Special Education: Special Topics

A few videos of particular relevance:

• All of Education
• All of Special Education

Special Needs: Inclusion  by ITV Granada Manchester, in School Matters, 1 (Teachers TV/UK Dept of Ed, 2006), 28 mins
Including the Special School by Maverick TV, in Future School, 6 (Teachers TV/UK Dept of Ed, 2005), 14 mins
Tackling Challenging Behaviour 1 by Lambent, in Primary Special Needs, 3 (Teachers TV/UK Dept of Ed, 2006), 15 mins
Tackling Challenging Behaviour 2  by Lambent, in Primary Special Needs, 4 (Teachers TV/UK Dept of Ed, 2006), 16 mins
Effective Inclusion: Bringing Special School Experience into the Mainstream Classroom, (Teachers TV/UK Dept of Ed, 2010), 6 mins
Differentiation by Real Life, in Secondary NQTs (Teachers TV/UK Dept of Ed, 2005), 14 mins

QUESTION:
What if I just want to browse a few good peer-reviewed / scholarly journals that are all about special education ?

ANSWER:
Try some of the following:

• Journal of Special Education - multidisciplinary publication with primary research and scholarly reviews.
• Intervention in School and Clinic  - interdisciplinary coverage of day-to-day aspects of special and remedial education.
• Special Education Technology Practice - covers developments in assistive and instructional technology.
• Teaching Exceptional Children features practical methods and materials for classroom use aimed at teachers of children with disabilities and children who are gifted; an official journal of the Council for Exceptional Children.

Associations:
Professional and trade associations offer unique insider perspectives on the world of their membership with industry reports and member surveys you will not find elsewhere. Here are a few for special education worth considering:

• CEC Council for Exceptional Childen
• CHADD Childen and Adults with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder
• CLD Council for Learning Disabilities
• LDA Learning Disabilities Association of America
• NASET National Association of Special Education Teachers
• PAGE Pennsylvania Association for Gifted Education

The following are particularly notable for the free online collections offered on their sites:

• Center for Effective Collaboration and Practice supports and promotes a reoriented national preparedness to foster the development and the adjustment of children with or at risk of developing serious emotional disturbance.
• National Center for Learning Disabilities is an online guide to essential information about learning disabilities, early literacy and learning resources, support for adolescents and adults with learning disabilities, public policy and advocacy tools.
• National Center on Secondary Education and Transition coordinates national resources, offers technical assistance, and disseminates information related to secondary education and transition for youth with disabilities in order to create opportunities for youth to achieve successful futures.
• National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities offers educational resources, program information, networking opportunities and research publications.

Still can't find your special statistic or fact? Other associations can be found in the Library database Encyclopedia of Associations.

Not every student who takes a special education course will go on to take their Special Education certification. However, the likelihood that a student will someday serve on an IEP team as the classroom teacher or in another role is very high.

How might your particular IEP team role influence what sort of research articles you need to be prepared for such a meeting? Check out the following links tied to search results in eric.ed.gov for ideas on how this plays out a hypothetical case. Scenario: Third grade student diagnosed with ADHD that is controlled by medication but still faces behavioral issues in his mainstream grade class.

General Education Classroom Teacher
Special Education Teacher
School District representative or administrator
An individual who can interpret the evaluation results
Student advocate
Parent