special education research paper introduction

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Special Education Theses and Dissertations

Theses/dissertations from 2023 2023.

Saudi Parents as Advocates for Their Young Children with Disabilities: Reflections on The Journey , Sadeem A. Alolayan

Theses/Dissertations from 2022 2022

Graduate Teaching Assistants’ Knowledge and Attitudes Toward Students with Disabilities in Higher Education , Yanlys De La Caridad Palacios

The Specifics of Specific Learning Disability: An Analysis of State-Level Eligibility Criteria and Response to Intervention Practices , Lora M. Williams

Theses/Dissertations from 2021 2021

Barriers to Reducing the Assistive Technology use for Students with Autism as Perceived by Special Education Teachers in Saudi Arabia , Othman Ahmed Alasmari

Saudi Teachers’ Perspectives on Implementing Evidence-Based Practices Specifically Designed for Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder , Ahmad Saad Alghamdi

Perceptions of Preservice Teachers of Students with Intellectual Disabilities About their Preparation for Inclusive Education , Abdullah Aljudaya

Experiences of Saudi Arabian Mothers of Young Children with Disabilities: An Exploratory Study , Samirah Bahkali

Theses/Dissertations from 2020 2020

Perceptions of Preservice Teachers of Students with Autism and Intellectual Disabilities in their Teacher Preparation Programs in Saudi Arabia , Salman Almughyiri

Theses/Dissertations from 2019 2019

The Use of Assistive Technology with Students with Severe Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities in Saudi Arabia: Teachers’ Perspectives , Khalid Mohammed Abu Alghayth

Saudi Special Education Preservice Teachers’ Perspective towards Inclusion , Sarah Binmahfooz

The Teacher Evaluation Conundrum: Examining the Perceptions of Special Education Teachers , Gordon Brobbey

Autism and Inclusion in England’s Multi Academy Trust: A Case Study of a Senior Leadership Team , Danielle Lane

Threats to Teaching: An Investigation Into the Constructs of Compassion Fatigue in the Classroom , April M. Steen

Theses/Dissertations from 2018 2018

General Education Teachers’ Perceptions of Response to Intervention Implementation: A Qualitative Interview Study , Adhwaa Alahmari

Deaf Lesbian Identity , Noël E. Cherasaro

Beyond Replicative Technology: The Digital Practices of Students with Literacy-Related Learning Difficulties Engaged in Productive Technologies , Aimee Frier

Learning in the Margins: The Educational Experiences of an African American Male with Disabilities , Aisha Holmes

Including children with learning differences: Experiences of independent school teachers , Lisa M. Lockhart

Theses/Dissertations from 2017 2017

Perceptions of Arab American Mothers of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: An Exploratory Study , Haifa Alsayyari

It’s Not All Sunflowers and Roses at Home: A Narrative Inquiry of At-Risk Girls and Their Perceptions of Their Educational Experiences , Jessica Aggeles Curtis

Improving Reading Comprehension of Children with ASD: Implication of Anaphoric Reference Support with Computer Programming , Seda Karayazi Ozsayin

Collaboration with Families: Perceptions of Special Education Preservice Teachers and Teacher Preparation , Mehmet Emin Ozturk

Theses/Dissertations from 2016 2016

The Role of Prep Schools in the Middle to High School Transition of Students in Southeastern Turkey , Mucahit Kocak

Use of a Game-Based App as a Learning Tool for Students with Mathematics Learning Disabilities to Increase Fraction Knowledge/Skill , Orhan Simsek

Theses/Dissertations from 2015 2015

Examining Experiences of Early Intervention Providers Serving Culturally Diverse Families: A Multiple Case Study Analysis , Wendy Lea Bradshaw

Restricted and Repetitive Behaviors as Strengths, not Weaknesses: Evaluating the Use of Social Stories that Embed Restricted Interests on the Social Skills of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder , Maya Nasr

Theses/Dissertations from 2014 2014

The Fight Within: Experiences of School District Employees Who Advocate for the Rights of Their Own Children with Disabilities Inside the Districts Where They Work, a Heuristic Case Study , Keri Haley

Constructing an "Appropriate" Education in Florida Special Education Due Process Final Orders , Michelle Henry

Interagency Collaboration for the Provision of Services to Migrant Children with Disabilities: An Exploratory Study , Georgina Rivera-Singletary

Theses/Dissertations from 2013 2013

Reading Assessment Practices of Elementary General Education Teachers: A Descriptive Study , Sarah Mirlenbrink Bombly

Making a Difference in the Lives of Students: Successful Teachers of Students of Color with Disabilities or who are At-Risk of Identification of Disabilities at a High-Performing High-Poverty School , Tristan L. Glenn

Teacher Perspectives on the Instructional Impact of the Florida Alternate Assessment , Katherine Hawley

Blending Worlds, Reforming Practice?: An Instrumental Case Study Of Collaborative Early Childhood Teacher Education , Ann Marie Mickelson

The Perspectives of Graduate Students with Visual Disabilities: A Heuristic Case Study , Luis Perez

Connective Capacity: The Importance and Influence of Dispositions in Special Education Teacher Education , Scot Mcgregor Rademaker

Examining School Capacity for Inclusion Using a Multi-Dimensional Framework: A Case Study , Amy Lenee-Monnier Toson

Becoming a Teacher in Multiple Voices: An Exploration of Teacher Identity Formation Among Teachers of Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder , Mary E. Wilt

Theses/Dissertations from 2012 2012

A Multi-Perspective Exploration of a Cross-Age Tutoring Initiative: An Analysis of the Responses of All Students , Ann Elizabeth Gillies

Examining Teacher Identity and Prospective Efficacy Beliefs Among Students Enrolled in a Precollegiate Urban Teaching Academy (UTA) , Marsha Simon

Theses/Dissertations from 2011 2011

Preservice Teachers' Perceptions of their Perspective Transformations: A Case Study , Victoria Caruana

The Development of The Personal Strengths Intervention (PSI) to Improve Self-Determination and Social-Emotional Levels in Postsecondary Students with Learning Disabilities and/or ADHD: A Multiple Baseline Study , Jennie L. Farmer

Kujichagalia! Self-Determination in Young African American Women With Disabilities during the Transition Process , La Tonya L. Gillis

Perspectives of Teachers of Students with Autism Spectrum Disorders Regarding the Factors Related to Their Intent to Remain in the Profession , Glenda Esther Koshy

High Stakes Play: Early Childhood Special Educators' Perspectives of Play in Pre-Kindergarten Classrooms , Joanne Scandling Manwaring

School-Wide PBS: The Link Between Action Planning and Outcomes , Stephanie Angelique Martinez

Guided by the Spirit: Understanding Student Behavior and Theological Philosophy Through the Lens of Secondary Catholic School Teachers , Angela Marie Mucci

It Takes More Than a Whistle: Perceived Characteristics of Effective School Based Coaches , Jenna Nicole Sage

Examining the Experiences of a Select Group of First Year Special Education Teachers: A Multiple Case Study Analysis , Roseanne Kaiser Vallice

Theses/Dissertations from 2010 2010

A Canine Audience: The Effect of Animal-Assisted Therapy on Reading Progress Among Students Identified with Learning Disabilities , Julie Omodio Griess

The Lived School Experiences of a Select Group of Female Adolescents Labeled Emotionally/Behaviorally Disordered , Anna Robic

Theses/Dissertations from 2009 2009

Lived Experience: Diverse Perspectives on Raising a Child with Autism , Heather J. Brace

An examination of the implementation of the Second step program in a public school system , Lynn Pedraza

Portraits of Online Teaching and Learning: The Experiences of an Instructor and Six Graduate Students in a Course Entitled Educating Students with Autism , Sarah R. Semon

Striving and Surviving: The Phenomenology of the First-Year Teaching Experience , Michael D. Smith

Theses/Dissertations from 2008 2008

Transition Experiences of Selected Emerging Adults With Emotional and Behavioral Difficulties in Higher Education , Kathleen M. Fowler

A Qualitative Analysis of a Teacher Support Program for Educating Students with Emotional Disturbance in an Inclusive Setting , Crystal Williams Harmon

Evaluating the Efficacy of the Developing Algebraic Literacy Model: Preparing Special Educators to Implement Effective Mathematics Practices , Sharon N. E. Ray

Theses/Dissertations from 2007 2007

The Effects of Mentoring on the Elementary Special Education Mentor , Maria Angeliadis

Prevalence of Language Disorders Among Children with Severe Behavioral Problems Referred for a Psychiatric Evaluation by a Large Urban School District , Brenda J. Curtwright

Implementing differentiated instruction in urban, Title I schools:: Effects of facilitated support groups and program fidelity on student achievement , Deborah W. Hellman

Key stakeholder perceptions of the expulsion process for high school students identified as emotionally disturbed , Suzanne R. O'Neill

Theses/Dissertations from 2006 2006

An examination of the experiences of five African American male students with regard to school discipline practices , Simon Yohann Earle

Examining the characteristics of teachers in a Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) program in varying exceptionalities: Responding to the "highly qualified" teacher mandate , Erica Djuan McCray

Theses/Dissertations from 2005 2005

"I've Got the Power!": Investigating Pre-service Special Educators' Perceptions and Abilities to Teach Reading to Students with Disabilities" , Tandria Milango Callins

Evaluating Positive Behavior Support Plan Implementation In The Home Environment Of Young Children With Challenging Behavior , Michelle A. Duda

Asperger Syndrome: A Case Study on One Family’s Understanding , Ben Graffam

An Examination Of The Relationship Between Urbanicity and Children With Emotional Disturbances Served In Restructuring Public Schools , Karen Monk Harris

Voices From a Marginalized Population: Life Histories of Individuals With Physical Impairments , James Peter Marsh

The Effects of Hand Fidgets on the On-Task Behaviors of A Middle School Student With Disabilities in an Inclusive Academic Setting , Karen S. Voytecki

Theses/Dissertations from 2004 2004

Speech-Language Pathologists’ Professional Efficacy Beliefs about Assessing the Language Skills of Bilingual/Bicultural/Bidialectal Students , Karen Patricia Harris

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Home > School, College, or Department > College of Education > Special Education > Dissertations and Theses

Special Education Theses and Dissertations

Theses/dissertations from 2023 2023.

Improving Peer-to-Peer Learning for Students with Extensive Support Needs in Inclusive Classrooms , Zachary Michael Deets (Dissertation)

Behavior Training for Educators: What Training do Educators Need to Support Students with Challenging Behaviors? , Michelle R. Milburn (Dissertation)

Beyond First Thoughts: Understanding the Essence of Equitable Decision-Making, A Phenomenological Study, White Practitioners as Equitable Educational Decision-Makers , Zinnia Un (Dissertation)

Theses/Dissertations from 2022 2022

An Examination of Educator Perspectives on Career and College Pathways for Black, Indigenous, and Students of Color with Disabilities , Rachel Anne Herrick (Dissertation)

Theses/Dissertations from 2021 2021

"It's Not by Accident": Examining Leadership Efforts to Disrupt Oregon's Segregated K-12 Education System , Michael Eric Salitore (Dissertation)

Theses/Dissertations from 2020 2020

Inclusion for Speech-Language Pathology Minority Graduate Students , Teresa Michelle Roberts (Dissertation)

Theses/Dissertations from 2019 2019

Early Intervention Referral Outcomes for Children at Increased Risk of Experiencing Developmental Delays , Kristi Laurine Atkins (Dissertation)

Impact of Professional Development on Accessible Early Literacy Content for Preschool Children with Disabilities in Public Library Storytime , Melissa Pebly (Dissertation)

Theses/Dissertations from 2018 2018

The Impact of Online Professional Development on the Assessment Efficacy of Novice Itinerant Teachers of Students with Multiple Disabilities Including Visual Impairments , Jacqulyn Anne Donnenwirth Daniels (Dissertation)

Theses/Dissertations from 2017 2017

A Phenomenological Study of the Lived Experiences of Parents of Young Children with Autism Receiving Special Education Services , Donna Marie Barrow (Dissertation)

A Brief Intervention to Increase the Use of Precorrection and Praise by Elementary School Teachers , Dustin Bindreiff (Dissertation)

The Voices of Special Educators: How Do Special Educators Teach English Language Learners Who are Receiving Special Education Services? , Elizabeth Ann DuBois (Dissertation)

Theses/Dissertations from 2016 2016

An Investigation of School-Based Specific Learning Disability Identification , Bonnie Heather Bartos (Dissertation)

Desirable Conversations: Sexuality and Women with Intellectual Disabilities , Neera Malhotra (Dissertation)

An Examination of School Readiness: How Is the Construct Defined for Children Who Are Blind? , Lisa Joann McConachie (Dissertation)

The Efficacy and Feasibility of a Context-Specific Autism Behavior Rating Tool with Real Time Data Collection Methods from the Perspectives of Clinicians, Educators, and Parents , Kathleen Marie Panaccione (Dissertation)

Exploring the Impact of an LD Diagnosis on the Self-Determination of Women in Poverty , Cynthia Jakes Stadel (Dissertation)

Theses/Dissertations from 2014 2014

Adjustment to College among Lower Division Students with Disabilities: An Exploratory Study , Kristy Lee Ann McNulty (Dissertation)

Theses/Dissertations from 2013 2013

The Effect of Teacher-Identified Classroom Management , Monica Rose Root (Thesis)

Theses/Dissertations from 2011 2011

Early Childhood Inclusion: Teacher Perception of the Supports Needed to Fully Include Children with Special Needs , Meredith Villines (Thesis)

Theses/Dissertations from 2008 2008

The Use and Interpretation of the Batería III With U.S. Bilinguals , Julie Esparza Brown (Dissertation)

Theses/Dissertations from 1979 1979

An Evaluation of a Data-Based Sex Education Training Program for Mentally Retarded Adults , Patricia Ann Riley (Thesis)

Theses/Dissertations from 1972 1972

The Effects of Perceptual-Motor Training on the Perceptual-Motor Skills of Emotionally Disturbed Children , Karen R. Brown (Thesis)

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What is a Literature Review?

A Literature Review Is Not:

• just a summary of sources
• a grouping of broad, unrelated sources
• a compilation of  everything  that has been written on a particular topic
• literature criticism (think English) or a book review

So, what is it then?

A literature review is an integrated analysis-- not just a summary-- of scholarly writings that are related directly to your research question.  That is, it represents the literature that provides background information on your topic and shows a correspondence between those writings and your research question.

A literature review may be a stand alone work or the introduction to a larger research paper, depending on the assignment.  Rely heavily on the guidelines your instructor has given you.

Why is it important?

A literature review is important because it:

• Explains the background of research on a topic.
• Demonstrates why a topic is significant to a subject area.
• Discovers relationships between research studies/ideas.
• Identifies major themes, concepts, and researchers on a topic.
• Identifies critical gaps and points of disagreement.
• Discusses further research questions that logically come out of the previous studies.

Components of a Lit Review

1. Introduction

Not to be confused with a book review, a  literature review  surveys scholarly articles, books and other sources (e.g. dissertations, conference proceedings) relevant to a particular issue, area of research, or theory, providing a description, summary, and critical evaluation of each work. The purpose is to offer an overview of significant literature published on a topic.

2. Components

Similar to primary research, development of the literature review requires four stages:

• Problem formulation—which topic or field is being examined and what are its component issues?
• Literature search—finding materials relevant to the subject being explored
• Data evaluation—determining which literature makes a significant contribution to the understanding of the topic
• Analysis and interpretation—discussing the findings and conclusions of pertinent literature

Literature reviews should comprise the following elements:

• An overview of the subject, issue or theory under consideration, along with the objectives of the literature review
• Division of works under review into categories (e.g. those in support of a particular position, those against, and those offering alternative theses entirely)
• Explanation of how each work is similar to and how it varies from the others
• Conclusions as to which pieces are best considered in their argument, are most convincing of their opinions, and make the greatest contribution to the understanding and development of their area of research

In assessing each piece, consideration should be given to:

• Provenance—What are the author's credentials? Are the author's arguments supported by evidence (e.g. primary historical material, case studies, narratives, statistics, recent scientific findings)?
• Objectivity—Is the author's perspective even-handed or prejudicial? Is contrary data considered or is certain pertinent information ignored to prove the author's point?
• Persuasiveness—Which of the author's theses are most/least convincing?
• Value—Are the author's arguments and conclusions convincing? Does the work ultimately contribute in any significant way to an understanding of the subject?

3. Definition and Use/Purpose

A literature review may constitute an essential chapter of a thesis or dissertation, or may be a self-contained review of writings on a subject. In either case, its purpose is to:

• Place each work in the context of its contribution to the understanding of the subject under review
• Describe the relationship of each work to the others under consideration
• Identify new ways to interpret, and shed light on any gaps in, previous research
• Resolve conflicts amongst seemingly contradictory previous studies
• Identify areas of prior scholarship to prevent duplication of effort
• Point the way forward for further research
• Place one's original work (in the case of theses or dissertations) in the context of existing literature

The literature review itself, however, does not present new  primary  scholarship.

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How to Write a Research Paper Introduction (with Examples)

The research paper introduction section, along with the Title and Abstract, can be considered the face of any research paper. The following article is intended to guide you in organizing and writing the research paper introduction for a quality academic article or dissertation.

The research paper introduction aims to present the topic to the reader. A study will only be accepted for publishing if you can ascertain that the available literature cannot answer your research question. So it is important to ensure that you have read important studies on that particular topic, especially those within the last five to ten years, and that they are properly referenced in this section. 1 What should be included in the research paper introduction is decided by what you want to tell readers about the reason behind the research and how you plan to fill the knowledge gap. The best research paper introduction provides a systemic review of existing work and demonstrates additional work that needs to be done. It needs to be brief, captivating, and well-referenced; a well-drafted research paper introduction will help the researcher win half the battle.

The introduction for a research paper is where you set up your topic and approach for the reader. It has several key goals:

• Present your research topic
• Capture reader interest
• Summarize existing research
• Position your own approach
• Define your specific research problem and problem statement
• Highlight the novelty and contributions of the study
• Give an overview of the paper’s structure

The research paper introduction can vary in size and structure depending on whether your paper presents the results of original empirical research or is a review paper. Some research paper introduction examples are only half a page while others are a few pages long. In many cases, the introduction will be shorter than all of the other sections of your paper; its length depends on the size of your paper as a whole.

• Break through writer’s block. Write your research paper introduction with Paperpal Copilot

Table of Contents

What is the introduction for a research paper, why is the introduction important in a research paper, craft a compelling introduction section with paperpal. try now, 1. introduce the research topic:, 2. determine a research niche:, 3. place your research within the research niche:, craft accurate research paper introductions with paperpal. start writing now, frequently asked questions on research paper introduction, key points to remember.

The introduction in a research paper is placed at the beginning to guide the reader from a broad subject area to the specific topic that your research addresses. They present the following information to the reader

• Scope: The topic covered in the research paper
• Context: Background of your topic
• Importance: Why your research matters in that particular area of research and the industry problem that can be targeted

The research paper introduction conveys a lot of information and can be considered an essential roadmap for the rest of your paper. A good introduction for a research paper is important for the following reasons:

• It stimulates your reader’s interest: A good introduction section can make your readers want to read your paper by capturing their interest. It informs the reader what they are going to learn and helps determine if the topic is of interest to them.
• It helps the reader understand the research background: Without a clear introduction, your readers may feel confused and even struggle when reading your paper. A good research paper introduction will prepare them for the in-depth research to come. It provides you the opportunity to engage with the readers and demonstrate your knowledge and authority on the specific topic.
• It explains why your research paper is worth reading: Your introduction can convey a lot of information to your readers. It introduces the topic, why the topic is important, and how you plan to proceed with your research.
• It helps guide the reader through the rest of the paper: The research paper introduction gives the reader a sense of the nature of the information that will support your arguments and the general organization of the paragraphs that will follow. It offers an overview of what to expect when reading the main body of your paper.

What are the parts of introduction in the research?

A good research paper introduction section should comprise three main elements: 2

• What is known: This sets the stage for your research. It informs the readers of what is known on the subject.
• What is lacking: This is aimed at justifying the reason for carrying out your research. This could involve investigating a new concept or method or building upon previous research.
• What you aim to do: This part briefly states the objectives of your research and its major contributions. Your detailed hypothesis will also form a part of this section.

How to write a research paper introduction?

The first step in writing the research paper introduction is to inform the reader what your topic is and why it’s interesting or important. This is generally accomplished with a strong opening statement. The second step involves establishing the kinds of research that have been done and ending with limitations or gaps in the research that you intend to address. Finally, the research paper introduction clarifies how your own research fits in and what problem it addresses. If your research involved testing hypotheses, these should be stated along with your research question. The hypothesis should be presented in the past tense since it will have been tested by the time you are writing the research paper introduction.

The following key points, with examples, can guide you when writing the research paper introduction section:

• Highlight the importance of the research field or topic
• Describe the background of the topic
• Present an overview of current research on the topic

Example: The inclusion of experiential and competency-based learning has benefitted electronics engineering education. Industry partnerships provide an excellent alternative for students wanting to engage in solving real-world challenges. Industry-academia participation has grown in recent years due to the need for skilled engineers with practical training and specialized expertise. However, from the educational perspective, many activities are needed to incorporate sustainable development goals into the university curricula and consolidate learning innovation in universities.

• Reveal a gap in existing research or oppose an existing assumption
• Formulate the research question

Example: There have been plausible efforts to integrate educational activities in higher education electronics engineering programs. However, very few studies have considered using educational research methods for performance evaluation of competency-based higher engineering education, with a focus on technical and or transversal skills. To remedy the current need for evaluating competencies in STEM fields and providing sustainable development goals in engineering education, in this study, a comparison was drawn between study groups without and with industry partners.

• State the purpose of your study
• Highlight the key characteristics of your study
• Describe important results
• Highlight the novelty of the study.
• Offer a brief overview of the structure of the paper.

Example: The study evaluates the main competency needed in the applied electronics course, which is a fundamental core subject for many electronics engineering undergraduate programs. We compared two groups, without and with an industrial partner, that offered real-world projects to solve during the semester. This comparison can help determine significant differences in both groups in terms of developing subject competency and achieving sustainable development goals.

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With Paperpal Copilot, create a research paper introduction effortlessly. In this step-by-step guide, we’ll walk you through how Paperpal transforms your initial ideas into a polished and publication-ready introduction.

How to use Paperpal to write the Introduction section

Step 1: Sign up on Paperpal and click on the Copilot feature, under this choose Outlines > Research Article > Introduction

Step 2: Add your unstructured notes or initial draft, whether in English or another language, to Paperpal, which is to be used as the base for your content.

Step 3: Fill in the specifics, such as your field of study, brief description or details you want to include, which will help the AI generate the outline for your Introduction.

Step 4: Use this outline and sentence suggestions to develop your content, adding citations where needed and modifying it to align with your specific research focus.

Step 5: Turn to Paperpal’s granular language checks to refine your content, tailor it to reflect your personal writing style, and ensure it effectively conveys your message.

You can use the same process to develop each section of your article, and finally your research paper in half the time and without any of the stress.

The purpose of the research paper introduction is to introduce the reader to the problem definition, justify the need for the study, and describe the main theme of the study. The aim is to gain the reader’s attention by providing them with necessary background information and establishing the main purpose and direction of the research.

The length of the research paper introduction can vary across journals and disciplines. While there are no strict word limits for writing the research paper introduction, an ideal length would be one page, with a maximum of 400 words over 1-4 paragraphs. Generally, it is one of the shorter sections of the paper as the reader is assumed to have at least a reasonable knowledge about the topic. 2 For example, for a study evaluating the role of building design in ensuring fire safety, there is no need to discuss definitions and nature of fire in the introduction; you could start by commenting upon the existing practices for fire safety and how your study will add to the existing knowledge and practice.

When deciding what to include in the research paper introduction, the rest of the paper should also be considered. The aim is to introduce the reader smoothly to the topic and facilitate an easy read without much dependency on external sources. 3 Below is a list of elements you can include to prepare a research paper introduction outline and follow it when you are writing the research paper introduction. Topic introduction: This can include key definitions and a brief history of the topic. Research context and background: Offer the readers some general information and then narrow it down to specific aspects. Details of the research you conducted: A brief literature review can be included to support your arguments or line of thought. Rationale for the study: This establishes the relevance of your study and establishes its importance. Importance of your research: The main contributions are highlighted to help establish the novelty of your study Research hypothesis: Introduce your research question and propose an expected outcome. Organization of the paper: Include a short paragraph of 3-4 sentences that highlights your plan for the entire paper

Cite only works that are most relevant to your topic; as a general rule, you can include one to three. Note that readers want to see evidence of original thinking. So it is better to avoid using too many references as it does not leave much room for your personal standpoint to shine through. Citations in your research paper introduction support the key points, and the number of citations depend on the subject matter and the point discussed. If the research paper introduction is too long or overflowing with citations, it is better to cite a few review articles rather than the individual articles summarized in the review. A good point to remember when citing research papers in the introduction section is to include at least one-third of the references in the introduction.

The literature review plays a significant role in the research paper introduction section. A good literature review accomplishes the following: Introduces the topic – Establishes the study’s significance – Provides an overview of the relevant literature – Provides context for the study using literature – Identifies knowledge gaps However, remember to avoid making the following mistakes when writing a research paper introduction: Do not use studies from the literature review to aggressively support your research Avoid direct quoting Do not allow literature review to be the focus of this section. Instead, the literature review should only aid in setting a foundation for the manuscript.

Remember the following key points for writing a good research paper introduction: 4

• Avoid stuffing too much general information: Avoid including what an average reader would know and include only that information related to the problem being addressed in the research paper introduction. For example, when describing a comparative study of non-traditional methods for mechanical design optimization, information related to the traditional methods and differences between traditional and non-traditional methods would not be relevant. In this case, the introduction for the research paper should begin with the state-of-the-art non-traditional methods and methods to evaluate the efficiency of newly developed algorithms.
• Avoid packing too many references: Cite only the required works in your research paper introduction. The other works can be included in the discussion section to strengthen your findings.
• Avoid extensive criticism of previous studies: Avoid being overly critical of earlier studies while setting the rationale for your study. A better place for this would be the Discussion section, where you can highlight the advantages of your method.
• Avoid describing conclusions of the study: When writing a research paper introduction remember not to include the findings of your study. The aim is to let the readers know what question is being answered. The actual answer should only be given in the Results and Discussion section.

To summarize, the research paper introduction section should be brief yet informative. It should convince the reader the need to conduct the study and motivate him to read further. If you’re feeling stuck or unsure, choose trusted AI academic writing assistants like Paperpal to effortlessly craft your research paper introduction and other sections of your research article.

1. Jawaid, S. A., & Jawaid, M. (2019). How to write introduction and discussion. Saudi Journal of Anaesthesia, 13(Suppl 1), S18.

2. Dewan, P., & Gupta, P. (2016). Writing the title, abstract and introduction: Looks matter!. Indian pediatrics, 53, 235-241.

3. Cetin, S., & Hackam, D. J. (2005). An approach to the writing of a scientific Manuscript1. Journal of Surgical Research, 128(2), 165-167.

4. Bavdekar, S. B. (2015). Writing introduction: Laying the foundations of a research paper. Journal of the Association of Physicians of India, 63(7), 44-6.

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1: Introduction and Foundations of Special Education

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This book is about exceptional students and will discuss the role of teachers and clinicians who work together to support exceptional students in various clinical settings, including public schools in the United States.

Exceptional students are children and adolescents whose educational needs are not met by traditional educational programs and include students who are at risk for delayed development and those with specific disabilities. Exceptional students also include those who are capable of performing at higher levels than others of the same age. These students are referred to as gifted and talented and may also experience the need for additional support. Gifted and talented students may also have specific disabilities. These students are referred to as twice exceptional.

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) defines a child with a disability as having an intellectual disability, a hearing impairment (including deafness), a speech or language impairment, a visual impairment (including blindness), a serious emotional disturbance, an orthopedic impairment, autism, traumatic brain injury, any other health impairment, a specific learning disability, deaf–blindness, or multiple disabilities, and who needs special education and related services. We will discuss each of these disability categories in future chapters.

In addition, throughout this book we will discuss the different federal and state laws governing the education of exceptional students. It is important for educators and clinicians who work with exceptional students to understand how federal and state laws are made and how these laws influence their work.

• 1.1: How Federal Laws Are Made Congress is the legislative branch of the federal government in the United States and makes laws for the nation. Congress has two legislative bodies or chambers: the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives.
• 1.2: Special Education and Related Services Special education is instruction specifically designed to meet the individual needs of exceptional students. IDEA defines special education as instruction and related services specifically designed, at no cost to parents, to meet the unique needs of a child with a disability, including instruction conducted in the classroom, the home, hospitals, institutions, and other settings and includes instruction in physical education.
• 1.3: The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act In 1975, President Gerald Ford signed the Education for All Handicapped Children Act (EHA), which guaranteed a free and appropriate public education for children with disabilities in the United States. In 1990, the law was reauthorized and renamed the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).
• 1.4: The Pre-Referral Process Students are identified for special education and related services through a system of referrals beginning with the pre-referral process. Many schools have established school-based student assistance teams (SATs) to facilitate the assessment and identification of exceptional students. The SAT is a team of educators, specialists, and clinicians who monitor the progress of students that may require special education and related services.
• 1.5: The Referral Process If the tiered interventions do not result in improvement, a formal referral is made for evaluation to determine eligibility for special education and related services. At this point, parents must be notified and give their consent for the evaluation. IDEA specifies that a child must be evaluated within 60 days of receiving parental consent or within any period established by the state.
• 1.6: Multi-Tiered System of Support Another proactive instructional model or framework for preventing both academic and non-academic issues is called a Multi-Tiered System of Support (MTSS).
• 1.7: Early Childhood Intervention Services Early intervention services incorporate education, health care, and social services and are provided to infants and toddlers (under age 3) who have a disability or are exhibiting developmental delays, as well as their families. Children who are considered at risk for developmental delays also receive early intervention services.
• 1.8: The Individualized Education Program The multidisciplinary team (MDT) is required to develop an IEP for each student receiving special education and related services. The purpose of an IEP is to provide an appropriate education that meets the specialized needs of each student.
• 1.9: Transition from School to Post-School Activities The IDEA requires transition planning and transition services for students 16 to 22 years of age. In Illinois, transition planning must begin at age 14 ½. Transition services facilitate the transition from school to post-school activities including postsecondary education, vocational education, employment, continuing and adult education, and independent living.
• 1.10: Chapter Questions and References

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• Introduction to Learning Disabilities

Definition of Learning Disabilities

Learning disability (LD) is a general term that describes specific kinds of learning problems. A learning disability can cause a person to have trouble learning and using certain skills. The skills most often affected are reading, writing, listening, speaking, reasoning, and doing math. Learning disabilities vary from person to person. One person with LD may not have the same kind of learning problems as another person with LD. One person may have trouble with reading and writing. Another person with LD may have problems understanding math. Still another person may have trouble in each of these areas, as well as with understanding what people are saying (National Dissemination Center for Children and Youth with Disabilities [NICHCY], 2004).

LD is a group of disorders that affects people’s ability to either interpret what they see and hear or to link information from different parts of the brain. These limitations can show up in many ways: as specific difficulties with spoken and written language, coordination, self-control, or attention. Such difficulties extend to schoolwork and can impede learning to read, write, or do math.

A learning disability is a neurological disorder that affects the brain’s ability to receive, process, store, and respond to information. The term learning disability is used to describe the seemingly unexplained difficulty a person of at least average intelligence has in acquiring basic academic skills. These skills are essential for success at school and work, and for coping with life in general. “LD” does not stand for a single disorder. It is a term that refers to a group of disorders.

Interestingly, there is no clear and widely accepted definition of learning disabilities. Because of the multidisciplinary nature of the field, there is ongoing debate on the issue of definition, and currently at least twelve definitions appear in the professional literature. There are several technical definitions offered by various health and education sources. Overall, most experts agree on the following descriptions:

• Individuals with LD have difficulties with academic achievement and progress.
• Discrepancies exist between a person’s potential for learning and what that person actually learns.
• Individuals with LD show an uneven pattern of development (language development, physical development, academic development, and/or perceptual development).
• Learning problems are not due to environmental disadvantage.
• Learning problems are not due to mental retardation or emotional disturbance.
• Learning disabilities can affect one’s ability to read, write, speak, spell, compute math, and reason. They also can affect a person’s attention, memory, coordination, social skills, and emotional maturity.
• Individuals with LD have normal intelligence, or are sometimes even intellectually gifted.
• Individuals with LD have differing capabilities, with difficulties in certain academic areas but not in others.
• Learning disabilities have an effect on either input (the brain’s ability to process incoming information) or output (the person’s ability to use information in practical skills, such as reading, math, spelling, etc.).

Research suggests that learning disabilities are caused by differences in how a person’s brain works and how it processes information. Children with LD are not stupid or lazy. In fact, they usually have average or above average intelligence, but their brains process information differently. \ A learning disability affects the way kids of average to above average intelligence receive, process, or express information. Even if the person learns to compensate and, in effect, overcomes the disorder, the difference in brain processing lasts throughout life.

Important Point to Note

Knowing that a child has a learning disability tells you only that the child is experiencing some difficulty processing information. You must learn much more about the child before you can determine how much difficulty, the type of difficulties, and/or the impact the disability has on specific academic subjects or tasks.

Myth vs. Reality about Learning Disabilities

Myth 1.   People with LD are not very smart. Reality.  Kids with learning disabilities are just as smart as other kids. Intelligence has nothing to do with LD. In fact, people with LD have average to above average intelligence. Many have intellectual, artistic, or other abilities that permit them to be defined as gifted. Studies indicate that as many as 33% of students with LD are gifted.

Myth 2.  LD is just an excuse for irre-sponsible, unmotivated, or lazy people. Reality.  LD is caused by neurological impairments, not character flaws. For some people with LD, the effort required to get through a day can be exhausting in and of itself. The motivation required to do what others take for granted is enormous. Learning disabilities are problems in processing words or information, causing otherwise bright and capable children to have difficulty learning. The disabilities involve language—reading, writing, speaking, and/or listening.

Myth 3.  LD only affects children. Adults grow out of the disorders. Reality.  It is now known that the effects of LD continue throughout the individual’s lifespan and “may even intensify in adulthood as tasks and environmental demands change” (Michaels, 1994). Sadly, many adults, especially older adults, have never been formally diagnosed with LD. Learning disabilities cannot be outgrown, but they can be identified reliably in kindergarten or first-grade children, or even earlier. Research clearly demonstrates that the earlier a child is given appropriate help for a learning disability, the more successful the outcome.

Myth 4.  The terms dyslexia and learning disability are the same thing. Reality.   Dyslexia is a type of learning disability. It is not another term for learning disability. It is a specific language-based disorder affecting a person’s ability to read, write, and verbally express him or herself. Unfortunately, careless use of the term dyslexia has expanded so that it has become, for some people, an equivalent for LD. Four out of five children identified with a learning disability are diagnosed with a reading disability (or dyslexia). They have trouble learning how spoken language translates into written text. Since every subject—including math—requires reading and writing, a reading disability affects all of a person’s school-based learning.

Myth 5.  Learning disabilities are only academic in nature. They do not affect other areas of a person’s life. Reality.   Some people with learning disabilities have isolated difficulties in reading, writing, or mathematics. However, most people with learning disabilities have more than one area of difficulty. Dr. Larry Silver asserts that “learning disabilities are life disabilities.” He writes, “the same disabilities that interfere with reading, writing, and arithmetic also will interfere with sports and other activities, family life, and getting along with friends.” (Silver, 1998) Some children have good verbal (language) skills but weaknesses in visual and spatial perception, motor skills and, most significantly, social skills—affecting their ability to grasp the main idea, “see the whole picture,” or understand cause-and-effect relationships.

Many children with LD struggle with organization, attention, and memory. One-third of them may also have an attention deficit disorder—difficulty in regulating attention effectively, paying attention as needed, and shifting attention to another task, when required. Children with LD are creative and resourceful, and can frequently be characterized as gifted and as alternative thinkers. They are often very smart, and typically have strengths and talents that differ from the skills emphasized in school. With recognition of their difficulties, appropriate help, and the development of their interests and talents, children with LD can learn to succeed both in school and beyond.

Myth 6.  Adults with LD cannot succeed in higher education. Reality.  More and more adults with LD are going to college or university and succeeding. With the proper accommodations and support, adults with learning disabilities can be successful at higher education.

Myth 7.  Children with LD are identified in kindergarten and first grade. Reality.   Learning disabilities often go unrecognized for years; most are not identified until third grade. Bright children can “mask” their difficulties, and some kinds of learning problems may not surface until middle school, high school, or even college.

Myth 8.  More boys than girls have learning disabilities. Reality.  Although three times more boys than girls are identified by schools as having learning disabilities, research studies show that, in fact, equal numbers of boys and girls have the most common form of learning problem—difficulty with reading. Many girls’learning difficulties are neither identified nor treated.

History of the Field

Definitions of learning disabilities have evolved over time. These definitions have been attempts at describing a condition that had been labeled, among other terms, aphasia, neurologically impaired, Strauss Syndrome, and minimal brain dysfunction.

History suggests that the term learning disabilities originated with and became popularized by Dr. Samuel Kirk based on his writings in the early 1960s and comments that were made at the April 6, 1963 Conference on Exploration into Problems of the Perceptually Handicapped Child. His proposed label was “enthusiastically received and helped to unite the participants into an organization known as the Association for Children with Learning Disabilities, the forerunner of today’s Learning Disabilities Association” (Lerner, 2000).

I have used the term “learning disabilities” to describe “a group of children who have disorders in development in language, speech, reading, and associated communication skills needed for social interaction. In this group I do not include children who have sensory handicaps such as blindness or deafness, because we have methods of managing and training the deaf and the blind. I also exclude from this group children who have generalized mental retardation. (Kirk, 1963, p. 2)

During the latter part of the 1960s, there became greater awareness about learning disabilities, both from the general public and Congress. In response, the U.S. Office of Education was charged with creating a federal definition for what constituted a learning disability. Samuel Kirk chaired this committee. In 1968, the first annual report of the National Advisory Committee on Handicapped Children, headed by Dr. Kirk, wrote:

Children with special learning disabilities exhibit a disorder in one or more of the basic, psychological processes involved in understanding or in using spoken or written languages. These may be manifested in disorders of listening, thinking, talking, reading, writing, spelling, or arithmetic. They include conditions which have been referred to as perceptual handicaps, brain injury, minimal brain dysfunction, dyslexia, developmental aphasia, etc. They do not include learning problems which are due primarily to visual, hearing, or motor handicaps, to mental retardation, emotional disturbance, or to environmental disadvantage. (Special Education for Handicapped Children, 1968)

By the end of 1968, “specific learning disability” (abbreviated SLD or LD) became a federally designated category of special education (U.S. Office of Education, 1968), and in 1969, the Specific Learning Disabilities Act was enacted, Public Law 91-230. In 1975, Congress enacted P.L. 94-142, the Education for All Handicapped Children’s Act. Here, the definition of a learning disability was formalized for children in special education. Under P.L. 94-142, a specific learning disability was defined as follows.

 . . . a disorder in one or more of the basic psychological processes involved in understanding or in using language, spoken or written, that may manifest itself in an imperfect ability to listen, think, speak, read, write, spell, or do mathematical calculations, including conditions such as perceptual disabilities, brain injury, minimal brain dysfunction, dyslexia, and developmental aphasia. However, learning disabilities do not include, “. . . learning problems that are primarily the result of visual, hearing, or motor disabilities, of mental retardation, of emotional disturbance, or of environmental, cultural, or economic disadvantage.

The continuance of the P.L. 94-142 definition in federal law prompted further analysis. In the 1980s, a coalition of parent and professional organizations, described as the National Joint Committee on Learning Disabilities (NJCLD), criticized the definition under P.L. 94-142 for including concepts that were unclear or difficult to use to identify children with learning disabilities. In response to the criticisms, the NJCLD proposed an alternative definition.

Learning disabilities is a general term that refers to a heterogeneous group of disorders manifested by significant difficulties in the acquisition and use of listening, speaking, reading, writing, reasoning, or mathematical abilities. These disorders are intrinsic to the individual and presumed to be due to central nervous system dysfunction, and may occur across the lifespan. Problems in self-regulatory behaviors, social perception, and social interaction may exist with learning disabilities but do not by themselves constitute a learning disability. Although learning disabilities may occur concomitantly with other handicapping conditions or with extrinsic influences, they are not the direct result of those conditions or influences (NJCLD, 1994).

Today, children in special education are protected under Public Law 108-446, The Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEA 2004). The defi¬nition under IDEA has not changed in its criteria and guidelines for what constitutes a learning disability. Under current federal law the following language was established.

IN GENERAL: The term “specific learning disability” means a disorder in 1 or more of the basic psychological processes involved in understanding or in using language, spoken or written, which disorder may manifest itself in the imperfect ability to listen, think, speak, read, write, spell, or do mathematical calculations.

DISORDERS INCLUDED . Such term includes such conditions as perceptual disabilities, brain injury, minimal brain dysfunction, dyslexia, and developmental aphasia.

DISORDERS NOT INCLUDED . Such term does not include a learning problem that is primarily the result of visual, hearing, or motor disabilities, of mental retardation, of emotional disturbance, or of environmental, cultural, or economic disadvantage.

As can be seen when comparing the definitions set forth by P.L. 94-142 (now IDEA) and the NJCLD, both view central nervous system dysfunction as a potential cause; both specify that speaking, listening, reading, writing, and math can be affected; and both exclude learning problems due primarily to other conditions, such as mental retardation, emotional disturbance, and cultural differences (Hallahan & Kauffman, 2003).

The key differences between the definition set forth by IDEA and the definition established by the NJCLD are listed below:

• The federal definition is older and has a medical orientation.
• The NJCLD definition allows for coexisting disabilities (e.g., learning disabilities and visual disabilities).
• The NJCLD definition acknowledges problems many of these individuals have with social skills (Smith, 2004).
• The NJCLD does not use the phrase “basic psychological processes,” which has been so controversial, and does not mention perceptual handicaps, dyslexia, or minimal brain dysfunction, which have been so difficult to define.
• The NJCLD definition clearly states that a learning disability may be a lifelong condition.

As noted above, the current IDEA definition of LD remains the same as that incorporated in P.L. 94-142. The focus of IDEA is on student-age recipients of public education. However, nonacademic services to persons with developmental disabilities are provided by the Department of Developmental Disabilities (DDD) after high school. Because of DDD’s requirement that a person demonstrate a “substantial disability” to qualify for services, caseworkers need to determine a substantial level of severity affecting daily living. Without a separate definition of learning disabilities, caseworkers must qualify adults for DDD services based on some criterion. Bender (1992) advises, “A practitioner in the developmental disabilities is well advised to use the definition provided by the state in which he or she practices. Generally, the state’s Department of Education can provide a set of rules and regulations for special education services that includes the state definition of learning disability” (p. 82).

Finally, IDEA was reauthorized in 2004 (IDEA 2004), and its official name is the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (Public Law 108-446). As stated by Bowe (2004),

. . . IDEA will no longer require local education agencies (school districts) to use discrepancy in determining whether or not a given child has a learning disability. You should check with your state’s department of education to see if a discrepancy requirement continues to be in effect. The new amendments to IDEA also call for a process that determines if a child responds to “scientific, research-based intervention.” If a student does, the school district may rule that there is no specific learning disability, but rather a prior failure to provide adequate instruction. (p. 69)“Discrepancy” in Diagnosing a Learning Disability According to Ortiz (2004).

Perhaps the most controversial aspect of the definition of LD is that the observed academic problems are greater than what might be expected based on the child’s intellectual ability. This would appear to be an assumption that would be rarely questioned because it seems to make the most sense. As noted previously, LD is generally not diagnosed in individuals who have mental retardation because it is expected that people with low cognitive ability will have problems learning to read, write, or do math. On the other hand, there is an assumption implicit in most def¬ initions of LD that a child would be able to perform at a normal or average level consistent with his/her ability level were it not for the presence of LD. That is, children with LD are performing below their ability, intelligence, or potential.

Under the provisions of IDEA, decisions regarding the presence or absence of any disability, as well as the provision of special education services, are determined by a multidisciplinary team which, by law, must include the parents, a regular education teacher, an administrator, and all professional staff who have evaluated the child. The notion of discrepancy is reflected in IDEA, which states that “a team may determine that a child has a specific learning disability” if two conditions are met: (1) “the child does not achieve commensurate with his or her age and ability levels . . . if provided with learning experiences appropriate for the child’s age and ability levels”; and (2) “the team finds that a child has a severe discrepancy between achievement and intellectual ability” in one or more areas of academic skills. The real problem in using this approach involves defining exactly what it means to be below one’s expected level of performance.

There are numerous criticisms of using discrepancy formulas. Here are some from Smith (2004):

• IQ tests are not reliable and are unfair to many groups of children.
• Results have little utility in planning a student’s educational program.
• The process is not helpful in determining which interventions might be successful.
• The outcomes are not related to performance in the classroom, in the general education curriculum, or on district- or statewide assessments.
• Children must fail before they qualify for needed services. (p. 114)

The Exclusionary Clause

The definition of learning disability under IDEA also has what is referred to as an “exclusionary clause.” The exclusionary clause states that a learning disability “does not include a learning problem that is primarily the result of visual, hearing or motor disabilities, of mental retardation, of emotional disturbance, or of environmental, cultural, or economic disadvantage.” The purpose of this exclusionary clause is to help prevent the improper labeling of children, especially those from distinct cultures who have acquired learning styles, language, or behaviors that are not compatible with academic requirements of schools in the dominant culture. However, the exclusionary clause has generated tremendous debate and controversy by experts in the field.

The wording of the exclusion clause in the federal definition of learning disabilities lends itself to the misinterpretation that individuals with LD cannot also have other disabilities or be from different cultural and linguistic backgrounds. It is essential to understand and recognize the LD as they might occur within the varying disability categories as well as different cultural and linguistic groups. Individuals within these groups frequently have received inappropriate educational assessment, planning, and instruction because they could not be identified as learning disabled.

The NJCLD supports the idea that learning disabilities are not the primary and direct result of other disabilities and should not be so confused. However, the NJCLD notes specifically that learning disabilities may occur concomitantly with other disabilities. Although these individuals may be served educationally through different service modes, a denial of the existence of significant learning disabilities will result in inappropriate assessment and educational instruction and can result in the denial of direct or indirect professional services. According to Mercer (1997; cited in Gargiulio, 2004), the word “primarily” suggests that a learning disability can exist with other exceptionalities.

Classification Criteria

Consistent with the IDEA and NJCLD definitions, most states and local school districts require that students meet three criteria for classification as having a learning disability (Mercer, Jordan, Allsopp, & Mercer, 1996; cited in Turnbull, Turnbull, Shank, & Smith, 2004, p. 105):

1.  Inclusionary criterion - The student must demonstrate a severe discrepancy (a statistically significant difference) between perceived potential and actual achievement as measured by formal and informal assessments.

2.  Exclusionary criterion - The student’s learning disability may not result primarily from visual or hearing impairment, mental retardation, serious emotional disturbance, or cultural differences.

3.  Need criterion - The student manifests a demonstrated need for special education services. Without specialized support, the student’s disability will prevent him or her from learning.

Prevalence of Learning Disabilities

Your chances of knowing someone with learning disabilities are very good. Currently, almost 2.9 million school-aged children in the United States are classified as having specific learning disabilities and receive some kind of special education support. In fact, over half of all children who receive special education have a learning disability (24th Annual Report to Congress, 2002). They are approximately 5% of all school-aged children in public schools. (These numbers do not include children in private and religious schools or home-schooled children.) Learning disabilities is by far the largest category of special education.

It should be noted that prevalence figures can vary widely between states and within a state, depending on the stringency of the method used to determine eligibility. For example:

• Kentucky reports the lowest prevalence figure (2.9%) and Massachusetts the highest (7.35%). A study completed in Michigan compared the learning disabilities eligibility criteria and procedures for identification across the 57 regional education service agencies in the state (RESA). The results indicated that 21% of the RESAs had no written eligibility criteria or policies, the length of the written policies varied from one sentence to 112 pages, and the severe discrepancy formula score varied from 15 to 30 standard score points! It is possible for a student to move a few miles to the next school district and no longer be considered to have a learning disability. (Smith, Pollaway, Patton, & Dowdy, 2004, p. 164).

Studies show that learning disabilities do not fall evenly across racial and ethnic groups. For instance, in 2001, 1% of white children and 2.6% of non-Hispanic black children were receiving LD-related special education services. The same studies suggest that this has to do with economic status and not ethnic background. Learning disabilities are not caused by economic disadvantage, but in low-income communities there is increased risk of exposure to harmful toxins (lead, tobacco, alcohol, etc.) at early stages of development.

Boys outnumber girls by about three to one in the LD category. Some researchers have suggested that the prevalence of learning disabilities among males is due to their biological vulnerability. However, others have suggested that “the higher prevalence of learning disabilities among males may be due to referral bias.” They suggest that “academic difficulties are no more prevalent among boys than girls, but that boys are more likely to be referred for special education when they do have academic problems because of other behaviors, such as hyperactivity. Research on this issue is mixed” (Hallahan & Kauffman, 2003, p. 155).

The prevalence of LD also varies by age. Not surprisingly, the number of students receiving special education services increases steadily between the ages of 6 and 9. The bulk of students served (42%), however, are between the ages of 10 and 13, with a sharp decrease observed for individuals between 16 and 21 years of age (U.S. Department of Education, 2000; cited in Gargiulio, 2004, p. 210).

The true prevalence of learning disabilities is subject to much dispute because of the lack of a standard definition of LD and the absence of objective diagnostic criteria. Some researchers have argued that the currently recognized 5% prevalence rate is excessive and is based on vague definitions, leading to inaccurate identification. On the other hand, research efforts to identify objective early indicators of LD in basic reading skills have concluded that virtually all children scoring below the 25th percentile on standardized reading tests can meet the criteria for having a reading disorder. While less is known about LD in written expression, researchers estimate its true prevalence at between 8% and 15% of the school population. Research also indicates that approximately 6% of the school population has difficulties in mathematics which cannot be attributed to low intelligence, sensory deficits, or economic deprivation.

Finally, the dramatic increase in the number of students identified with LD is getting mixed reviews from learning professionals. For some, the increase is alarming, raising concerns that students are being overidentified. By contrast, other experts believe that the increased prevalence is reasonable, considering the newness of the field (Fuchs et al., 2001; cited in Turnbull et al., 2004).

Growth in the Identification of Students with Learning Disabilities Since 1975, when the category of LD was first included in public law, the number of students identified as having a learning disability has grown by almost 250%, from approximately 800,000 students to almost 3,000,000 students (U.S. Department of Education, 2002).

A number of reasons have been suggested for the enormous growth in the identification of students with learning disabilities. According to Hunt and Marshall (2002, p. 119), these reasons include:

1 .  Children who are underachieving are incorrectly identified as individuals with learning disabilities. The evaluation and identification criteria are too subjective and unreliable, and there are few, if any, alternative programs for these students.

2.   The diagnosis of LD is more socially acceptable than many other special education classifications, particularly mild mental retardation and behavior disorders. Consequently, teachers and parents prefer this classification and “push” for it.

3.   Greater general awareness of learning disabilities has resulted in more appropriate referrals and diagnoses. Teachers and parents are more aware of the types of services that are available.

4.   The number of students identified with learning disabilities parallels the increased social and cultural risks that have arisen during the past two decades. Biological and psychosocial stressors may place more children at risk for acquiring learning disabilities, and therefore more children are identified.

Warning Signs of a Learning Disability

There is no single sign that shows a person has a learning disability. Experts look for a noticeable difference between how well a child does in school and how well he or she could do, given his or her intelligence or ability. There are also certain clues that may mean a child has a learning disability. We’ve listed a few below. Most relate to elementary school tasks, because learning disabilities tend to be identified in elementary school. A child probably won’t show all of these signs, or even most of them. However, if a child shows a number of these problems, then parents and the teacher should consider the possibility that the child has a learning disability.

When a child has a learning disability, he or she may exhibit the following characteristics:

• Have trouble learning the alphabet, rhyming words, or matching letters to their sounds
• Make many mistakes when reading aloud, and repeat and pause often
• Not understand what he or she reads
• Have real trouble with spelling
• Have very messy handwriting or hold a pencil awkwardly
• Struggle to express ideas in writing
• Learn language late and have a limited vocabulary
• Have trouble remembering the sounds that letters make, or in hearing slight differences between words
• Have trouble understanding jokes, comic strips, and sarcasm
• Have trouble following directions
• Mispronounce words or use a wrong word that sounds similar
• Have trouble organizing what he or she wants to say or not be able to think of the word needed for writing or conversation
• Not follow the social rules of conversation, such as taking turns, and may stand too close to the listener
• Confuse math symbols and misread numbers
• Not be able to retell a story in order (what happened first, second, third)
• Not know where to begin a task or how to go on from there

As should be evident, the debate surrounding what constitutes a learning disability continues on as strong as ever. Remember, this is a multidisciplinary field that embraces sometimes competing viewpoints as the very nature of the construct and its causes. It is perhaps best to envision LD as “a family or syndrome of disabilities affecting a wide range of academic and/or behavioral performance (Gargiulio, 2004, p. 206). In particular, regardless of the definition used, children with learning disabilities have intellectual functioning within the normal range, there is a discrepancy between potential and achievement, the learning disability is not due to other causes, there is difficulty in learning, and there is a presumption of central nervous system dysfunction.

The field of special education is subject to the dynamic forces found in political and scientific arenas, as well as to the capacity of the special education workforce to be responsive to current and future changes. To the extent that the identification of individuals with learning disabilities serves those purposes, changes in definition and criteria are and should be part of the constant evolution in this field. To the consumer of information, a careful examination of the definition and criteria used to identify populations will allow the application of research to practice.

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Publications

• Theoretical Perspectives on the Causes of Learning Disabilities
• Characteristics of Children with Learning Disabilities
• Eligibility Determination for Specific Learning Disabilities
• The Importance of Response to Intervention (RTI) in the Understanding, Assessment, Diagnosis, and Teaching of Students with Learning Disabilities
• Effective Teaching Strategies for Students with LD
• Promoting Positive Social Interactions in an Inclusion Setting for Students with Learning Disabilities
• Transition Services for Students with Learning Disabilities
• IEP Development and Educational Placement Options for Students with Learning Disabilities
• Assessment Measure Used to Determine Learning Disabilities in Students
• Differentiation: Strategies and Educational Impact
• Learning Disability Identification: What You Need to Know about the Discrepancy and Patterns of Strengths and Weaknessess ("Third Method") Models
• What is a Learning Disability, Really? by Carol Murphy, MA, CCC-SLP
• Social Skills and Academic Achievement
• Accommodations and Modifications: Wait, They're not the same?
• Using Universal Design for Learning: Successful Transition Models for Educators Working with Youth with Learning Disabilities
• Students with Learning Disabilities Participating in Recess
• Dyslexia: An Upside Down World in a Right Side Up World By. Ruth Humbert
• Adolescent Literacy
• The State of Learning Disabilities Facts, Trends and Emerging Issues
• A Discussion of Reading Disorders: Perceptual, Cognitive and Mnemonic Elements
• Learning Disabilities Today: An Examination of Effective and Not-So-Effective Interventions
• Test Anxiety and Students with Learning Disabilities By Kendra Brown
• Limitations on Response to Intervention with Emphasis on General Education Teachers
• Practical Understanding and Intervention of Dyscalculia By Brittany Ann Ross
• Benefits and Limitations of Technology Use for Students with Reading and Writing Disorders in the General Education Classroom: A Systematic Review
• General and Special Education Teachers’ Perceptions of the Implementation of Differentiated Instruction in Elementary Classrooms with Learning Disabilities Students*
• Strategies for Supporting Students Struggling with Sight Word Retention
• A Critique of: Cognitive Risk Factors for Specific Learning Disorder: Processing Speed, Temporal Processing, and Working Memory
• Diverse Learners and Intervention: A Review of Literature
• Improving Reading Skills in Students Below Grade Level: A Literature Review
• New Strategies for Students with Learning Disabilities
• NCES Releases Latest NAEP Long-Term Trend Report for Ages 9 and 13
• The Practices of Teachers in the Development of Post-Secondary Skills in Students with Learning Disabilities
• They Sing Their Way to Reading
• Supporting the Mental Health of Students with Dyslexia: What Educators Can Do?
• Evidence Based Practice Research: Elkonin Boxes
• Students Coping with Dyslexia in General Education Classrooms
• Overcoming Dyslexia: Music, Rhythm, and Prosody

©2024 National Association of Special Education Teachers. All rights reserved

Special Education Research Paper

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Special education is intended for students who are exceptional—significantly different from the average. The difference may be either desirable or undesirable. Just how different from average and in what ways a student must be different to merit special education are perpetual controversies. Furthermore, a difference alone does not entitle a student to special education under current law: the difference must interfere to a significant extent with his or her education. Just what constitutes significant interference with education is a matter of judgment and therefore another perpetual issue. In spite of controversies, special education is now an integral part of public education about which every teacher should know (Kauffman & Hallahan, 2005; Huefner, 2006).

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Most students receiving special education have disabilities. They are far below average in one or more of the following abilities, with related special education categories included in italics: thinking (cognition; mental retardation), academic learning (learning not consistent with intellectual ability; specific learning disability), recognizing and controlling emotions or behavior (emotional disturbance), using speech in communication (communication disorder), hearing (deafness or impaired hearing), seeing (blindness or impaired vision), moving or maintaining physical well-being (physical disability or other health impairment). Special education categories also include autism (or autism spectrum disorders), traumatic brain injury, and severe or multiple disabilities (e.g., deaf-blindness). These students have been or can be predicted to be unsuccessful in the general education curriculum with instruction by a regular classroom teacher (Kauffman & Hallahan, 2005).

Special education is also appropriate for students whose abilities are significantly above average—those with special gifts or talents. Gifted education receives comparatively little attention and has not been mandated by federal law as of 2007. It has been left to state and local education authorities (Hallahan, Kauffman, & Pullen, 2009).

A variety of words may be used to describe exceptionality, including emotional or behavioral disorder (rather than emotional disturbance), autism or Asperger syndrome (instead of autism spectrum disorder), challenge (rather than disorder or disability), or a more general term, such as developmental disability. The variety and change in labels makes special education difficult to study, but the key points are that students with disabilities have problems that significantly impede their school progress and gifted/ talented students learn extraordinarily fast.

History of Special Education

Special education was offered in mid-19th-century institutions for blind, deaf, and mentally retarded persons. By about the mid-20th century, special education for blind, deaf, physically disabled, mentally retarded, emotionally disturbed, communication-impaired, and gifted students was common in American public schools. Most special education in that era was provided in special classes and special schools.

In the later decades of the 20th century, special education categories of specific learning disability, autism, and traumatic brain injury were added. Other disabling conditions, such as attention deficit disorder (ADD, later called attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD) were recognized in the 20th century but were not then accorded a specific category in special education law. Beginning in the 1970s, special education was mandated by federal law for all students with disabilities in the legally recognized categories. Those with problems not having a particular category (e.g., ADHD) were covered under the law only if they could be included under an existing category (e.g., specific learning disability or other health impairment in the case of ADHD; Hallahan et al., 2009).

Professional and Parent Organizations

Organizations of professionals and parents have played a major role in the development of special education. In the 1920s, the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) was founded. It is an international organization, primarily composed of educators dedicated to advocacy of special education for disabled and gifted students. Most other professional organizations with concern for students with specific exceptionalities originated in the early to mid-20th century. Other parent organizations advocating services for children with particular exceptionalities, such as The Arc (originally the Association for Retarded Children), also date from the 20th century. Many advances in treatment and law would not have occurred at all or would have been delayed for a much longer time without the advocacy of parents (Hallahan et al., 2009).

Federal Special Education Law

Until 1975, special education for students with disabilities was left to state or local law. In 1975, the federal law now known as IDEA (in its 2004 version, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act, IDEIA) mandated special education for all students judged to have disabilities. The law has been renamed and revised several times since 1975, with the most recent revision as of this writing being in 2004 and sometimes referred to as IDEA 2004 (Huefner, 2006; Yell, 2005).

The federal law was enacted primarily in response to the demands of parents of children with disabilities that the needs of their children be addressed by public education. IDEA requires not only appropriate education for all students with disabilities but related and supplementary services as well. Major provisions of the law from its inception until its 2004 version include a free appropriate public education (FAPE) in the least restrictive environment (LRE) chosen for each individual from a continuum of alternative placements (CAP) and delivered according to an Individualized Education Program (IEP). Related and supplementary services allow the student to receive FAPE and might include transportation, physical therapy, or other help.

Not all of the requirements of IDEA are mentioned here, only the central ones. Furthermore, IDEA is not the only law addressing disabilities and special education or the only federal law governing public education.

International Scope

The historical foundations of special education can be traced to Europe in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Special education flourished in many European nations during the 20th century, and it also became a prominent part of American public schooling in the 20th century. By the late 20th century, special education had become a part of public education in all developed nations of the world. All of the major concepts and issues discussed here apply to all nations of the world in which special education is offered (Hallahan et al., 2009).

Major Concepts in Special Education

In the late 20th and early 21st centuries, approximately 1 in 10 students in U.S. public schools received special education. Before the federal law was passed, many students with disabilities received no education or were institutionalized. After federal law required schools to provide special education in 1975, the percentage of the school population receiving special education grew substantially and fewer children were sent to institutions. Understanding basic concepts about exceptionality and special education will help teachers avoid making inappropriate assumptions and referring students for special education who do not need it (Kauffman & Hallahan, 2005).

Inability Versus Disability

An inability is not always a disability, but a disability is always an inability. Inability simply means that a person cannot do something, but the reason may be due to a disability, age, or a lack of receiving effective instruction. A disability means that a person cannot do something that most people of the same age receiving similar instruction can do. Before identifying a student as having a disability, it is critically important to make sure that he or she has had sufficient opportunities to learn.

Disability Versus Handicap

A disability is something a person cannot do, although the circumstances (e.g., age, instruction, environment) would lead you to expect that the person should be able to do it. A handicap is a circumstance imposed on a person so that they cannot do what they could if the conditions are changed or the environment is altered. For example, lack of a ramp imposes a handicap on a person who uses a wheel chair. The person may have a disability in walking or climbing stairs but have a handicap when it comes to entering a building or classroom that has no access other than stairs. Appropriate adaptations remove a handicap for a person who can use a computer but cannot use it in the standard way because of a disability (e.g., cannot type using his or her fingers because of physical impairment). For these reasons, appropriate modifications and adaptations are mandated in school facilities, equipment, and programs.

High- and Low-Incidence, Mild and severe, and multiple Disabilities

Some disabilities occur more often than others. Disabilities that occur relatively frequently—high-incidence categories—include communication disorders, specific learning disability (SLD), mental retardation (MR), and emotional disturbance (ED).

Most disabilities are mild; relatively few are severe. Communication disorders, SLD, MR, or ED can be severe even though they are high-incidence disabilities. Significant impairment of hearing or vision is comparatively uncommon, so both are considered low-incidence disabilities. Total deafness or blindness is severe and low-incidence as well.

Disabilities may also occur in combination. For example, a student may have both mental retardation and emotional disturbance; brain injury and communication disorders in combination with emotional disturbance; physical disability, impaired vision, mental retardation, and communication disorders. Combinations of disabilities—multiple disabilities—make an individual’s problems more difficult to address and may make the person’s disability severe even though the separate disabilities are relatively mild. Deaf-blindness, which is by definition a multiple and severe disability, is extremely low-incidence. Some disabilities (brain injury and autism spectrum disorders, for example) are nearly always multiple (Stichter, Conroy, & Kauffman, 2008).

Nature and Degree of Difference

Both disabilities and giftedness are differences of degree in particular abilities. Exceptionalities are differences in abilities valued by a society. Differences in color of skin, hair, or eyes, for example, do not matter much to most people, although differences in ability to move, talk, read, and reason do matter a lot in our society for purposes of defining disability or giftedness. Not every difference from the typical defines a disability in our society—only differences judged to be significant do. Ability to reason, for example, may be considered a disability only if it is far below that of typical individuals the same age or a gift only if it is far above those the same age. Disabilities and gifted-ness are just matters of judgment that (a) the difference in question matters for purposes of defining exceptionality in education and (b) the difference is extreme enough to meet a stated criterion.

Disabilities and Abilities

A major concept in special education is that a person’s disability does not preclude finding that the person has important abilities. For example, a child may have a severe physical disability but have average or even superior cognitive ability. Assuming that an individual who cannot move very much or very skillfully cannot think well is a mistake that special education is designed to avoid. Moreover, it is now well understood that some individuals are twice exceptional—that is, they have extraordinary gifts or talents combined with a disability, perhaps even severe and multiple disabilities. Special education is intended to focus on making the maximum use of the abilities a student has regardless of any disabilities that he or she might have.

Major Controversies in Special Education

Special education is characterized by controversies generated by three realities: (1) special education now accounts for a substantial proportion of the school population and an even greater proportion of the education budget, (2) American society has been sensitized to abuse and neglect of people who have disabilities, and (3) American society is ambivalent about education for its gifted students. These critical realities must be considered in addressing any of the controversies discussed here; otherwise, any proposed solution will fail eventually, if not immediately. Both the monetary and the social costs and benefits of special education must be considered to garner public support (Hallahan et al., 2009; Kauffman & Hallahan, 2005).

The language of special education can be very confusing. Not only is it characterized by many acronyms (e.g., LRE for least restrictive environment; SLD for specific learning disability; CEC for Council for Exceptional Children), but it often includes labels that are indistinguishable in practice (e.g., emotional disturbance, emotional and behavioral disorders, behavior disorders, behavioral challenges, and so on).

Specific labels generate a lot of controversy, in part because they are sometimes used inappropriately or abusively, as epithets rather than as helpful descriptors. Certain terminology is denounced by nearly everyone as both outmoded and derogatory (e.g., idiot, moron, imbecile, which were 19th-century terms used to designate various degrees of mental retardation). Other terms, such as mental retardation, are now said by some, but not most, people to be regressive and derogatory. The organization first known as the American Association on Mental Deficiency (AAMD) later changed its name to the American Association on Mental Retardation (AAMR) and then to the American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (AAIDD). In general, attempts have been made to change words (labels) to signify the same phenomenon with terms considered less offensive. Thus, disabilities and disorders are sometimes called challenges under the assumption that challenge is a less stigmatizing term.

In essence, some argue that labels with negative connotations should be studiously avoided because they are stigmatizing. Others counter that the problem of stigma is not found in the word itself but in how people interpret the term (e.g., that mental retardation is stigmatizing only because of how people view what we call mental retardation, not because of the term itself). Changing the term, they argue, confuses people temporarily but does nothing to resolve the problem of stigma because people soon attach the same meanings to the new term as to the old one. Using a euphemism (a supposedly more pleasant term) to refer to undesirable characteristics fools people for a short time and results in a backlash of ridicule when people figure out what the euphemism refers to.

One controversy regarding language is whether we should use what is called person-first language. Advocates of person-first language consider it inappropriate to refer to an emotionally disturbed child; rather, they contend, one should use the construction child with emotional disturbance. The idea is that individuals are not their disabilities. Hence, it is wrong to refer to a physically disabled young man because the inference could be drawn that the disability defines the young man or sums up his existence. Young man with a physical disability is ostensibly better language because it signifies the young man first and indicates that he has a disability, not that he is a disability or that his disability defines him. Others argue that person-first language is not only cumbersome but calls special attention to a person’s disability by its unusual construction. For example, we consider it perfectly acceptable to refer to a car salesman and do not urge people to use the construction man who sells cars instead, and we may call a woman in a bank a teller or a redhead without assuming that being labeled as such leads us to assume that such designations define everything about her. Yet, the circumlocutions required by person-first language have been widely adopted.

Another argument about language is that the differences we call disabilities should not be considered undesirable. Accordingly, some do not wish to use terminology such as person with a disability but only speak of a person with differing abilities. Although some embrace this point of view, others observe that if disabilities are not recognized as such and considered undesirable there will be lots of confusion about what disabilities are and little or no motivation to address the special needs of those who have them.

Some have argued for an end to all labeling because labels are stigmatizing. Others counter with the observation that labels cannot be avoided unless we stop talking about the phenomenon to which we refer. They note that a label is only the word we use to describe something, and we cannot give up labeling it without giving up communication about whatever that thing is. Although it is true that we can change labels or stop saying words that are in common use, the alternative to common labels is to speak in code or use euphemisms.

Identification

Identification of disabilities and giftedness by test scores alone or by judgment alone (whether that of a teacher, a psychologist, a parent, or someone else) is highly suspect. Those who identify students for special education, whether due to disabilities or giftedness or both, are expected to use their judgment in addition to the results of tests and measures of the student’s performance. By law, no single test score and no one person’s judgment is to be the basis for identification. In the past, it was too easy to identify a student as needing special education, or to overlook those who needed it, without sufficient evidence. Both false identification and failure to identify exceptionality are rightly considered abusive of a student’s right to appropriate education.

Still controversial are the particular tests, performances, and judgments that should be used in identification. Also at issue, even given the particular tests, performances, or judges, is the criterion or cutoff for identification. The controversy about identification thus involves both measurement and judgment.

All measurement contains error, regardless of the test or assessment procedure. That is, no measurement is perfect. Any test or other attempt to measure performance will result in errors, both those known as false positives (false identification in this case) and false negatives (errors in which the individual should have been identified but was not). Consequently, the most accurate measurement—the measurement tool and procedure producing the fewest errors—is important so that as few individuals are falsely identified and as few are overlooked as possible. But another issue is judging which is the worse error to make—falsely identifying a child who has no disability or failing to identify a child who does. With any given procedure, false negatives will increase as false positives decrease, and vice versa; there is a reciprocal relationship between one type of error and the other. Although accuracy is important, one must weigh the consequences of the proportion of errors—mistakes in identifying students in proportion to mistakes in not identifying students.

Because of the inherent difficulties in measuring the things that are used to define disability and giftedness, some educators have proposed giving up measurement altogether. Their argument is that measurement is a useless, unreliable, biased, demeaning, and wasteful exercise. Others counter that measurement is essential for accountability and that giving up on measurement means reliance on unspecified, subjective judgments alone.

The criterion for any exceptionality is arbitrary. That is, a particular level of difference is chosen as the threshold for defining disability or giftedness, and it can be changed. Arbitrary in this context does not mean fickle, random, or detached from objective criteria, but merely chosen from among possibilities—constructed willfully, not determined by nature. Although this kind of arbitrariness characterizes many important rules and laws in our society (for example, voting or driving age, income defining poverty or a tax bracket, or the score required to pass a state test), we recognize the importance of having a criterion or cutoff.

Because defining exceptionality, regardless of how exceptionality is measured or judged, is arbitrary in the sense that the criterion can be (and in some cases has been) changed, some educators have argued for abandonment of identification. Their argument is that we should simply recognize that all students are different, and that differences are not something about which we can make good yes/no judgments regarding exceptionality. They object to sorting students into categories. Others counter that we cannot provide special education for students without identifying those who should receive it and that this requires sorting those who do have from those who do not have exceptionalities.

Perhaps the most controversial aspect of identification in IDEA 2004 is the introduction of the notion of response to intervention (RTI) as a means of identifying learning disabilities. RTI requires that the general education teacher use instructional practices and other interventions that scientific evidence supports and monitor their student’s response. If the student responds to practices that scientific evidence supports, then he or she is not identified as needing special education; only if the student does not respond is special education considered. RTI is proposed as an alternative to identification of specific learning disability by a discrepancy—the difference between a student’s performances on intelligence and achievement tests (with those showing a marked discrepancy between estimated ability and achievement being identified as having a specific learning disability). Some see RTI as the solution to improper identification; others see it as only another, and inferior, way of assessing individuals and determining whether they need special education. Those who question RTI ask how much response how quickly to what intervention is enough to avoid identification of a specific learning disability.

Identity and Self-Concept

Much has been made of the feelings of inferiority, disgust, fear, and other negative feelings attached to having a disability or to having a family member who has a disability. Ruined identity is one of the reasons for trying to find language that is easier to accept. But the designation of disability, regardless of the language used to describe it, seems always to bring disappointment, pain, and anxiety. In response to such reactions and in attempts to improve self-concept, some have taken the position that a particular difference (e.g., deafness) is not really a disability. They might argue that loss of a difference considered disabling threatens a person’s cultural identity.

Others have noted that the most radical advocacy of disability rights seems contrary to the notion that disability does not define identity. A person can be proud of his or her identity without attaching positive value to all of his or her characteristics. People need affiliation some of the time with others who share their particular interests, problems, or characteristics, and people with exceptionalities are not exempted. Such affiliation is not always based on positive characteristics (consider Alcoholics Anonymous, for example). Furthermore, disabilities are, by definition, characteristics that most people in our society see as disadvantages that should be removed if possible. Finally, the counterargument goes, the disadvantages we call disabilities are not matters that can be humanely redefined as characteristics that do not matter or do not cause disadvantage. True, disappointment, pain, and anxiety accompany the designation of disability, but the same is true of physical illness or addiction. The most humane response to any exceptionality is not denial or redefinition but recognition, acceptance, and effective treatment.

Perhaps the most contentious issue in special education of the late 20th and early 21st centuries is place—in which schools and classrooms exceptional students should be taught. Using acronyms common in special education, IDEA calls for FAPE in the LRE chosen from a CAP— federal law requires free appropriate public education in the least restrictive environment chosen from a continuum of alternative placements. But the federal law is open to interpretation, and therein lies the controversy. Some, who advocate full inclusion (education of exceptional students in regular schools and classes only), deem education appropriate only if it is delivered in the regular classroom and consider the regular classroom least restrictive in all cases (or the LRE idea as outmoded). They also replace the requirement of a continuum of alternative placements with the idea of a continuum of alternative services (meaning that widely differing, alternative services can all be delivered in the regular classroom). Full inclusion is sometimes tempered to mean that inclusion in the regular classroom to the greatest extent possible is the most important goal— more important than effective instruction. That is, full inclusion, even in its tempered version, suggests that the place of instruction is more important than the effectiveness of instruction or that instruction is most effective only if it is delivered in a regular classroom.

Those who question inclusion (whether full or not) as the priority of special education point out that IDEA requires the following: (a) placement decisions made on an individual basis, not a policy of automatic inclusion or exclusion of all students with disabilities; (b) placement decisions made after, not before, determination of instructional needs; (c) greater concern for instruction than for location; and (d) not only a continuum of services but a full continuum of placement options including hospital or homebound instruction, residential education, special day schools, self-contained classes, resource rooms, and instruction in regular classrooms with special assistance as needed. IDEA prohibits placing a student in a group based solely on his or her categorical label, placement decisions made before determination of instructional need, elimination of placement options, and placement made because it is already available in a school district.

The inclusion controversy continues in special education because the place and the nature of instruction involve conflicting notions of discrimination, rights, and fairness, as well as conflicting criteria for success and interpretations of law. The controversy will not be resolved without agreement about achieving the goals of equal rights and fairness for students with exceptionalities. (Crockett & Kauffman, 1999).

Disproportionality

Some categories of special education contain proportions of students whose gender or ethnic identities are markedly discrepant from their proportion in the general school-age population. The most controversial disproportionalities involve the overrepresentation of African American students in special education for those with emotional disturbance and mental retardation and their underrepresentation in special education for the gifted. Some suggest that African American students are more often identified as having certain disabilities and less often identified as gifted because of racial bias or prejudice.

Others observe that African American children more often experience disadvantages and deprivations that may account for these disproportionalities. Research evidence to support unequivocally either explanation of the disproportionalities is lacking. Nevertheless, sound arguments have been made that social justice in American life requires that the inequities in education and disproportionalities in special education be addressed effectively and without delay. Clearly, this is one controversy involving the possible abuse and neglect of students by education, whether general or special, and by other agencies as well.

Still another issue involving special education is perception of the negative aspects of identification as having a disability and the benefits to those who receive special education because their disability is recognized. Those who decry the disproportional identification of African American students for special education for students with disabilities emphasize the spoiled sense of self that accompanies such identification and downplay the benefits of special education. Those who see disproportional identification in less negative terms tend to emphasize the benefits of receiving special education.

Relationship to General Education

The relationship between general and special education is a long-standing controversy. The proper role of each in relation to the other has been hotly debated, and attempts to improve the education of all children, such as the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), have added to the contentiousness. The issue is complicated by the placement of some students in regular classrooms for some subjects under IDEA.

In the past, students receiving special education because they had disabilities often did not take state-mandated tests, so their progress could not be compared to that of other students. Under IDEA and NCLB, most students with disabilities now must take the same tests as their non-disabled peers. Proponents of this requirement argue that most students with disabilities should be expected to pass the same tests as nondisabled students—in fact, that they can and will pass the same tests if they are given appropriate instruction. Those who question this expectation point out that it is unreasonable and unfair, and that although students with disabilities should be expected to achieve all they can, the average for those with disabilities will always be lower than the average for those without disabilities, even if both groups receive the best possible instruction.

In the 1970s, it became popular to call for the integration of general and special education, such that the difference between them would become increasingly imperceptible. A common suggestion was that general and special education should not be separate systems but a single system that serves all students. Those who questioned the demand for a single, integrated system pointed out that special and general education are both part of public education and, therefore, already part of a single system. They argued that any effective subpart of a system must have its own identity, authority, budget, and personnel (e.g., just as teacher education must have these in a university, special education must have them in public schools; and just as a research and development unit in a business must have these, various subunits of the public schools, such as athletics or music, must have them).

Another decades-old line of argument is that special education should develop and give to general education those ways of working with exceptional children that have been found successful, such that special education will gradually become superfluous (i.e., work itself out of business). Still another is that general education should become so effective and supple that it meets the needs of all students without the necessity of identifying any for special education. Those questioning these ideas have pointed out that realities of measurement preclude the elimination of low achievement and that special education will always be necessary to serve the extremes, regardless of how good general education becomes.

A popular idea of the late 20th and early 21st centuries is that general and special education teachers should work together. That is, they should collaborate and consult with each other to discover what is best for the student or coteach classes in which some, but not all, students are identified as having exceptionalities. Although collaboration, consultation, and coteaching captured the imagination of many, research has not shown that these are better than instruction from a special education teacher alone in meeting the needs of exceptional children. Those who question the collaboration, consulting, and coteaching models point to the necessity of individualized, focused, intensive, persistent instruction that a trained special education teacher alone can provide. They argue that although special education teachers do need to help general education teachers accommodate a wider range of pupils, students with disabilities need the specialized instruction that only a special education teacher working alone can provide.

Special education costs more per student than general education—in fact, several times more. Thus, although special education may serve 10% of the school population, it may account for 25% of the budget. The disproportional cost of special education is a particularly hot issue for administrators and taxpayers.

The extra costs of special education are not difficult to explain. Perhaps the most obvious and greatest contributor to higher cost is the student-teacher ratio; special education teachers generally teach much smaller groups of students than do general education teachers. Furthermore, special education students often require special transportation and other related services and special materials or equipment.

Those who decry the high cost of special education are likely to argue that too many students are identified as needing it and that equity demands equal expenditures for all students. Those who attempt to justify the high cost of special education are likely to argue that only those students who actually need special education have been identified and that equal opportunity for these students demands higher expenditures. The argument becomes how much is too much and how little is too little to spend for special education.

Special education is funded by a combination of local, state, and federal monies. The federal contribution to the extra cost of special education has never come close to that mentioned in federal legislation. Consequently, the cost of special education has become a particularly controversial issue for state and local authorities.

What Makes Special Education Special

Some have argued that special education is not really special, that good teaching is good teaching regardless of the students. According to this reasoning, a good general education teacher individualizes for students and can provide, as part of a truly flexible general education, anything that a special educator can provide.

In response, others have noted that special education often has not been what it should be, that it is often provided by poorly prepared teachers, and that it shares the same dimensions of instruction used in general education.

They argue that what makes special education truly special is not placement but instruction. Specifically, special education is instruction that is more highly individualized and makes use of special methods that are not feasible in general education. (Cook & Schirmer, 2006; Kauffman & Hallahan, 2005).

Individualization

One point of view is that individualization is part of teaching. That is, all teachers are expected to be aware of what each individual student is doing and make accommodation for individual differences. To the extent that a teacher does not meet these expectations, he or she is professionally inadequate.

A competing point of view is that special education teachers focus on the individual; general education teachers necessarily focus on the group. In fact, some have pointed out that IDEA is about education for individuals, whereas NCLB is about education for groups. According to this view, special education teachers go well beyond what general education teachers can be expected to do in the way of individualizing goals, making instructional adaptations, and meeting students’ individual needs.

One can make the case that special education is not special because it individualizes for students whereas general education does not, but because it involves greater individualization. As is true of many other distinctions in life (consider the very definition of disability), the difference is one of degree, not of kind. Therefore, the distinction between general and special education is the degree of individualization, not the total absence of individualization (general) versus individualization (special).

Dimensions of Instruction

Greater individualization of education is possible in special education because of its modulation of several dimensions of instruction. Again, general education involves the use of all of these dimensions of instruction, and special education becomes special because of the degree to which a teacher is able to alter them. All teachers, whether in general or special education, use the same basic instructional strategies, but this small reality belies the larger truth that the degree to which these strategies are used matters a great deal.

The dimensions of instruction that a special education teacher may alter include at least the following: pacing or rate, intensity, persistence, structure, reinforcement, pupil-teacher ratio, curriculum, and monitoring or assessment. Special educators, to a greater degree than general educators, may vary the speed with which tasks are presented or the rate at which students proceed in subject matter. They may also vary to a greater degree the intensity of instruction, for example its demandingness, the repetitions required, and the size of the steps in learning. To a greater degree, they are able to alter the structure of their classrooms, meaning such things as rules, expectations, and teacher control. They may also vary to a greater degree the consequences of performance (reward, for example), pupil-teacher ratio, and the curriculum (what is taught). Finally, the frequency and type of monitoring and assessment of progress may be more finely attuned to the individual in special education.

Curriculum and Methods

Some students with exceptionalities study the same curriculum as general students, and their teachers use the methods considered appropriate for students without exceptionalities. In fact, one of the more successful accommodations for gifted students is acceleration, merely moving them ahead of their age mates in school grade. Other students require highly specialized curriculum (e.g., Braille and orientation and mobility skills for blind students; sign language for deaf students; basic self-care skills such as toileting, grooming, cooking, and dressing for those with severe mental retardation).

With IDEA 2004 and NCLB has come the expectation that all (or nearly all) students will learn the same curriculum and be assessed by the same tests. Thus there has been considerable pressure to align special education with the general education curriculum. Some special educators have suggested that Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) for students with disabilities should not be aligned with the general education curriculum because students with disabilities often need to learn different things in different ways compared to their peers who do not have disabilities.

Sometimes the curriculum and methods of instruction have been inappropriate for exceptional students receiving special education, as has been the case for students in general education. At its best, or in its truest sense, special education ensures that students who are exceptional, whether they have disabilities or are gifted or both, receive the specialized instruction that is most suitable for them as individuals. What is studied and how it is taught are not the same for all students.

Future Directions in Special Education

The direction that special education will take in future years is anyone’s guess (Hallahan et al., 2009). One possible scenario is that special education will collapse entirely, becoming an invisible part of general education. In fact, special education seems likely to vanish if two arguments are taken seriously: (1) whatever schooling is right and good for one student is right and good for all, and (2) all students should be expected to meet the same standards. Another possibility is that special education will shrink, such that only those with the most severe disabilities will be eligible for it. This seems likely if authorities recognize that a few students have truly special needs but argue that special education has become too large, serves too many children, is often provided to children who do not actually need it, and takes too large a proportion of the education budget. Still another possible direction is resurgence and acceptance of assertions that special education is a good idea and that only improved teacher preparation and specialized, effective instruction can make special education what it should be. This is likely to occur only if there is agreement that special education is primarily about instruction, not place; that special education teachers must have special instructional skills; that special education is worth the extra cost; and that success should be judged by what students achieve with versus without special education, not by whether the achievement of exceptional children approximates that of typical students.

The future of special education depends on two primary considerations: (a) judgments of economic feasibility, given the fiscal constraints faced by the nation, states, and localities; and (b) public conceptions of fairness and social justice. Special education has always been in part about money and in part about society’s attitudes toward children, fairness, and opportunity. Fairness and the worth of education for exceptional children will always be issues.

Special education is designed for exceptional learners— those far above or far below typical students in particular knowledge or skills. Exceptional learners may have special gifts or talents or have one or more disabilities: mental retardation, specific learning disability, emotional disturbance, communication disorder, impaired hearing, impaired sight, physical disability or other health impairment, autism spectrum disorders, traumatic brain injury, or severe or multiple disabilities. Sometimes other labels are used for these categories. Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is sometimes considered a learning disability or is included as other health impairment.

Special education became a part of American public education in large cities in the late 19th century. Parent and professional organizations date from the early 20th century. The federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) dates from 1975 and requires free appropriate public education (FAPE) in the least restrictive environment (LRE) chosen from a continuum of alternative placements (CAP) and delivered according to an Individualized Education Program (IEP). Special education is international in scope.

Major concepts in special education include: (a) distinction between inability and disability; (b) difference between disability and handicap; (c) related services; (d) recognition of mild, severe, high-incidence, low-incidence, and multiple disabilities; (e) nature and degree of difference; and (f) both abilities and disabilities are important and individuals can be twice exceptional, that is, have disabilities and special gifts or talents at the same time.

Major controversies in special education include:

(a) the language used to describe exceptionalities; (b) identification, identity, and self-concept of individuals with exceptionalities; (c) placement; (d) disproportional identification; (e) the relationship between general and special education; and (f) cost. Special education is made special by individualized instruction and alteration of one or more of the following to an extent not feasible in general education: pacing or rate, intensity, persistence, structure, reinforcement, pupil-teacher ratio, curriculum, and monitoring or assessment.

The future of special education is unknown and could take any one of several directions. Its future will depend on judgments of economic feasibility, given the fiscal constraints faced by the nation, states, and localities, as well as public perceptions of fairness and social justice.

Bibliography:

• Byrnes, M. (Ed.). (2002). Taking sides: Clashing views on controversial issues in special education. New York: McGraw-Hill.
• Cook, B. G., & Schirmer, B. R. (Eds.). (2006). What’s special about special education? Examining the role of evidence-based practices. Austin, TX: PRO-ED.
• Coots, J. J., & Stout, K. (Eds.). (2007). Critical reflections about students with special needs: Stories from the classroom. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
• Crockett, J. B., Gerber, M. M., & Landrum, T. J. (Eds.). (2007). Achieving the radical reform of special education. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
• Crockett, J. B., & Kauffman, J. M. (1999). The least restrictive environment: Its origins and interpretations in special education. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
• Hallahan, D. P., Kauffman, J. M., & Pullen, P. C. (2009). Exceptionallearners: Introduction to special education (11th ed.). Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
• Huefner, D. S. (2006). Getting comfortable with special education law: A framework for working with children with disabilities (2nd ed.). Norwood, MA: Christopher-Gordon.
• Kauffman, J. M., & Hallahan, D. P. (2005). Special education: What it is and why we need it. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
• Kauffman, J. M., & Hallahan, D. P. (Eds.). (2005). The illusion of full inclusion (2nd ed.). Austin, TX: Pro-Ed.
• Lloyd, J. W., Kameenui, E. J., & Chard, D. (Eds.). (1997). Issues in educating children with disabilities. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
• Mazurek, K., & Winzer, M. A. (Eds.). (1994). Comparative studies in special education. Washington, DC: Gallaudet University Press.
• Morris, R. J., & Mather, N. (Eds.). (2008). Evidence-based interventions for students with learning and behavioral challenges. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
• Sorrells, A. M., Rieth, H. J., & Sindelar, P. T. (Eds.). (2004). Critical issues in special education: Access, diversity, and accountability. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
• Speece, D. L., & Keogh, B. K. (Eds.). (1996). Research on classroom ecologies: Implications for inclusion of children with learning disabilities. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
• Stichter, J. P., Conroy, M. A., & Kauffman, J. M. (2008). An introduction to students with high-incidence disabilities. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Merrill-Prentice Hall.
• Warnock, M. (2005). Special educational needs: A new look. (Impact No. 11). London: Philosophy of Education Society of Great Britain.
• Yell, M. L. (2005). The law and special education (2nd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
• Ysseldyke, J. E., Algozzine, B., & Thurlow, M. L. (2000). Critical issues in special education (3rd ed.). Boston: Houghton Mifflin.

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