This book is written as an easily accessible guide for headteachers and other general education administrators who administer and/or interact with special education programmes and services in their schools. The book is designed to provide basic foundational knowledge of special education that every headteacher needs in order to lead effectively, as well as examples for how to create effective special education.
In this era of universal accountability for improving student achievement and school wide improvement planning, it is imperative that headteachers understand fully the key components of special education. Headteachers may need basic legal and/or procedural information, but more important are the understandings about who gets into special education as well as current thinking about how to educate children with diverse disabilities.
Margaret McLaughlin has been involved in special education all of her professional career, beginning as a teacher of students with serious emotional and behavior disorders. Currently she is the associate director of the Institute for the Study of Exceptional Children, a research institute within the College of Education at the University of Maryland. She directs several national projects investigating educational reform and students with disabilities, including the national Educational Policy Reform Research Institute (EPRRI), a consortium involving the University Maryland; The National Center on Educational Outcomes (NCEO); and the Urban Special Education Collaborative. She also directs a national research project investigating special education in charter schools and leads a policy leadership doctoral and postdoctoral program in conducting large-scale research in special education.
McLaughlin has worked in Bosnia, Nicaragua, and Guatemala in developing programs for students with developmental disabilities. She has consulted with numerous state departments of education and local education agencies on issues related to students with disabilities and the impact of standards-driven reform policies. McLaughlin co-chaired the National Academy of Sciences Committee on Goals 2000 and Students with Disabilities, which resulted in the report Educating One and All. She was a member of the NAS committee on the disproportionate representation of minority students in special education.
McLaughlin teaches graduate courses in disability policy and has written extensively in the area of school reform and students with disabilities. She earned her PhD at the University of Virginia and has held positions at the U.S. Office of Education and the University of Washington.
Victor W. Nolet is Director of Assessment and Evaluation for the Woodring College of Education at Western Washington University. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Oregon. His current interests include the impact of teacher education programs on P-12 student outcomes and the impact of accountability systems on students with disabilities. Address: Victor Nolet, Woodring College of Education, 251F Miller Hall, Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA. 98225.
