Download or read book The Role of Special Education Interest Groups in National Policy written by Tiina Itkonen and published by . This book was released on 2014-05-14 with total page 273 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This study adopts a political perspective and is grounded in the assumption that special education is a policy domain characterized by multiple and competing interests. The interest groups studied operate in a political, multi-institutional policy environment and employ targeted strategies to further specific policy goals. Special education as a national policy is the sum of incremental policy making across multiple institutions. The multiple access points to the policymaking system afford institutions the ability to create and interpret policy across time and contexts. As a result, special education policy is defined by federal law, corresponding state laws, regulations, judicial interpretations, and local implementation. This research focuses specifically how advocacy groups "package" their interests to policy makers, strategies they choose, and their overall effectiveness. This study is the first that analyzes special education interest groups' behavior and effectiveness over a 30-year time span, using advocacy groups as units of analysis. The study also increases our knowledge about the political participation of parents of children with disabilities, who have a deep personal investment in the policy outcomes and who behave differently from groups that represent professionals. Finally, the study's longitudinal focus on advocacy organizations from the initial passage of the federal special education statute in 1975 through its reauthorizations contributes to the knowledge of interest group interactions over time. This is an important book for readers with a specific interest in special education policy and political scientists who are more generally interested in the broader questions of public policy making. The book is also of interest to practitioners in the fields of special education and public policy.
Download or read book The Role of Special Education Interest Groups in National Policy written by Tiina Itkonen and published by Cambria Press. This book was released on 2009 with total page 274 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is an important book for readers with a specific interest in special education policy and political scientists who are more generally interested in the broader questions of public policy making. Itkonen investigates what types of groups participate in special education somewhere on a continuum between interest group and social movement; the relationship between group types and how they frame policy interests; how groups negotiate differences among themselves and with policy makers; and the relationships between a group's organizational character, its choice of targets and strategies, how it frames its policy interest, its arenas of action, its effectiveness in the legislative and judicial arenas, and the kinds of issue positions it takes.
Download or read book Equality in Education Law and Policy 1954 2010 written by Benjamin M. Superfine and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2013-03-11 with total page 279 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Examines how the concept of equality in education law and policy has transformed from Brown v. Board of Education through the Stimulus.
Download or read book Handbook of Special Education written by James M. Kauffman and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2011-05-15 with total page 807 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Special education is now an established part of public education in the United States—by law and by custom. However, it is still widely misunderstood and continues to be dogged by controversies related to such things as categorization, grouping, assessment, placement, funding, instruction, and a variety of legal issues. The purpose of this 13-part, 57-chapter handbook is to help profile and bring greater clarity to this sprawling and growing field. To ensure consistency across the volume, chapter authors review and integrate existing research, identify strengths and weaknesses, note gaps in the literature, and discuss implications for practice and future research. Key features include: Comprehensive Coverage—Fifty-seven chapters cover all aspects of special education in the United States including cultural and international comparisons. Issues & Trends—In addition to synthesizing empirical findings and providing a critical analysis of the status and direction of current research, chapter authors discuss issues related to practice and reflect on trends in thinking. Categorical Chapters—In order to provide a comprehensive and comparative treatment of the twelve categorical chapters in section IV, chapter authors were asked to follow a consistent outline: Definition, Causal Factors, Identification, Behavioral Characteristics, Assessment, Educational Programming, and Trends and Issues. Expertise—Edited by two of the most accomplished scholars in special education, chapter authors include a carefully chosen mixture of established and rising young stars in the field. This book is an appropriate reference volume for anyone (researchers, scholars, graduate students, practitioners, policy makers, and parents) interested in the state of special education today: its research base, current issues and practices, and future trends. It is also appropriate as a textbook for graduate level courses in special education.
Download or read book Disability and U S Politics written by Dana Lee Baker and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2017-01-16 with total page 575 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: More than 1 billion people worldwide have a disability, and they are all affected by politics. This two-volume work explores key topics at the heart of disability policy, such as voting, race, gender, age, health care, social security, transportation, abuse, and the environment. Disability policy is no longer an area that can be adequately addressed within major areas of public policy such as welfare, health, labor, and education. Disability has become widely acknowledged in recent decades, partly because of the increasing number of disabled citizens across all demographic populations. Advocates argue that diversity of all kinds deserves recognition and accommodation. This set examines policies targeting disability to provide a multifaceted description of the political participation of people with disabilities as well as disability policy development in the United States. The first volume focuses on political participation and voting issues, and the second volume covers disability public policy. In these two volumes, numerous scholars and experts in the social sciences and humanities explore timely topics that are key to disability policy questions, including activism, voting, race, gender, age, health care, social security, civil rights, abuse, the environment, and even death. Readers will better understand the challenges that policymakers face in grappling with controversies over issues of social engineering and public policy, often attempting to reconcile majority experience with minority rights. The chapters analyze the history of disability politics, describe the disability policy infrastructure as it currently exists in the United States, and provide insight into current disability-related controversies.
Download or read book The Politics of Autism written by John J. Pitney and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2015-08-06 with total page 191 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the first book devoted exclusively to the contentious politics of autism, noted political scientist and public policy expert John J. Pitney, Jr., explains how autism has evolved into a heated political issue disputed by scientists, educators, social workers, and families. Nearly everything about autism is subject to debate and struggle, including its measurement and definition. Organizational attempts to deal with autism have resulted in not a single “autism policy,” but a vast array of policies at the federal, state, and local levels, which often leave people with autism and their families frustrated and confused. Americans with autism are citizens, friends, coworkers, sons, daughters, fathers, and mothers. No longer simply the objects of public policy, they are active participants in current policy debates. Pitney’s fascinating look at how public policy is made and implemented offers networks of concerned parents, educators, and researchers a compass to navigate the current systems and hope for a path towards more regularized and effective policies for America’s autism community.
Download or read book Decisions and Dilemmas of Research Methods in Early Childhood Education written by Anne Keary and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2022-07-18 with total page 236 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book examines the methodological decisions made by researchers working in early childhood contexts. Viewed from a researcher’s perspective, each chapter explores the journey of the researcher, capturing their decision-making processes in early childhood research. Through themes such as the politics of ethics and how different cultural norms shape research in different localities, Decisions and Dilemmas of Research Methods in Early Childhood Education explores key questions such as: What are the ethical issues arising during early childhood research? Which research traditions and methodologies prevail and why? How are research subjects perceived and positioned within different research contexts? What interdisciplinary tensions or opportunities arise between different ways of working across early childhood research? The book critically unpacks how these decisions are made and by whom during the course of research. Each chapter includes reflections of researchers working across disciplines such as education, health and social work to understand the thinking, forces and actors that shape decisions made during the research process. This is essential reading for researchers working in early childhood contexts in fields such as social work, health, education, criminology, psychology and more.
Download or read book Reforming Special Education written by Richard Weatherley and published by MIT Press (MA). This book was released on 1979 with total page 220 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Focusing on Massachusetts' innovative special education reform law, Chapter 766, "Reforming Special Education" traces the complex processes through which an ostensibly universalistic and equitable policy can produce a biased distribution of public benefits favoring affluent clients."Reforming Special Education" examines three Massachusetts school systems and seven schools within those systems to determine whether laws formulated to alter practices in educating children who are deaf, blind, retarded, and physically handicapped actually result in fair and uniform treatment of children with special needs, or whether they just create more work for school personnel.The book discusses individual and community wealth as factors in the allocation of funds. Despite Massachusetts' "equalizing formula," it points out that rich districts often fare better than poor ones because they have the resources and sophistication necessary to challenge funding decisions. The book also reveals that bureaucrats who are charged with carrying out the changes are victimized by new laws which, for lack of resources, they cannot hope to put into effect. Because the street-level bureaucrats, front-line personnel, develop informal means of coping with these problems and with their jobs, they distort the policy they are charged with implementing and become policy makers in their own right.Weatherley concludes that policy initiatives must take into account potential effects on the daily work routines of those charged with implementing them. These findings have dramatic implications for all human service bureaucracies where front-line staff interact with the public--hospitals, police departments, public welfare and employment offices, mental health centers and lower courts. Students of public policy, educators, social workers, or anyone involved in public service employment will find this a scholarly, yet highly readable account of the organizational constraints to bureaucratic reform.
Download or read book The Quest for Leadership Thomas E Cronin and His Influence on Presidential Studies and Political Science written by Michael A. Genovese and published by Cambria Press. This book was released on 2015-09-04 with total page 322 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This publication from Cambria Press is released in conjunction with the 2015 annual meeting of the American Political Science Association (#APSA2015) The book's main focus is on presidential leadership and draws inspiration from the scholarship of eminent political scientist Thomas E. Cronin. From evaluating the leadership successes and failures of President George W. Bush and President Barack Obama (e.g., on education policy, social security reform, health care, the surveillance of Americans) to Franklin D. Roosevelt, Richard Nixon, and Ronald Reagan and their handling of coalitions, this book also discusses presidents as war-time leaders, presidential leadership and authority, public leadership, US world leadership, and the role of chief justices. In addition, the book touches on leadership in higher education and in the global corporate context. Given its coverage, this book will be an important resource for many years to come. The Quest for Leadership, edited by distinguished political scientist Michael A. Genovese, brings together the thought-provoking analyses and critical discussions of top scholars and practitioners. This book is a must read not only for political scientists but also for anyone with an interest in leadership, especially in US politics.
Download or read book Special Interest written by Terry M. Moe and published by Brookings Institution Press. This book was released on 2011-04-01 with total page 529 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Why are America's public schools falling so short of the mark in educating the nation's children? Why are they organized in ineffective ways that fly in the face of common sense, to the point that it is virtually impossible to get even the worst teachers out of the classroom? And why, after more than a quarter century of costly education reform, have the schools proven so resistant to change and so difficult to improve? In this path-breaking book, Terry M. Moe demonstrates that the answers to these questions have a great deal to do with teachers unions—which are by far the most powerful forces in American education and use their power to promote their own special interests at the expense of what is best for kids. Despite their importance, the teachers unions have barely been studied. Special Interest fills that gap with an extraordinary analysis that is at once brilliant and kaleidoscopic—shedding new light on their historical rise to power, the organizational foundations of that power, the ways it is exercised in collective bargaining and politics, and its vast consequences for American education. The bottom line is simple but devastating: as long as the teachers unions remain powerful, the nation's schools will never be organized to provide kids with the most effective education possible. Moe sees light at the end of the tunnel, however, due to two major transformations. One is political, the other technological, and the combination is destined to weaken the unions considerably in the coming years—loosening their special-interest grip and opening up a new era in which America's schools can finally be organized in the best interests of children.
Download or read book Educating One and All written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 1997-06-27 with total page 305 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the movement toward standards-based education, an important question stands out: How will this reform affect the 10% of school-aged children who have disabilities and thus qualify for special education? In Educating One and All, an expert committee addresses how to reconcile common learning for all students with individualized education for "one"â€"the unique student. The book makes recommendations to states and communities that have adopted standards-based reform and that seek policies and practices to make reform consistent with the requirements of special education. The committee explores the ideas, implementation issues, and legislative initiatives behind the tradition of special education for people with disabilities. It investigates the policy and practice implications of the current reform movement toward high educational standards for all students. Educating One and All examines the curricula and expected outcomes of standards-based education and the educational experience of students with disabilitiesâ€"and identifies points of alignment between the two areas. The volume documents the diverse population of students with disabilities and their school experiences. Because approaches to assessment and accountability are key to standards-based reforms, the committee analyzes how assessment systems currently address students with disabilities, including testing accommodations. The book addresses legal and resource implications, as well as parental participation in children's education.
Download or read book Handbook of Research on Educational Leadership for Equity and Diversity written by Linda C. Tillman and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2013-08-21 with total page 773 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The rapid growth of diversity within U.S. schooling and the heightened attention to the lack of equity in student achievement, school completion, and postsecondary attendance has made equity and diversity two of the principle issues in education, educational leadership, and educational leadership research. The Handbook of Research on Educational Leadership for Equity and Diversity is the first research-based handbook that comprehensively addresses the broad diversity in U.S. schools by race, ethnicity, culture, language, gender, disability, sexual identity, and class. The Handbook both highly values the critically important strengths and assets that diversity brings to the United States and its schools, yet at the same time candidly critiques the destructive deficit thinking, biases, and prejudices that undermine school success for many groups of students. Well-known chapter authors explore diversity and related inequities in schools and the achievement problems these issues present to school leaders. Each chapter reviews theoretical and empirical evidence of these inequities and provides research-based recommendations for practice and for future research. Celebrating the broad diversity in U.S. schools, the Handbook of Research on Educational Leadership for Equity and Diversity critiques the inequities connected to that diversity, and provides evidence-based practices to promote student success for all children.
Download or read book Political Education written by Christopher T. Cross and published by Teachers College Press. This book was released on 2004 with total page 220 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This fascinating chronicle is the only book to cover public K-12 education policy in the modern era. Featuring a chapter on the US federal law No Child Left Behind, this book looks at the major organizations, interest groups, and policy makers who influenced federal policy including Lyndon B. Johnson, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reaga, Bill C linton, George W. Bush, Elliot Richardson, Al Quie, John Brademas, Adam Clayton Powell, Walter Mondale, Abraham Ribicoff, Ted Bell, Bill Bennett, Carl Perkins, and Ted Kennedy.
Download or read book Interest Groups and Lobbying written by Thomas T. Holyoke and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2020-10-29 with total page 374 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Interest Groups and Lobbying shows how political organizations and their lobbyists play a crucial role in how policy is made in the United States. It cuts through the myths and misconceptions about interest groups and lobbyists with an accessible and comprehensive text supported by real world examples and the latest research. New to the Second Edition • Fully updates and expands the discussion of social media and other online activity engaged in by interest groups, showing that they have become more sophisticated in their use of the internet – especially social media – for keeping current members informed and for their advocacy work. • New case studies on more recent advocacy efforts. • Updated data used in the book, including: • Total number and types of interest groups lobbying in Washington, DC • Total number and types of interest groups lobbying in the fifty states • Data on campaign contributions • Data on amicus briefs and case sponsorship • Data on stages of the lawmaking process where interest groups appear to lobby the most • New data on revolving-door lobbyists
Download or read book Resources in Education written by and published by . This book was released on 2001 with total page 764 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book A Learning Centered Framework for Education Reform written by Elizabeth Demarest and published by Teachers College Press. This book was released on 2015-04-24 with total page 193 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In her new book, Betty Demarest describes a bold agenda for education reform—one that is firmly grounded in a synthesis of educational research about learning, teaching, and the contexts of education. The author’s “learning-centered” framework includes: (1) a broad and balanced set of education goals, (2) a multi-faceted concept of achievement, (3) classroom capacity for learning, (4) systemic capacity and infrastructure, (5) shared, reciprocal accountability, and (6) systems of multiple assessments. New research-based concepts in these six areas are critically compared to older concepts behind standards-based reform and No Child Left Behind. Book Features: A comprehensive, alternative framework for future education reform that focuses on improving the core educational practices of learning, teaching, content, and leadership. A federal role that emphasizes meaningful partnerships rather than top-down control. A critique of past standards and present accountability-based frameworks, with implications of the learning-centered framework for future national policy, especially ESEA An operational definition of educational capacity, a re-conceptualization of accountability, and a sharp reversal of the relative emphasis placed on these strategies. Elizabeth J. Demarestis an education consultant living in Alexandria, Virginia. She was formerly with the U.S. Department of Education and the National Education Association. “Betty Demarest clearly defines a learning-centered framework for improving policy and practice. Practitioners can benefit from the strategies outlining a clear pathway for transforming to learning-centered practice in our nation’s classrooms.” —Gerald N. Tirozzi, executive director, National Association of Secondary School Principals “Betty Demarest’s deep experience with research and policy development allows her to re-envision reform at many levels, all based on research evidence for valid concepts and practices of teaching and learning. This book is a welcome gift to policymakers and practitioners.” —Roland Tharp, research professor, University of California, Berkeley “Demarest provides a research-based foundation for informed discussion and debate as Congress renews federal education law. Her synthesis of key issues should provide a starting point for any serious discussion of the way forward in federal education policy.” —Mary Haywood Metz, professor emerita, University of Wisconsin–Madison
Download or read book Handbook of Education Policy Research written by Gary Sykes and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2012-09-10 with total page 1062 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Co-published by Routledge for the American Educational Research Association (AERA) Educational policy continues to be of major concern. Policy debates about economic growth and national competitiveness, for example, commonly focus on the importance of human capital and a highly educated workforce. Defining the theoretical boundaries and methodological approaches of education policy research are the two primary themes of this comprehensive, AERA-sponsored Handbook. Organized into seven sections, the Handbook focuses on (1) disciplinary foundations of educational policy, (2) methodological perspectives, (3) the policy process, (4) resources, management, and organization, (5) teaching and learning policy, (6) actors and institutions, and (7) education access and differentiation. Drawing from multiple disciplines, the Handbook’s over one hundred authors address three central questions: What policy issues and questions have oriented current policy research? What research strategies and methods have proven most fruitful? And what issues, questions, and methods will drive future policy research? Topics such as early childhood education, school choice, access to higher education, teacher accountability, and testing and measurement cut across the 63 chapters in the volume. The politics surrounding these and other issues are objectively analyzed by authors and commentators. Each of the seven sections concludes with two commentaries by leading scholars in the field. The first considers the current state of policy design, and the second addresses the current state of policy research. This book is appropriate for scholars and graduate students working in the field of education policy and for the growing number of academic, government, and think-tank researchers engaged in policy research. For more information on the American Educational Research Association, please visit: http://www.aera.net/.
