This handbook provides a concise overview of special education services in countries across the world, using the Article on Education in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities as the analytical frame. The Praeger International Handbook of Special Education presents a concise and clear overview of special education services in more than 70 countries across the world using the Article on Education in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with disabilities as the analytical frame. Each chapter offers information about the country in general, followed by sections on the public education system, the private education system, the special education system, teacher training requirements, and barriers to and promising trends in inclusive and special education. The volumes and chapters are organized by the United Nations Geoscheme, with Volume 1 including an overview of the volumes and chapters on countries in the Americas, Volume 2 addressing countries from Europe and Africa, and Volume 3 focusing on countries in Asia and Oceania. This is the most complete exploration of the delivery of supports and services to children and youth with disabilities across the globe available. The volumes do not compare among or between countries, but rather provide a baseline for understanding current special education practices and their relationship with general education and inclusive practices across the globe. Readers will come away with an in-depth understanding of what is happening with regard to the implementation of special education services and Article 24 of the Convention for the Rights of People with Disabilities. This valuable reference set serves researchers, graduate students, and policymakers in special and general education as well as professionals focused on issues of education worldwide and scholars focused on international special education. As such, this handbook will be an important reference source for university libraries, professional associations, and policy entities.

International Issues in SEND and Inclusion brings together a collection of cutting-edge researches on approaches to special education needs and disability education, across 6 continents and within 12 countries. Written by authors who are experts in their own countries in relation to special educational needs and disability, the book provides a unique knowledge and understanding of different international perspectives in special educational needs, disability and inclusion. The chapters present extended case studies and reflect on current policy, practice and theory within that context, challenging assumptions which can dominate the policy and practice of inclusive education. Each of the six continents has a separate section and introduction within the book to offer a relevant approach and context for analysis. The book will be of great interest to academics, researchers and postgraduate students in the fields of inclusion, special educational needs and disability, teacher education and comparative education.

The World Health Organization and World Bank (2011) estimate that there are more than 1 billion people with disabilities in the world. To address this population’s diverse needs, the United Nations drafted their Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) in 2006. Article 24 (Education) of the CRPD requires ratifying countries to develop an inclusive education system to address the educational needs of students with disabilities alongside their peers without disabilities. Despite substantive improvements and movement toward inclusive education, many low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) continue to struggle with accurately identifying and supporting students with disabilities, including knowing how to effectively screen, evaluate, and qualify students for additional services (Hayes, Dombrowski, Shefcyk, & Bulat, 2018a). These challenges stem from the lack of policies, practices, and qualified staff related to screening and identification. As a result, many students with less-apparent disabilities—such as children with learning disabilities—remain unidentified and do not receive the academic supports they need to succeed in school (Friend & Bursuck, 2012). This guide attempts to address the lack of appropriate, useful disability screening and identification systems and services as countries look to educate all students in inclusive settings. Specifically, this guide introduces viable options for screening and identification related to vision, hearing, and learning disabilities in inclusive classrooms in LMICs. It also provides guidance on how LMICs can transition from an assessment-center model toward a school-based identification model that better serves an inclusive education system.

This book offers a comprehensive overview of how inclusion for students with special educational needs (SEN) has developed and is continuing to evolve in mainstream schools across the Asia-Pacific region. The authors provide an applied analysis of inclusive education in 10 geographical settings, covering legislative, historical, and cultural perspectives. A diverse range of factors that influence inclusive policy-to-practice implementation in these contexts are highlighted, and practical strategies to address some key issues are put forward. The settings in focus are the Maldives, Singapore, the Republic of Korea, Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macao, Japan, Province of British Columbia Canada, New Zealand, and Australia.

The purpose of the Handbook of Special Education is to help profile and bring greater clarity to the already sprawling and continuously expanding field of special education. To ensure consistency across the volume, chapter authors review and integrate existing research, identify strengths and weaknesses, note gaps in the literature, and discuss implications for practice and future research. The second edition has been fully updated throughout to take into account recent changes to federal laws as well as the most current academic research, and an entirely new section has been added on research methods in special education.

This open access international scientific study provides an analysis of how the educational strategy of Universal Design for Learning can stimulate the process of inclusive education in different educational-cultural contexts and different areas of the educational system. The findings of the research deepen the conception of inclusive education and present an analysis of factors that are significant for developing the educational system as well as providing evidence-based recommendations for educational practice. The research for this work was done in four European countries with various historical-cultural contexts: Lithuania and Poland underwent a transformation of the educational systems at the turning point in their political system, shifting from a strictly centralized Soviet policy to a liberal and democratic education system; Austria has experienced changes in social stratification and a need for cultural harmonisation arising from active national migration processes, whereas Finland has been gradually developing a socio-democratic model of national welfare. The analysis of the educational processes in the four countries has been performed using a qualitative action research method. The researchers, in cooperation with the teachers from the selected schools in their country, have implemented the strategy of Universal Design for Learning and assessed its transformation indicators in terms of the quality of inclusive education components.