This book discusses the disproportionate representation of students from minority backgrounds in special education and gifted classes, and presents strategies that practitioners can use to better address the educational needs of all students. Chapter 1, "Disproportionate Representation: A Contentious and Unresolved Predicament" (Alfredo J. Artiles and Grace Zamora-Duran), provides an outline of the problem of student placement, disproportionate representation, and misclassification. Chapter 2, "Changing the Context of Assessment: The Move to Portfolios and Authentic Assessment" (Robert Rueda), criticizes traditional standardized assessment approaches that disregard students' prior knowledge and cultural differences and proposes the use of performance assessment approaches. In chapter 3, "When Behavior Differences Are Not Disorders" (Sharon R. Ishii-Jordan), the cultural influences on student behavior are discussed as well as the need for educators to be aware of the role of cultural meaning underlying human behavior. Chapter 4, "From Tests To Talking in the Classroom: Assessing Communicative Competence" (Grace Zamora-Duran and Elba I. Reyes), presents guidelines for educators to use to assess students' language proficiency in order to decide whether a more comprehensive assessment or a prereferral intervention is needed; (5) "Disproportionate Representation in Gifted Programs: Best Practices for Meeting This Challenge" (James M. Patton), discusses the under representation of children from minority backgrounds in gifted education and presents alternative assessment procedures. The final chapter, "Disproportionate Representation: Current Issues and Future Directions" (Grace Zamora-Duran and Alfredo J. Artiles), provides a summary of recommended practices to address the problem of disproportionate representation. (Each chapter includes references.) (CR)

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 book surveys the exclusion of students with disabilities from obtaining an appropriate education in the early history of the nation to the current time. It finds that in spite of the tireless efforts of parents, advocates, court legislations and federal mandates, students with disabilities especially minority students and second language learners, still continue to be deprived of an appropriate education. Research conducted in a mid-sized urban school district in Southern California found that teachers recommendation of minority students and second language learners for special education referral was not in compliance with state and federal mandates. Even though there was an honest effort by both federal and state governments to improve the quality of education for children with disabilities this was not occurring at the school level. They still continue to be deprived of the opportunity for an education in the regular education setting and become candidates for referral to special education.

Take a ride in a long submarine or fly away in a hot air balloon. Whatever you do, just be sure to bring your favorite book! Rafael López's colorful illustrations perfectly complement Pat Mora's lilting text in this delightful celebration of El día de los niños/El día de los libros; Children's Day/Book Day. Toon! Toon! Includes a letter from the author and suggestions for celebrating El día de los niños/El día de los libros; Children's Day/Book Day. Pasea por el mar en un largo submarino o viaja lejos en un globo aerostático. No importa lo que hagas, ¡no olvides traer tu libro preferido! Las coloridas ilustraciones de Rafael López complementan perfectamente el texto rítmico de Pat Mora en esta encantadora celebración de El día de los niños/El día de los libros. ¡Tun! ¡Tun! Incluye una carta de la autora y sugerencias para celebrar El día de los niños/El día de los libros. The author will donate a portion of the proceeds from this book to literacy initiatives related to Children's Day/Book Day. La autora donará una porción de las ganancias de este libro a programas para fomentar la alfabetización relacionados con El día de los niños/El día de los libros.

This is the first book to present a practical, problem-solving approach and hands-on tools and techniques for assessing English-language learners and culturally diverse students in K-12 settings. It meets a crucial need among practitioners and special educators working in today's schools. Provided are research-based, step-by-step procedures for conducting effective interviews with students, parents, and teachers; making the best use of interpreters; addressing special issues in the prereferral process; and conducting accurate, unbiased assessments of academic achievement, intellectual functioning, language proficiency, and acculturation. Among the book's special features are reproducible worksheets, questionnaires, and checklists--including several in both English and Spanish--in a ready-to-use, large-size format. This book is in The Guilford Practical Intervention in the Schools Series.