About Special Education at the Century's End

Special Education at the Century's End is one of the most comprehensive examinations of special education to date. It traces special education's development into a major institution in the United States by examining the major debates and decisions that occurred during its growth from the early 1970s, a period of optimism and anticipation, through the current era of controversy and reevaluation.

Special Education at the Century's End begins with articles from the 1970s, a time when children's rights to educational equity were being established in the courts and legislatures. The book then examines the reforms initiated in the 1970s and presents the changes that still must be made to ensure equity and fairness in education. The final section concentrates on special education practice by reevaluating traditional approaches to educating special needs students and offering new alternatives for working with and understanding these students.

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Table of Contents for Special Education at the Century's End

Introduction
Thomas Hehir and Thomas Latus

Part 1: The Promise of Special Education

Student Classification, Public Policy, and the Courts
David L. Kirp

Why Special Education Isn't Special
Carl Milofsky

Engendering Change in Special Education Practices
Milton Budoff

Street-Level Bureaucrats and Institutional Innovation: Implementing Special Education Reform
Richard A. Weatherley and Michael Lipsky

Part 2: The Reassessment of Special Education

Beyond Special Education: Toward a Quality System for All Students
Alan Gartner and Dorothy Kerzner Lipsky

The Education for All Handicapped Children Act: Schools as Agents of Social Reform
Judith D. Singer and John A. Butler

Correspondence:
Is Special Education Serving Minority Students? A Response to Singer and Butler
James H. Lytle

Singer and Butler Reply to Lytle

The Special Education Paradox: Equity as the Way to Excellence
Thomas M. Skrtic

Part 3: From Theory into Practice

Understanding Reading Disability: A Case Study Approach
Peter H. Johnston

The Deaf as a Linguistic Minority: Educational Considerations
Timothy Reagan

Communication Unbound: Autism and Praxis
Douglas Biklen

Tipping the Balance
Joseph Cambone

The Learning-Disabilities Test Battery: Empirical and Social Issues
Gerald S. Coles

Screening, Early Intervention, and Remediation: Obscuring Children's Potential
Anne Martin

Correspondence: Special Education in the Early Grads--How Best to Meet Children's Special Needs: A Response to Martin
Karyn R. Gitlis

Martin Replies to Gitlis

Notes on Contributors

Author Index

Subject Index

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Publishing Information

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