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Disability Classification in Education

Issues and Perspectives

By: Lani Florian, Margaret J. McLaughlin

Promote equal educational opportunity through improved classification practices!

This edited volume offers a comprehensive analysis of current classification systems and categorical labels in the United States, the United Kingdom, and other countries. Discussing specific policies from historical, sociological, and legal perspectives, a group of esteemed educational researchers identify problems with different systems and suggest changes based on recent requirements, challenges, and trends. Aligned with NCLB and the reauthorization of IDEA 2004, this book examines:

The evolution of special education classification policies
Dilemmas educators encounter with current classification systems
Alternatives for serving learners with special needs
Approaches to developing a standardized classification policy

Full description

Product Details

Grade Level: PreK-12
ISBN: 9781412938778
Published By: Corwin
Year: 2008
Page Count: 296
Publication date: March 27, 2008

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Description

"Makes a strong contribution to the field, illuminating many issues and significant concerns."
—Mary Carlson, Special Education Teacher
Park Hill K–8 School, Denver, CO

"A unique, timeless collection that raises interesting questions about disability classification internationally."
—Wendy Dallman, Special Education Teacher
New London High School, WI

Promote equal educational opportunity through improved classification practices!

The identification of children for special educational services has long been a topic of debate. Are students classified accurately? Do current classification systems produce adequate education services? Have systems designed to ensure equity instead resulted in discrimination?

Disability Classification in Education offers a comprehensive analysis of current classification systems and categorical labels in the United States, the United Kingdom, and other countries. Covering specific national policies from historical, sociological, and legal perspectives, this collection of articles from a group of esteemed educational researchers identifies the disparities between different classification systems and suggests changes based on recent requirements, challenges, and trends. Aligned with NCLB and the reauthorization of IDEA 2004, this edited volume examines:

The evolution of special education classification policies
The relevance of existing disability classification systems
Dilemmas educators face in using current classification procedures
Alternatives for serving learners with special needs
Approaches to developing a standardized or universal classification policy

Intended to stimulate discussion and spark change, this guide helps school or district administrators and university faculty improve the professional practice of those entrusted with the development and well-being of children with disabilities.

Key features

Internationally appealing, high-profile author base (McLaughlin, Thurlow, Dyson, and more)
Topic is one of great interest and import
Addresses reauthorized IDEA and NCLB issues
Includes charts and graphs
A highly researched volume

Author(s)

Lani Florian

Lani Florian is a Professor and Bell Chair of Education at the University of Edinburgh and Visiting Professor of Special Education at the University of Vienna. She is an Academician of the Academy of Social Sciences (UK). Her research interests include models of provision for meeting the needs of all learners, and inclusive pedagogy. She is co-author of Achievement and Inclusion in Schools, winner of the 2008 NASEN/Times Education Supplement academic book award. She has consulted on special needs education and inclusion for a number of international organisations including Open Society Foundations, UNICEF, and the OECD.

Margaret J. McLaughlin

Margaret McLaughlin has been involved in special education all of her professional career, beginning as a teacher of students with serious emotional and behavior disorders. Currently she is the associate director of the Institute for the Study of Exceptional Children, a research institute within the College of Education at the University of Maryland. She directs several national projects investigating educational reform and students with disabilities, including the national Educational Policy Reform Research Institute (EPRRI), a consortium involving the University Maryland; The National Center on Educational Outcomes (NCEO); and the Urban Special Education Collaborative. She also directs a national research project investigating special education in charter schools and leads a policy leadership doctoral and postdoctoral program in conducting large-scale research in special education.

McLaughlin has worked in Bosnia, Nicaragua, and Guatemala in developing programs for students with developmental disabilities. She has consulted with numerous state departments of education and local education agencies on issues related to students with disabilities and the impact of standards-driven reform policies. McLaughlin co-chaired the National Academy of Sciences Committee on Goals 2000 and Students with Disabilities, which resulted in the report Educating One and All. She was a member of the NAS committee on the disproportionate representation of minority students in special education.

McLaughlin teaches graduate courses in disability policy and has written extensively in the area of school reform and students with disabilities. She earned her PhD at the University of Virginia and has held positions at the U.S. Office of Education and the University of Washington.

Table of Contents

Preface

Acknowledgments

About the Authors

Part I. International and Cross-National Contexts Within the Current Use of Disability Classification

1. Disability Classification in Education

The Purpose of the Book

Structure of the Book

2. Cross-National Comparisons of Special Education Classification Systems

Approaches to Develop Indicators Relevant to Special Needs Education

3. A Supply Side Approach for a Resource-Based Classification System

A Resource-Based Approach From a Comparative Perspective

A Resource-Based Approach for Policy Monitoring

4. Evolving Dilemmas About Categorization

Categorization in a Historical Perspective

Recent Conceptualizations of Categorization

5. Disability Classification, Categorization in Education: A US Perspective

Prior to 1975

The Hobbs Report

IDEA

6A. Implications for Human and Civil Rights Entitlements: Stigma, Stereotypes, and Civil Rights in Disability Classification Systems

Use of Classifications in Law

Diminishing Disability

6B. Implications for Human and Civil Rights Entitlements: Disability Classification Systems and the Law of Special Education

Applying IDEA Classifications

IDEA and the No Child Left Behind Act

New Contexts for Classification

7. The Classification of Pupils at the Educational Margins in Scotland: Shifting Categories and Frameworks

SEN Policy Frameworks

Policy Frameworks and Classification Systems

Policy Outcomes: Special Education and the Classification of Children in Scotland

The Impact of Disability Legislation in Scotland

The Education (Additional Support for Learning)(Scotland) Act 2004

Identifying Children With Additional Support Needs

Rights of Appeal, Adjudication, and Mediation

Inclusion and Additional Support for Learning

Part II. Interaction and Impacts of Classification Policies on Educational Systems

8. Perspectives and Purposes of Disability Classification Systems: Implications for Teachers and Curriculum and Pedagogy

Different Kinds of Classifications

Are Categories of Disabilities and Difficulties Used in Special Education Relevant to Teaching?

Implications for Classification of Special Educational Needs

Concluding Comments

9. Disability Classification and Teacher Education

Preparing Teachers by Disability Category

Beyond Disability Categories: Preparing All Teachers for a Standards-Driven System

10. Disproportionality in Special Education: A Transatlantic Phenomenon

Disproportionality in Special Education in the USA

Disproportionality in Special Education in England

Disproportionality in Two Countries

11. Classification of Children With Disabilities in the Context of Performance-Based Educational Reform? An Unintended Classification System

Background

Performance-Based Accountability: A New Classification System

Part III. New Approaches to the Classification Dilemma

12. International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health

Defining and Classifying Childhood Disability

Classification Problems in Education

The Dimensional Paradigm of Disability

Toward a Common Language of Disability in Special Education

13. Learning Disabilities in the United States: Operationalizing a Construct

14. Beyond the Dilemma of Difference: The Capability Approach on Disability and Special Educational Needs

Conceptualizing Differences in Education: Disability and Special Educational Needs

Reconceptualizing Disability: The Capability Approach

Beyond the Dilemma of Difference: The Capability Approach in Education

15. Concluding Thoughts: On Perspectives and Purposes of Disability Classification Systems in Education

References

Index

Reviews

"Makes a strong contribution to the field, illuminating many issues and significant concerns."

Mary Carlson, Special Education Teacher
Park Hill K-8 School, Denver, CO

“A unique, timeless collection that raises interesting questions about disability classification internationally.”

Wendy Dallman, Special Education Teacher
New London High School, WI

Other Titles in: Policy & Planning | Special Education Identification | Special Education Law

Select Format:

Review Copies

This book is not available as a review copy.