive accompanying teacher support for maximum impact. Former teacher and an acclaimed author Brian "Fox" Ellis is a master at using creative storytelling to open up the natural world to students. With this new edition of his highly praised Learning from the Land: Teaching Ecology through Stories and Activities, Ellis gives educators 12 captivating science-based stories as well as the supporting material they need to use those stories at a variety of learning levels. This latest edition immerses students in both the process and the excitement of science. Ellis's original stories explore everything from the Big Bang theory to plate tectonics, from the water cycle to the food web, from forest ecology to animal intelligence. The accompanying lesson plans—all based on national standards—include tips for discussions, writing activities, mapmaking, storytelling, scientific observations, and other activities—everything teachers need to break through the walls of the classroom and immerse their students in the interworkings of the world outside.