MaryAnn Byrnes, Byrnes Maryann
Taking Sides: Clashing Views on Controversial Issues in Special Education
MaryAnn Byrnes, Byrnes Maryann
Taking Sides: Clashing Views on Controversial Issues in Special Education
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This debate-style reader is constructed to introduce students to controversies in special education through paired pro and con articles on such issues as emotional/behavioral problems, ADD/ADHD, inclusion, minority overrepresentation, learning disabilities, use of paraprofessionals, and applications of brain research. For additional support for this title, visit our student website: www.dushkin.com/online .
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This debate-style reader is constructed to introduce students to controversies in special education through paired pro and con articles on such issues as emotional/behavioral problems, ADD/ADHD, inclusion, minority overrepresentation, learning disabilities, use of paraprofessionals, and applications of brain research. For additional support for this title, visit our student website: www.dushkin.com/online .
Hinweis: Dieser Artikel kann nur an eine deutsche Lieferadresse ausgeliefert werden.
Hinweis: Dieser Artikel kann nur an eine deutsche Lieferadresse ausgeliefert werden.
Produktdetails
- Produktdetails
- Taking Sides: Special Educatio
- Verlag: Dushkin Publishing
- Revised
- Seitenzahl: 448
- Erscheinungstermin: November 2004
- Englisch
- Abmessung: 233mm x 154mm x 22mm
- Gewicht: 590g
- ISBN-13: 9780073043999
- ISBN-10: 0073043990
- Artikelnr.: 21152216
- Taking Sides: Special Educatio
- Verlag: Dushkin Publishing
- Revised
- Seitenzahl: 448
- Erscheinungstermin: November 2004
- Englisch
- Abmessung: 233mm x 154mm x 22mm
- Gewicht: 590g
- ISBN-13: 9780073043999
- ISBN-10: 0073043990
- Artikelnr.: 21152216
PART 1. Special Education and Society ISSUE 1. Is Special Education an Illegitimate Profession? YES: Scot Danforth, from On What Basis Hope? Modern Progress and Postmodern Possibilities, Mental Retardation (April 1997) NO: James M. Kauffman, from Commentary: Today
s Special Education and Its Messages for Tomorrow, The Journal of Special Education (vol. 32, no. 4, 1999) Scot Danforth, a member of the School of Education of the University of Missouri
St. Louis, argues that Americäs trust in science has led to the creation of an array of artificial terms, such as mental retardation, that devalue individuals, have no basis in reality, and blunt the voices of those to whom they are applied. James M. Kauffman, a professor of education at the University of Virginia, cautions readers not to be overly distracted by criticism and asserts that special education is a relavtively young profession that uses accepted research practices and self-reflection to generate reliable common knowledge of effective instructional strategies for students with disabilities who were previously excluded from schools. ISSUE 2. Is Eliminating Overrepresentation Beyond the Scope of Public Schools? YES: M. Suzanne Donovan and Christopher T. Cross, from The Committee on Minority Representation in Special Education, Minority Students in Special and Gifted Education (National Academy Press, 2002) NO: Daniel J. Losen and Gary Orfield, from Racial Inequality in Special Education (Harvard Education Press, 2002) M. Suzanne Donovan and Christopher Cross, researchers representing the findings of a National Research Council study on minority students in special and gifted education, believe overrepresentation issues are complex and not easily resolvable. While teachers can make a difference, environmental factors and poverty have a large impact and require interventions beyond schools. Daniel J. Losen and Gary Orfield, both policy experts, present the results of research commissioned by the Civil Rights Project of Harvard University. While agreeing with some of the NRC recommendations, these findings suggest that patterns will change with stricter enforcement of federal and state regulations. ISSUE 3. Do Funding Formulas Make Special Education Too Expensive? YES: Teresa S. Jordan, Carolyn A. Weiner, and K. Forbis Jordan, from The Interaction of Shifting Special Education Policies with State Funding Practices, Journal of Educational Finance (Summer 1997) NO: Sheldon Berman, Perry Davis, Ann Koufman-Frederick, and David Urion, from The Rising Costs of Special Education in Massachusetts: Causes and Effects, Rethinking Special Education for a New Century (Thomas B. Fordham Foundation & Progressive Policy Institute, 2001) Teresa S. Jordan, an associate professor at the University of Las Vegas-Nevada; Carolyn A. Weiner, president of Syndactics, Inc.; and K. Forbis Jordan, a professor emeritus at Arizona State University, contend that the number of students identified as disabled is increasing at an excessive rate because of funding systems that encourage overidentification and discourage flexible, creative, inclusive school programming. Sheldon Berman, a school superintendent, and his colleagues maintain that districts have been careful and conservative in identifying children with disabilities but that enrollment and costs are increasing primarily because of the increased numbers of children with more significant disabilities. ISSUE 4. Does School Choice Open Doors for Students with Disabilities? YES: Lewis M. Andrews, from More Choices for Disabled Kids, Policy Review (2002) NO: Barbara Miner, from Vouchers: Special Students Need Not Apply, Rethinking Schools Online (Winter 2003) Lewis M. Andrews, executive director for the Yankee Institute for Public Policy, reviewing the experiences of a number of countries with considerable school choice experience, maintains that children with disabilities will find unexpected opportunities in choice-sponsored schools. Barbara Miner, a freelance writer and former managing editor of Rethinking Schools, exploring experiences with the pioneering Milwaukee voucher system, discusses exclusionary policies and practices that limit access for students with disabilities. ISSUE 5. Does Society Have the Capacity to Prevent Emotional/Behavioral Disabilities? YES: Hill M. Walker and Jeffrey R. Sprague, from The Path to School Failure, Delinquency, and Violence: Causal Factors and Some Potential Solutions, Intervention in School and Clinic (November 1999) NO: James M. Kauffman, from How We Prevent the Prevention of Emotional and Behavioral Disorders, Exceptional Children (Summer 1999) Hill M. Walker and Jeffrey R. Sprague, educational researchers at the University of Oregon
s Institute on Violence and Destructive Behavior, describe the path that leads from exposure to risk factors to destrcutive outcomes. They argue that soicety must recommit itself to raising children safely, and they advocate strong collaborative arrangements between schools, families, and communities. James M. Kauffman, a professor of education at the University of Virginia, states that experts know what needs to be done to prevent emotional and behavioral disorders but that society as a whole has invented many reasons not to make prevention a reality. ISSUE 6. Do Students with Disabilities Threaten Effective School Discipline? YES: Kay S. Hymowitz, from Who Killed School Discipline? The City Journal (Spring 2000) NO: James A. Taylor and Richard A. Baker, Jr., from Discipline and the Special Education Student, Educational Leadership (January 2002) Kay S. Hymowitz, a regular contributing editor to The City Journal (published by The Manhattan Institute), cites inclusive educational programming for students with disabilities and the legal limitations of IDEA97 as primary contributors to the destruction of effective discipline in today
s schools. James A. Taylor and Richard A. Baker, Jr., president and vice-president of Edleaders.com, respectively, believe that school administrators who design and implement an effective disciplinary code that applies to all students, including those with disabilities, can create a more orderly environment for everyone. ISSUE 7. Will More Federal Oversight Result in Better Special Education? YES: National Council on Disability, from Back to School on Civil Rights: Advancing the Federal Commitment to Leave No Child Behind (January 25, 2000) NO: Frederick M. Hess and Frederick J. Brigham, from How Federal Special Education Policy Affects Schooling in Virginia, in Chester E. Finn, Jr., Andrew J. Rotherham, and Charles R. Hokanson, Jr., eds., Rethinking Special Education for a New Century (Thomas B. Fordham Foundation & Progressive Policy Institute, 2001) The National Council on Disability (NCD), an independent federal agency dedicated to promoting policies, programs, practices, and procedures that guarantee equal opportunity and empowerment for all individuals with disabilities, found that all 50 U.S. states are out of compliance with special education law, a condition that the council argues must be remedied by increased federal attention. Frederick M. Hess, an assistant professor of education and government, and Frederick J. Brigham, an assistant professor of education, both at the University of Virginia, maintain that increased federal monitoring will only deepen the separation between general and special education, drawing resources away from true educational excellence for all. ISSUE 8. Should One-on-One Nursing Care Be Part of Special Education? YES: John Paul Stevens, from Majority Opinion, Cedar Rapids Community Schood District v. Garret F., U.S. Supreme Court (March 3, 1999) NO: Clarence Thomas, from Dissenting Opinion, Cedar Rapids Community School District v. Garret F., U.S. Supreme Court (March 3, 1999) U.S. Supreme Court justice John Paul Stevens, writing for the majority of the Court, affirms the "bright line test," establishing that shcool districts are required by IDEA to provide one-on-one nursing services and any other health-related services that can be delivered by individuals other than a licensed physician. U.S. Supreme Court justice Clarence Thomas, representing the dissenting minority opinion, asserts that continuous one-on-one nursing services for disabled children are indeed medical and, as such, beyond the scope of congressional intent in IDEA. He concludes that such services are not the responsibility of special education programs within school districts. PART 2. Inclusion ISSUE 9. Does Inclusion Work? YES: Dorothy Kerzner Lipsky and Alan Gartner, from Taking Inclusion Into the Future, Educational Leadership (October 1998) NO: Daniel P. Hallahan, from We Need More Intensive Instruction, LD Online, (June 30, 2001) Dorothy Kerzner Lipsky, director of the National Center on Educational Restructuring and Inclusion at the City University of New York, and professor of educational psychology Alan Gartner emphasize that IDEA97 supports inclusion as the best way to educate students with disabilities and discuss the ingredients that contribute to successful inclusionary practices. Daniel P. Hallahan, a professor of education at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, fears that students with disabilities will lose access to necessary, specially designed instruction in the inclusionary rush to return them to the very classrooms in which they experienced failure. ISSUE 10. Does Full Inclusion Deliver a Good Education? YES: Susan Shapiro-Barnard, Carol Tashie, Jill Martin, Joanne Malloy, Mary Schuh, Jim Piet, Stephen Lichtenstein and Jan Nisbet, from Petroglyphs: The Writing on the Wall (Institue on Disability/UAP, 1996) NO: Gary M. Chesley and Paul D. Calaluce, Jr., from The Deception of Inclusion, Me ntal Retardation (December 1997) Susan Shapiro-Barnard and her colleagues in the Institute on Disability at the University of New Hampshire affirm the positive outcomes of full inclusion at the high school level for students with significant cognitive disabilites. Public school administrators Gary M. Chesley and Paul D. Calaluce, Jr., express their concern that full inclusion of students with significant cognitive disabilities does not provide appropriate preparation for successful life following school. ISSUE 11. Are Residential Schools the Least Restrictive Environment for Deaf Children? YES: Harlan Lane, Robert Hoffmeister, and Ben Bahan, from A Journey Into the Deaf-World (DawnSignPress, 1996) NO: Tom Bertling, from A Child Sacrificed to the Deaf Culture (Kodiak Media Group, 1994) Harlan Lane, a faculty member at Northeastern University, Robert Hoffmeister, director of the Deaf Studies Program at Boston University; and Ben Bahan, a deaf scholar in American Sign Language linguistics, value residential schools as rich cultural resources that enable Deaf children to participate fully in the educational experience. Tom Bertling, who acquired a severe hearing loss at age 5 and attended a residential school for the deaf after third grade, favors the use of sign language in social situations but views residential schools as segregated enclaves designed to preserve the Deaf culture rather than to develop adults who can contribute fully to society. ISSUE 12. Should Students with Disabilities Be Exempt from Standards-Based Curriculum? YES: Rex Knowles and Trudy Knowles, from Accountability for What? Phi Delta Kappan (January 2001) NO: Jerry Jesness, from You Have Your Teacher
s Permission to Be Ignorant, Education Week (November 8, 2000) Rex Knowles, a retired college professor, and Trudy Knowles, an assistant professor of elementary education, argue that federal mandates for all students to master the same curriculum fail to consider students
individual differences and needs. Jerry Jesness, a special education teacher, stresses that students who complete school without learning the basics will be ill-equipped to succeed as adults and that any program that avoids teaching these essentials fails to address the long-term needs of students. ISSUE 13. Are the Least-Trained Teaching Our Most Needy Children? YES: Michael F. Giangreco, Susan W. Edelman, Tracy Evans Luiselli and Stephanie Z. C. MacFarland, from Helping or Hovering? Effects of Instructional Assistant Proximity on Students With Disabilities, Exceptional Children (Fall 1997) NO: Susan Unok Marks, Carl Schrader and Mark Levine, from Paraeducator Experiences in Inclusive Settings: Helping, Hovering, or Holding Their Own? Exceptional Children (Spring 1999) Michael F. Giangreco, a research associate professor specializing in inclusive education, and his colleagues assert that untrained teacher assistants spend too much time closely attached to individual students, often hindering the involvement of certified teachers and nondisabled peers. Susan Unok Marks, Carl Schrader, and Mark Levine, of the Behavioral Counseling and Research Center in San Rafael, California, find that professionally trained classroom teachers are often less prepared than some assistants to work with children in inclusive settings and that, unprepared to supervise assistants, they use this lack of knowledge to avoid teaching children with disabilities. PART 3. Issues About Disabilities ISSUE 14. Can Brain Scans Unravel the Mystery of Learning Disabilities? YES: Sally E. Shaywitz and Bennett A. Shaywitz, from Reading Disability and the Brain, Educational Leadership (March 2004) NO: Gerald Coles, from Dangers in the Classroom:
Brain Glitch
Research and Learning to Read, Phi Delta Kappan (January 2004) Sally and Bennett Shaywitz, codirectors of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development-Yale Center for the Study of Learning and Attention, and Yale University professors, summarize their recent research findings suggesting that advances in medicine, together with reading research, can virtually eliminate reading disabilities. Gerald Coles, an educational psychologist and former member of the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, contests the claim that neurological procedures can identify reading disabilities and identify the methods to help children read. ISSUE 15. Is Attention Deficit (Hyperactivity) Disorder Overdiagnosed? YES: Arthur Allen, from The Trouble with ADHD, The Washington Post (March 18, 2001) NO: Russell A. Barkley, from Taking Charge of ADHD: The Complete, Authoritative Guide for Parents, 2d ed. (New York: The Guilford Press, 2000) Arthur Allen, reporter for The Washington Post, believes ADHD exists, but thinks too many children are given this diagnosis, masking other conditions (or simply normal behavior), and resulting in the prescribing of drugs that do more harm than good. Dr. Russell Barkley, director of psychology and a Professor at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center, addresses several current beliefs about ADHD and maintains it is, in fact, under-diagnosed and undertreated in today
s children. ISSUE 16. Are We Over-Prescribing Medication to Solve Our Children
s Problems? YES: Lawrence H. Diller, from The Run on Ritalin: Attention Deficit Disorder and Stimulant Treatment in the 1990s, Hastings Center Report (March/April 1996) NO: Larry S. Goldman, Myron Genel, Rebecca Bezman and Priscilla Slanetz, from Diagnosis and Treatment of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder in Children and Adolescents, JAMA, The Journal of the American Medical Association (April 8, 1998) Lawrence H. Diller, a pediatrician and family therapist, assserts that the use of stimulants on children has risen to epidemic proportions, occasioned by competitive social pressures for ever more effective functioning in school and at work. Larry S. Goldman, a faculty member of the Pritzker School of Medicine at the University of Chicago, and his colleagues review 20 years of medical literature regarding the diagnosis of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and the use of stimulants. They conclude that the condition is not being overdiagnosed or misdiagnosed and that medications are not being overprescribed or overused. ISSUE 17. Should Parents Choose Cochlear Implants for Their Deaf Children? YES: Thomas Balkany, Annelle V. Hodges and Kenneth W. Goodman, from Cochlear Implants for Young Children: Ethical Issues, in Warren Estabrooks, ed., Cochlear Implants for Kids (Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, 1998) NO: National Association of the Deaf, from NAD Position Statement on Choclear Implants, (October 6, 2000) Thomas Balkany, Annelle V. Hodges, and Kenneth W. Goodman, of the University of Miami, argue that the Deaf community actively works to disuade families from choosing cochlear implants for their children, prefering to have the decision made by Deaf individuals as a way to perpetuate the existence of a separate culture. The authors maintain that parents must decide whether or not their children receive cochlear implants, based on each child
s best interest. The National Association of the Deaf (NAD), an education and advocacy organization committed to supporting the deaf and the hard of hearing, uses its updated position paper on cochlear implants to express concern that medical professionals will dissuade parents from considering the positive benefits of the Deaf community and choose, instead, a medical procedure that is not yet proven. ISSUE 18. Are There Scientifically Effective Treatments for Autism? YES: James B. Adams, Stephen M. Edelson, Temple Grandin and Bernard Rimland, from Advice For Parents of Young Autistic Children, Autism Research Institute (Spring 2004) NO: Committee on Educational Interventions for Children with Autism, Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education, National Research Council, from Educating Children With Autism (Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press, 2001) ISSUE 19. Have Schools Gone Too Far in Using Accommodations? YES: James M. Kauffman, Kathleen McGee and Michele Brigham, from Enabling or Disabling? Observations on Changes in Special Education, Phi Delta Kappan (April 2004) NO: MaryAnn Byrnes, from Accomodations for Students with Disabilities: Removing Barriers to Learning, National Association of Secondary School Principals Bulletin (2000) James M. Kauffman, a faculty member at the University of Virginia, along with Kathleen McGee and Michele Brigham, both special education teachers, maintains that special education has pursued its goal of normalization to an extreme. The emphasis has shifted from increasing competence to perpetuating disabilities through the unwise use of accomodations. MaryAnn Byrnes, a University of Massachusetts
Boston faculty member, former special education administrator, and editor of this Taking Sides, argues that relevant accommodations are necessary to ensure that people with disabilities have a fair chance to demonstrate what they know and can do. ISSUE 20. Should Students with Disabilities Participate in High-Stakes Testing? YES: Martha L. Thurlow and David R. Johnson, from High-Stakes Testing of Students with Disabilities, Journal of Teacher Education (September/October 2000) NO: Pixie J. Holbrook, from When Bad Things Happen to Good Children: A Special Educator
s Views of MCAS, Phi Delta Kappan (June 2001) Martha L. Thurlow, director of the National Center on Educational Outcomes, and David R. Johnson, director of the Institute on Community Integration, both at the University of Minnesota, assert that high-stakes testing may hold many benefits for students with disabilities, especially if the tests are carefully designed and implemented. Pixie J. Holbrook, a special education teacher and consultant, maintins that high-stakes testing marks children with disabilities as worthless failures, ignores their accomplishments and positive attributes, and seriously limits their range of possibilities in adult life.
s Special Education and Its Messages for Tomorrow, The Journal of Special Education (vol. 32, no. 4, 1999) Scot Danforth, a member of the School of Education of the University of Missouri
St. Louis, argues that Americäs trust in science has led to the creation of an array of artificial terms, such as mental retardation, that devalue individuals, have no basis in reality, and blunt the voices of those to whom they are applied. James M. Kauffman, a professor of education at the University of Virginia, cautions readers not to be overly distracted by criticism and asserts that special education is a relavtively young profession that uses accepted research practices and self-reflection to generate reliable common knowledge of effective instructional strategies for students with disabilities who were previously excluded from schools. ISSUE 2. Is Eliminating Overrepresentation Beyond the Scope of Public Schools? YES: M. Suzanne Donovan and Christopher T. Cross, from The Committee on Minority Representation in Special Education, Minority Students in Special and Gifted Education (National Academy Press, 2002) NO: Daniel J. Losen and Gary Orfield, from Racial Inequality in Special Education (Harvard Education Press, 2002) M. Suzanne Donovan and Christopher Cross, researchers representing the findings of a National Research Council study on minority students in special and gifted education, believe overrepresentation issues are complex and not easily resolvable. While teachers can make a difference, environmental factors and poverty have a large impact and require interventions beyond schools. Daniel J. Losen and Gary Orfield, both policy experts, present the results of research commissioned by the Civil Rights Project of Harvard University. While agreeing with some of the NRC recommendations, these findings suggest that patterns will change with stricter enforcement of federal and state regulations. ISSUE 3. Do Funding Formulas Make Special Education Too Expensive? YES: Teresa S. Jordan, Carolyn A. Weiner, and K. Forbis Jordan, from The Interaction of Shifting Special Education Policies with State Funding Practices, Journal of Educational Finance (Summer 1997) NO: Sheldon Berman, Perry Davis, Ann Koufman-Frederick, and David Urion, from The Rising Costs of Special Education in Massachusetts: Causes and Effects, Rethinking Special Education for a New Century (Thomas B. Fordham Foundation & Progressive Policy Institute, 2001) Teresa S. Jordan, an associate professor at the University of Las Vegas-Nevada; Carolyn A. Weiner, president of Syndactics, Inc.; and K. Forbis Jordan, a professor emeritus at Arizona State University, contend that the number of students identified as disabled is increasing at an excessive rate because of funding systems that encourage overidentification and discourage flexible, creative, inclusive school programming. Sheldon Berman, a school superintendent, and his colleagues maintain that districts have been careful and conservative in identifying children with disabilities but that enrollment and costs are increasing primarily because of the increased numbers of children with more significant disabilities. ISSUE 4. Does School Choice Open Doors for Students with Disabilities? YES: Lewis M. Andrews, from More Choices for Disabled Kids, Policy Review (2002) NO: Barbara Miner, from Vouchers: Special Students Need Not Apply, Rethinking Schools Online (Winter 2003) Lewis M. Andrews, executive director for the Yankee Institute for Public Policy, reviewing the experiences of a number of countries with considerable school choice experience, maintains that children with disabilities will find unexpected opportunities in choice-sponsored schools. Barbara Miner, a freelance writer and former managing editor of Rethinking Schools, exploring experiences with the pioneering Milwaukee voucher system, discusses exclusionary policies and practices that limit access for students with disabilities. ISSUE 5. Does Society Have the Capacity to Prevent Emotional/Behavioral Disabilities? YES: Hill M. Walker and Jeffrey R. Sprague, from The Path to School Failure, Delinquency, and Violence: Causal Factors and Some Potential Solutions, Intervention in School and Clinic (November 1999) NO: James M. Kauffman, from How We Prevent the Prevention of Emotional and Behavioral Disorders, Exceptional Children (Summer 1999) Hill M. Walker and Jeffrey R. Sprague, educational researchers at the University of Oregon
s Institute on Violence and Destructive Behavior, describe the path that leads from exposure to risk factors to destrcutive outcomes. They argue that soicety must recommit itself to raising children safely, and they advocate strong collaborative arrangements between schools, families, and communities. James M. Kauffman, a professor of education at the University of Virginia, states that experts know what needs to be done to prevent emotional and behavioral disorders but that society as a whole has invented many reasons not to make prevention a reality. ISSUE 6. Do Students with Disabilities Threaten Effective School Discipline? YES: Kay S. Hymowitz, from Who Killed School Discipline? The City Journal (Spring 2000) NO: James A. Taylor and Richard A. Baker, Jr., from Discipline and the Special Education Student, Educational Leadership (January 2002) Kay S. Hymowitz, a regular contributing editor to The City Journal (published by The Manhattan Institute), cites inclusive educational programming for students with disabilities and the legal limitations of IDEA97 as primary contributors to the destruction of effective discipline in today
s schools. James A. Taylor and Richard A. Baker, Jr., president and vice-president of Edleaders.com, respectively, believe that school administrators who design and implement an effective disciplinary code that applies to all students, including those with disabilities, can create a more orderly environment for everyone. ISSUE 7. Will More Federal Oversight Result in Better Special Education? YES: National Council on Disability, from Back to School on Civil Rights: Advancing the Federal Commitment to Leave No Child Behind (January 25, 2000) NO: Frederick M. Hess and Frederick J. Brigham, from How Federal Special Education Policy Affects Schooling in Virginia, in Chester E. Finn, Jr., Andrew J. Rotherham, and Charles R. Hokanson, Jr., eds., Rethinking Special Education for a New Century (Thomas B. Fordham Foundation & Progressive Policy Institute, 2001) The National Council on Disability (NCD), an independent federal agency dedicated to promoting policies, programs, practices, and procedures that guarantee equal opportunity and empowerment for all individuals with disabilities, found that all 50 U.S. states are out of compliance with special education law, a condition that the council argues must be remedied by increased federal attention. Frederick M. Hess, an assistant professor of education and government, and Frederick J. Brigham, an assistant professor of education, both at the University of Virginia, maintain that increased federal monitoring will only deepen the separation between general and special education, drawing resources away from true educational excellence for all. ISSUE 8. Should One-on-One Nursing Care Be Part of Special Education? YES: John Paul Stevens, from Majority Opinion, Cedar Rapids Community Schood District v. Garret F., U.S. Supreme Court (March 3, 1999) NO: Clarence Thomas, from Dissenting Opinion, Cedar Rapids Community School District v. Garret F., U.S. Supreme Court (March 3, 1999) U.S. Supreme Court justice John Paul Stevens, writing for the majority of the Court, affirms the "bright line test," establishing that shcool districts are required by IDEA to provide one-on-one nursing services and any other health-related services that can be delivered by individuals other than a licensed physician. U.S. Supreme Court justice Clarence Thomas, representing the dissenting minority opinion, asserts that continuous one-on-one nursing services for disabled children are indeed medical and, as such, beyond the scope of congressional intent in IDEA. He concludes that such services are not the responsibility of special education programs within school districts. PART 2. Inclusion ISSUE 9. Does Inclusion Work? YES: Dorothy Kerzner Lipsky and Alan Gartner, from Taking Inclusion Into the Future, Educational Leadership (October 1998) NO: Daniel P. Hallahan, from We Need More Intensive Instruction, LD Online, (June 30, 2001) Dorothy Kerzner Lipsky, director of the National Center on Educational Restructuring and Inclusion at the City University of New York, and professor of educational psychology Alan Gartner emphasize that IDEA97 supports inclusion as the best way to educate students with disabilities and discuss the ingredients that contribute to successful inclusionary practices. Daniel P. Hallahan, a professor of education at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, fears that students with disabilities will lose access to necessary, specially designed instruction in the inclusionary rush to return them to the very classrooms in which they experienced failure. ISSUE 10. Does Full Inclusion Deliver a Good Education? YES: Susan Shapiro-Barnard, Carol Tashie, Jill Martin, Joanne Malloy, Mary Schuh, Jim Piet, Stephen Lichtenstein and Jan Nisbet, from Petroglyphs: The Writing on the Wall (Institue on Disability/UAP, 1996) NO: Gary M. Chesley and Paul D. Calaluce, Jr., from The Deception of Inclusion, Me ntal Retardation (December 1997) Susan Shapiro-Barnard and her colleagues in the Institute on Disability at the University of New Hampshire affirm the positive outcomes of full inclusion at the high school level for students with significant cognitive disabilites. Public school administrators Gary M. Chesley and Paul D. Calaluce, Jr., express their concern that full inclusion of students with significant cognitive disabilities does not provide appropriate preparation for successful life following school. ISSUE 11. Are Residential Schools the Least Restrictive Environment for Deaf Children? YES: Harlan Lane, Robert Hoffmeister, and Ben Bahan, from A Journey Into the Deaf-World (DawnSignPress, 1996) NO: Tom Bertling, from A Child Sacrificed to the Deaf Culture (Kodiak Media Group, 1994) Harlan Lane, a faculty member at Northeastern University, Robert Hoffmeister, director of the Deaf Studies Program at Boston University; and Ben Bahan, a deaf scholar in American Sign Language linguistics, value residential schools as rich cultural resources that enable Deaf children to participate fully in the educational experience. Tom Bertling, who acquired a severe hearing loss at age 5 and attended a residential school for the deaf after third grade, favors the use of sign language in social situations but views residential schools as segregated enclaves designed to preserve the Deaf culture rather than to develop adults who can contribute fully to society. ISSUE 12. Should Students with Disabilities Be Exempt from Standards-Based Curriculum? YES: Rex Knowles and Trudy Knowles, from Accountability for What? Phi Delta Kappan (January 2001) NO: Jerry Jesness, from You Have Your Teacher
s Permission to Be Ignorant, Education Week (November 8, 2000) Rex Knowles, a retired college professor, and Trudy Knowles, an assistant professor of elementary education, argue that federal mandates for all students to master the same curriculum fail to consider students
individual differences and needs. Jerry Jesness, a special education teacher, stresses that students who complete school without learning the basics will be ill-equipped to succeed as adults and that any program that avoids teaching these essentials fails to address the long-term needs of students. ISSUE 13. Are the Least-Trained Teaching Our Most Needy Children? YES: Michael F. Giangreco, Susan W. Edelman, Tracy Evans Luiselli and Stephanie Z. C. MacFarland, from Helping or Hovering? Effects of Instructional Assistant Proximity on Students With Disabilities, Exceptional Children (Fall 1997) NO: Susan Unok Marks, Carl Schrader and Mark Levine, from Paraeducator Experiences in Inclusive Settings: Helping, Hovering, or Holding Their Own? Exceptional Children (Spring 1999) Michael F. Giangreco, a research associate professor specializing in inclusive education, and his colleagues assert that untrained teacher assistants spend too much time closely attached to individual students, often hindering the involvement of certified teachers and nondisabled peers. Susan Unok Marks, Carl Schrader, and Mark Levine, of the Behavioral Counseling and Research Center in San Rafael, California, find that professionally trained classroom teachers are often less prepared than some assistants to work with children in inclusive settings and that, unprepared to supervise assistants, they use this lack of knowledge to avoid teaching children with disabilities. PART 3. Issues About Disabilities ISSUE 14. Can Brain Scans Unravel the Mystery of Learning Disabilities? YES: Sally E. Shaywitz and Bennett A. Shaywitz, from Reading Disability and the Brain, Educational Leadership (March 2004) NO: Gerald Coles, from Dangers in the Classroom:
Brain Glitch
Research and Learning to Read, Phi Delta Kappan (January 2004) Sally and Bennett Shaywitz, codirectors of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development-Yale Center for the Study of Learning and Attention, and Yale University professors, summarize their recent research findings suggesting that advances in medicine, together with reading research, can virtually eliminate reading disabilities. Gerald Coles, an educational psychologist and former member of the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, contests the claim that neurological procedures can identify reading disabilities and identify the methods to help children read. ISSUE 15. Is Attention Deficit (Hyperactivity) Disorder Overdiagnosed? YES: Arthur Allen, from The Trouble with ADHD, The Washington Post (March 18, 2001) NO: Russell A. Barkley, from Taking Charge of ADHD: The Complete, Authoritative Guide for Parents, 2d ed. (New York: The Guilford Press, 2000) Arthur Allen, reporter for The Washington Post, believes ADHD exists, but thinks too many children are given this diagnosis, masking other conditions (or simply normal behavior), and resulting in the prescribing of drugs that do more harm than good. Dr. Russell Barkley, director of psychology and a Professor at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center, addresses several current beliefs about ADHD and maintains it is, in fact, under-diagnosed and undertreated in today
s children. ISSUE 16. Are We Over-Prescribing Medication to Solve Our Children
s Problems? YES: Lawrence H. Diller, from The Run on Ritalin: Attention Deficit Disorder and Stimulant Treatment in the 1990s, Hastings Center Report (March/April 1996) NO: Larry S. Goldman, Myron Genel, Rebecca Bezman and Priscilla Slanetz, from Diagnosis and Treatment of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder in Children and Adolescents, JAMA, The Journal of the American Medical Association (April 8, 1998) Lawrence H. Diller, a pediatrician and family therapist, assserts that the use of stimulants on children has risen to epidemic proportions, occasioned by competitive social pressures for ever more effective functioning in school and at work. Larry S. Goldman, a faculty member of the Pritzker School of Medicine at the University of Chicago, and his colleagues review 20 years of medical literature regarding the diagnosis of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and the use of stimulants. They conclude that the condition is not being overdiagnosed or misdiagnosed and that medications are not being overprescribed or overused. ISSUE 17. Should Parents Choose Cochlear Implants for Their Deaf Children? YES: Thomas Balkany, Annelle V. Hodges and Kenneth W. Goodman, from Cochlear Implants for Young Children: Ethical Issues, in Warren Estabrooks, ed., Cochlear Implants for Kids (Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, 1998) NO: National Association of the Deaf, from NAD Position Statement on Choclear Implants, (October 6, 2000) Thomas Balkany, Annelle V. Hodges, and Kenneth W. Goodman, of the University of Miami, argue that the Deaf community actively works to disuade families from choosing cochlear implants for their children, prefering to have the decision made by Deaf individuals as a way to perpetuate the existence of a separate culture. The authors maintain that parents must decide whether or not their children receive cochlear implants, based on each child
s best interest. The National Association of the Deaf (NAD), an education and advocacy organization committed to supporting the deaf and the hard of hearing, uses its updated position paper on cochlear implants to express concern that medical professionals will dissuade parents from considering the positive benefits of the Deaf community and choose, instead, a medical procedure that is not yet proven. ISSUE 18. Are There Scientifically Effective Treatments for Autism? YES: James B. Adams, Stephen M. Edelson, Temple Grandin and Bernard Rimland, from Advice For Parents of Young Autistic Children, Autism Research Institute (Spring 2004) NO: Committee on Educational Interventions for Children with Autism, Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education, National Research Council, from Educating Children With Autism (Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press, 2001) ISSUE 19. Have Schools Gone Too Far in Using Accommodations? YES: James M. Kauffman, Kathleen McGee and Michele Brigham, from Enabling or Disabling? Observations on Changes in Special Education, Phi Delta Kappan (April 2004) NO: MaryAnn Byrnes, from Accomodations for Students with Disabilities: Removing Barriers to Learning, National Association of Secondary School Principals Bulletin (2000) James M. Kauffman, a faculty member at the University of Virginia, along with Kathleen McGee and Michele Brigham, both special education teachers, maintains that special education has pursued its goal of normalization to an extreme. The emphasis has shifted from increasing competence to perpetuating disabilities through the unwise use of accomodations. MaryAnn Byrnes, a University of Massachusetts
Boston faculty member, former special education administrator, and editor of this Taking Sides, argues that relevant accommodations are necessary to ensure that people with disabilities have a fair chance to demonstrate what they know and can do. ISSUE 20. Should Students with Disabilities Participate in High-Stakes Testing? YES: Martha L. Thurlow and David R. Johnson, from High-Stakes Testing of Students with Disabilities, Journal of Teacher Education (September/October 2000) NO: Pixie J. Holbrook, from When Bad Things Happen to Good Children: A Special Educator
s Views of MCAS, Phi Delta Kappan (June 2001) Martha L. Thurlow, director of the National Center on Educational Outcomes, and David R. Johnson, director of the Institute on Community Integration, both at the University of Minnesota, assert that high-stakes testing may hold many benefits for students with disabilities, especially if the tests are carefully designed and implemented. Pixie J. Holbrook, a special education teacher and consultant, maintins that high-stakes testing marks children with disabilities as worthless failures, ignores their accomplishments and positive attributes, and seriously limits their range of possibilities in adult life.
PART 1. Special Education and Society ISSUE 1. Is Special Education an Illegitimate Profession? YES: Scot Danforth, from On What Basis Hope? Modern Progress and Postmodern Possibilities, Mental Retardation (April 1997) NO: James M. Kauffman, from Commentary: Today
s Special Education and Its Messages for Tomorrow, The Journal of Special Education (vol. 32, no. 4, 1999) Scot Danforth, a member of the School of Education of the University of Missouri
St. Louis, argues that Americäs trust in science has led to the creation of an array of artificial terms, such as mental retardation, that devalue individuals, have no basis in reality, and blunt the voices of those to whom they are applied. James M. Kauffman, a professor of education at the University of Virginia, cautions readers not to be overly distracted by criticism and asserts that special education is a relavtively young profession that uses accepted research practices and self-reflection to generate reliable common knowledge of effective instructional strategies for students with disabilities who were previously excluded from schools. ISSUE 2. Is Eliminating Overrepresentation Beyond the Scope of Public Schools? YES: M. Suzanne Donovan and Christopher T. Cross, from The Committee on Minority Representation in Special Education, Minority Students in Special and Gifted Education (National Academy Press, 2002) NO: Daniel J. Losen and Gary Orfield, from Racial Inequality in Special Education (Harvard Education Press, 2002) M. Suzanne Donovan and Christopher Cross, researchers representing the findings of a National Research Council study on minority students in special and gifted education, believe overrepresentation issues are complex and not easily resolvable. While teachers can make a difference, environmental factors and poverty have a large impact and require interventions beyond schools. Daniel J. Losen and Gary Orfield, both policy experts, present the results of research commissioned by the Civil Rights Project of Harvard University. While agreeing with some of the NRC recommendations, these findings suggest that patterns will change with stricter enforcement of federal and state regulations. ISSUE 3. Do Funding Formulas Make Special Education Too Expensive? YES: Teresa S. Jordan, Carolyn A. Weiner, and K. Forbis Jordan, from The Interaction of Shifting Special Education Policies with State Funding Practices, Journal of Educational Finance (Summer 1997) NO: Sheldon Berman, Perry Davis, Ann Koufman-Frederick, and David Urion, from The Rising Costs of Special Education in Massachusetts: Causes and Effects, Rethinking Special Education for a New Century (Thomas B. Fordham Foundation & Progressive Policy Institute, 2001) Teresa S. Jordan, an associate professor at the University of Las Vegas-Nevada; Carolyn A. Weiner, president of Syndactics, Inc.; and K. Forbis Jordan, a professor emeritus at Arizona State University, contend that the number of students identified as disabled is increasing at an excessive rate because of funding systems that encourage overidentification and discourage flexible, creative, inclusive school programming. Sheldon Berman, a school superintendent, and his colleagues maintain that districts have been careful and conservative in identifying children with disabilities but that enrollment and costs are increasing primarily because of the increased numbers of children with more significant disabilities. ISSUE 4. Does School Choice Open Doors for Students with Disabilities? YES: Lewis M. Andrews, from More Choices for Disabled Kids, Policy Review (2002) NO: Barbara Miner, from Vouchers: Special Students Need Not Apply, Rethinking Schools Online (Winter 2003) Lewis M. Andrews, executive director for the Yankee Institute for Public Policy, reviewing the experiences of a number of countries with considerable school choice experience, maintains that children with disabilities will find unexpected opportunities in choice-sponsored schools. Barbara Miner, a freelance writer and former managing editor of Rethinking Schools, exploring experiences with the pioneering Milwaukee voucher system, discusses exclusionary policies and practices that limit access for students with disabilities. ISSUE 5. Does Society Have the Capacity to Prevent Emotional/Behavioral Disabilities? YES: Hill M. Walker and Jeffrey R. Sprague, from The Path to School Failure, Delinquency, and Violence: Causal Factors and Some Potential Solutions, Intervention in School and Clinic (November 1999) NO: James M. Kauffman, from How We Prevent the Prevention of Emotional and Behavioral Disorders, Exceptional Children (Summer 1999) Hill M. Walker and Jeffrey R. Sprague, educational researchers at the University of Oregon
s Institute on Violence and Destructive Behavior, describe the path that leads from exposure to risk factors to destrcutive outcomes. They argue that soicety must recommit itself to raising children safely, and they advocate strong collaborative arrangements between schools, families, and communities. James M. Kauffman, a professor of education at the University of Virginia, states that experts know what needs to be done to prevent emotional and behavioral disorders but that society as a whole has invented many reasons not to make prevention a reality. ISSUE 6. Do Students with Disabilities Threaten Effective School Discipline? YES: Kay S. Hymowitz, from Who Killed School Discipline? The City Journal (Spring 2000) NO: James A. Taylor and Richard A. Baker, Jr., from Discipline and the Special Education Student, Educational Leadership (January 2002) Kay S. Hymowitz, a regular contributing editor to The City Journal (published by The Manhattan Institute), cites inclusive educational programming for students with disabilities and the legal limitations of IDEA97 as primary contributors to the destruction of effective discipline in today
s schools. James A. Taylor and Richard A. Baker, Jr., president and vice-president of Edleaders.com, respectively, believe that school administrators who design and implement an effective disciplinary code that applies to all students, including those with disabilities, can create a more orderly environment for everyone. ISSUE 7. Will More Federal Oversight Result in Better Special Education? YES: National Council on Disability, from Back to School on Civil Rights: Advancing the Federal Commitment to Leave No Child Behind (January 25, 2000) NO: Frederick M. Hess and Frederick J. Brigham, from How Federal Special Education Policy Affects Schooling in Virginia, in Chester E. Finn, Jr., Andrew J. Rotherham, and Charles R. Hokanson, Jr., eds., Rethinking Special Education for a New Century (Thomas B. Fordham Foundation & Progressive Policy Institute, 2001) The National Council on Disability (NCD), an independent federal agency dedicated to promoting policies, programs, practices, and procedures that guarantee equal opportunity and empowerment for all individuals with disabilities, found that all 50 U.S. states are out of compliance with special education law, a condition that the council argues must be remedied by increased federal attention. Frederick M. Hess, an assistant professor of education and government, and Frederick J. Brigham, an assistant professor of education, both at the University of Virginia, maintain that increased federal monitoring will only deepen the separation between general and special education, drawing resources away from true educational excellence for all. ISSUE 8. Should One-on-One Nursing Care Be Part of Special Education? YES: John Paul Stevens, from Majority Opinion, Cedar Rapids Community Schood District v. Garret F., U.S. Supreme Court (March 3, 1999) NO: Clarence Thomas, from Dissenting Opinion, Cedar Rapids Community School District v. Garret F., U.S. Supreme Court (March 3, 1999) U.S. Supreme Court justice John Paul Stevens, writing for the majority of the Court, affirms the "bright line test," establishing that shcool districts are required by IDEA to provide one-on-one nursing services and any other health-related services that can be delivered by individuals other than a licensed physician. U.S. Supreme Court justice Clarence Thomas, representing the dissenting minority opinion, asserts that continuous one-on-one nursing services for disabled children are indeed medical and, as such, beyond the scope of congressional intent in IDEA. He concludes that such services are not the responsibility of special education programs within school districts. PART 2. Inclusion ISSUE 9. Does Inclusion Work? YES: Dorothy Kerzner Lipsky and Alan Gartner, from Taking Inclusion Into the Future, Educational Leadership (October 1998) NO: Daniel P. Hallahan, from We Need More Intensive Instruction, LD Online, (June 30, 2001) Dorothy Kerzner Lipsky, director of the National Center on Educational Restructuring and Inclusion at the City University of New York, and professor of educational psychology Alan Gartner emphasize that IDEA97 supports inclusion as the best way to educate students with disabilities and discuss the ingredients that contribute to successful inclusionary practices. Daniel P. Hallahan, a professor of education at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, fears that students with disabilities will lose access to necessary, specially designed instruction in the inclusionary rush to return them to the very classrooms in which they experienced failure. ISSUE 10. Does Full Inclusion Deliver a Good Education? YES: Susan Shapiro-Barnard, Carol Tashie, Jill Martin, Joanne Malloy, Mary Schuh, Jim Piet, Stephen Lichtenstein and Jan Nisbet, from Petroglyphs: The Writing on the Wall (Institue on Disability/UAP, 1996) NO: Gary M. Chesley and Paul D. Calaluce, Jr., from The Deception of Inclusion, Me ntal Retardation (December 1997) Susan Shapiro-Barnard and her colleagues in the Institute on Disability at the University of New Hampshire affirm the positive outcomes of full inclusion at the high school level for students with significant cognitive disabilites. Public school administrators Gary M. Chesley and Paul D. Calaluce, Jr., express their concern that full inclusion of students with significant cognitive disabilities does not provide appropriate preparation for successful life following school. ISSUE 11. Are Residential Schools the Least Restrictive Environment for Deaf Children? YES: Harlan Lane, Robert Hoffmeister, and Ben Bahan, from A Journey Into the Deaf-World (DawnSignPress, 1996) NO: Tom Bertling, from A Child Sacrificed to the Deaf Culture (Kodiak Media Group, 1994) Harlan Lane, a faculty member at Northeastern University, Robert Hoffmeister, director of the Deaf Studies Program at Boston University; and Ben Bahan, a deaf scholar in American Sign Language linguistics, value residential schools as rich cultural resources that enable Deaf children to participate fully in the educational experience. Tom Bertling, who acquired a severe hearing loss at age 5 and attended a residential school for the deaf after third grade, favors the use of sign language in social situations but views residential schools as segregated enclaves designed to preserve the Deaf culture rather than to develop adults who can contribute fully to society. ISSUE 12. Should Students with Disabilities Be Exempt from Standards-Based Curriculum? YES: Rex Knowles and Trudy Knowles, from Accountability for What? Phi Delta Kappan (January 2001) NO: Jerry Jesness, from You Have Your Teacher
s Permission to Be Ignorant, Education Week (November 8, 2000) Rex Knowles, a retired college professor, and Trudy Knowles, an assistant professor of elementary education, argue that federal mandates for all students to master the same curriculum fail to consider students
individual differences and needs. Jerry Jesness, a special education teacher, stresses that students who complete school without learning the basics will be ill-equipped to succeed as adults and that any program that avoids teaching these essentials fails to address the long-term needs of students. ISSUE 13. Are the Least-Trained Teaching Our Most Needy Children? YES: Michael F. Giangreco, Susan W. Edelman, Tracy Evans Luiselli and Stephanie Z. C. MacFarland, from Helping or Hovering? Effects of Instructional Assistant Proximity on Students With Disabilities, Exceptional Children (Fall 1997) NO: Susan Unok Marks, Carl Schrader and Mark Levine, from Paraeducator Experiences in Inclusive Settings: Helping, Hovering, or Holding Their Own? Exceptional Children (Spring 1999) Michael F. Giangreco, a research associate professor specializing in inclusive education, and his colleagues assert that untrained teacher assistants spend too much time closely attached to individual students, often hindering the involvement of certified teachers and nondisabled peers. Susan Unok Marks, Carl Schrader, and Mark Levine, of the Behavioral Counseling and Research Center in San Rafael, California, find that professionally trained classroom teachers are often less prepared than some assistants to work with children in inclusive settings and that, unprepared to supervise assistants, they use this lack of knowledge to avoid teaching children with disabilities. PART 3. Issues About Disabilities ISSUE 14. Can Brain Scans Unravel the Mystery of Learning Disabilities? YES: Sally E. Shaywitz and Bennett A. Shaywitz, from Reading Disability and the Brain, Educational Leadership (March 2004) NO: Gerald Coles, from Dangers in the Classroom:
Brain Glitch
Research and Learning to Read, Phi Delta Kappan (January 2004) Sally and Bennett Shaywitz, codirectors of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development-Yale Center for the Study of Learning and Attention, and Yale University professors, summarize their recent research findings suggesting that advances in medicine, together with reading research, can virtually eliminate reading disabilities. Gerald Coles, an educational psychologist and former member of the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, contests the claim that neurological procedures can identify reading disabilities and identify the methods to help children read. ISSUE 15. Is Attention Deficit (Hyperactivity) Disorder Overdiagnosed? YES: Arthur Allen, from The Trouble with ADHD, The Washington Post (March 18, 2001) NO: Russell A. Barkley, from Taking Charge of ADHD: The Complete, Authoritative Guide for Parents, 2d ed. (New York: The Guilford Press, 2000) Arthur Allen, reporter for The Washington Post, believes ADHD exists, but thinks too many children are given this diagnosis, masking other conditions (or simply normal behavior), and resulting in the prescribing of drugs that do more harm than good. Dr. Russell Barkley, director of psychology and a Professor at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center, addresses several current beliefs about ADHD and maintains it is, in fact, under-diagnosed and undertreated in today
s children. ISSUE 16. Are We Over-Prescribing Medication to Solve Our Children
s Problems? YES: Lawrence H. Diller, from The Run on Ritalin: Attention Deficit Disorder and Stimulant Treatment in the 1990s, Hastings Center Report (March/April 1996) NO: Larry S. Goldman, Myron Genel, Rebecca Bezman and Priscilla Slanetz, from Diagnosis and Treatment of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder in Children and Adolescents, JAMA, The Journal of the American Medical Association (April 8, 1998) Lawrence H. Diller, a pediatrician and family therapist, assserts that the use of stimulants on children has risen to epidemic proportions, occasioned by competitive social pressures for ever more effective functioning in school and at work. Larry S. Goldman, a faculty member of the Pritzker School of Medicine at the University of Chicago, and his colleagues review 20 years of medical literature regarding the diagnosis of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and the use of stimulants. They conclude that the condition is not being overdiagnosed or misdiagnosed and that medications are not being overprescribed or overused. ISSUE 17. Should Parents Choose Cochlear Implants for Their Deaf Children? YES: Thomas Balkany, Annelle V. Hodges and Kenneth W. Goodman, from Cochlear Implants for Young Children: Ethical Issues, in Warren Estabrooks, ed., Cochlear Implants for Kids (Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, 1998) NO: National Association of the Deaf, from NAD Position Statement on Choclear Implants, (October 6, 2000) Thomas Balkany, Annelle V. Hodges, and Kenneth W. Goodman, of the University of Miami, argue that the Deaf community actively works to disuade families from choosing cochlear implants for their children, prefering to have the decision made by Deaf individuals as a way to perpetuate the existence of a separate culture. The authors maintain that parents must decide whether or not their children receive cochlear implants, based on each child
s best interest. The National Association of the Deaf (NAD), an education and advocacy organization committed to supporting the deaf and the hard of hearing, uses its updated position paper on cochlear implants to express concern that medical professionals will dissuade parents from considering the positive benefits of the Deaf community and choose, instead, a medical procedure that is not yet proven. ISSUE 18. Are There Scientifically Effective Treatments for Autism? YES: James B. Adams, Stephen M. Edelson, Temple Grandin and Bernard Rimland, from Advice For Parents of Young Autistic Children, Autism Research Institute (Spring 2004) NO: Committee on Educational Interventions for Children with Autism, Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education, National Research Council, from Educating Children With Autism (Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press, 2001) ISSUE 19. Have Schools Gone Too Far in Using Accommodations? YES: James M. Kauffman, Kathleen McGee and Michele Brigham, from Enabling or Disabling? Observations on Changes in Special Education, Phi Delta Kappan (April 2004) NO: MaryAnn Byrnes, from Accomodations for Students with Disabilities: Removing Barriers to Learning, National Association of Secondary School Principals Bulletin (2000) James M. Kauffman, a faculty member at the University of Virginia, along with Kathleen McGee and Michele Brigham, both special education teachers, maintains that special education has pursued its goal of normalization to an extreme. The emphasis has shifted from increasing competence to perpetuating disabilities through the unwise use of accomodations. MaryAnn Byrnes, a University of Massachusetts
Boston faculty member, former special education administrator, and editor of this Taking Sides, argues that relevant accommodations are necessary to ensure that people with disabilities have a fair chance to demonstrate what they know and can do. ISSUE 20. Should Students with Disabilities Participate in High-Stakes Testing? YES: Martha L. Thurlow and David R. Johnson, from High-Stakes Testing of Students with Disabilities, Journal of Teacher Education (September/October 2000) NO: Pixie J. Holbrook, from When Bad Things Happen to Good Children: A Special Educator
s Views of MCAS, Phi Delta Kappan (June 2001) Martha L. Thurlow, director of the National Center on Educational Outcomes, and David R. Johnson, director of the Institute on Community Integration, both at the University of Minnesota, assert that high-stakes testing may hold many benefits for students with disabilities, especially if the tests are carefully designed and implemented. Pixie J. Holbrook, a special education teacher and consultant, maintins that high-stakes testing marks children with disabilities as worthless failures, ignores their accomplishments and positive attributes, and seriously limits their range of possibilities in adult life.
s Special Education and Its Messages for Tomorrow, The Journal of Special Education (vol. 32, no. 4, 1999) Scot Danforth, a member of the School of Education of the University of Missouri
St. Louis, argues that Americäs trust in science has led to the creation of an array of artificial terms, such as mental retardation, that devalue individuals, have no basis in reality, and blunt the voices of those to whom they are applied. James M. Kauffman, a professor of education at the University of Virginia, cautions readers not to be overly distracted by criticism and asserts that special education is a relavtively young profession that uses accepted research practices and self-reflection to generate reliable common knowledge of effective instructional strategies for students with disabilities who were previously excluded from schools. ISSUE 2. Is Eliminating Overrepresentation Beyond the Scope of Public Schools? YES: M. Suzanne Donovan and Christopher T. Cross, from The Committee on Minority Representation in Special Education, Minority Students in Special and Gifted Education (National Academy Press, 2002) NO: Daniel J. Losen and Gary Orfield, from Racial Inequality in Special Education (Harvard Education Press, 2002) M. Suzanne Donovan and Christopher Cross, researchers representing the findings of a National Research Council study on minority students in special and gifted education, believe overrepresentation issues are complex and not easily resolvable. While teachers can make a difference, environmental factors and poverty have a large impact and require interventions beyond schools. Daniel J. Losen and Gary Orfield, both policy experts, present the results of research commissioned by the Civil Rights Project of Harvard University. While agreeing with some of the NRC recommendations, these findings suggest that patterns will change with stricter enforcement of federal and state regulations. ISSUE 3. Do Funding Formulas Make Special Education Too Expensive? YES: Teresa S. Jordan, Carolyn A. Weiner, and K. Forbis Jordan, from The Interaction of Shifting Special Education Policies with State Funding Practices, Journal of Educational Finance (Summer 1997) NO: Sheldon Berman, Perry Davis, Ann Koufman-Frederick, and David Urion, from The Rising Costs of Special Education in Massachusetts: Causes and Effects, Rethinking Special Education for a New Century (Thomas B. Fordham Foundation & Progressive Policy Institute, 2001) Teresa S. Jordan, an associate professor at the University of Las Vegas-Nevada; Carolyn A. Weiner, president of Syndactics, Inc.; and K. Forbis Jordan, a professor emeritus at Arizona State University, contend that the number of students identified as disabled is increasing at an excessive rate because of funding systems that encourage overidentification and discourage flexible, creative, inclusive school programming. Sheldon Berman, a school superintendent, and his colleagues maintain that districts have been careful and conservative in identifying children with disabilities but that enrollment and costs are increasing primarily because of the increased numbers of children with more significant disabilities. ISSUE 4. Does School Choice Open Doors for Students with Disabilities? YES: Lewis M. Andrews, from More Choices for Disabled Kids, Policy Review (2002) NO: Barbara Miner, from Vouchers: Special Students Need Not Apply, Rethinking Schools Online (Winter 2003) Lewis M. Andrews, executive director for the Yankee Institute for Public Policy, reviewing the experiences of a number of countries with considerable school choice experience, maintains that children with disabilities will find unexpected opportunities in choice-sponsored schools. Barbara Miner, a freelance writer and former managing editor of Rethinking Schools, exploring experiences with the pioneering Milwaukee voucher system, discusses exclusionary policies and practices that limit access for students with disabilities. ISSUE 5. Does Society Have the Capacity to Prevent Emotional/Behavioral Disabilities? YES: Hill M. Walker and Jeffrey R. Sprague, from The Path to School Failure, Delinquency, and Violence: Causal Factors and Some Potential Solutions, Intervention in School and Clinic (November 1999) NO: James M. Kauffman, from How We Prevent the Prevention of Emotional and Behavioral Disorders, Exceptional Children (Summer 1999) Hill M. Walker and Jeffrey R. Sprague, educational researchers at the University of Oregon
s Institute on Violence and Destructive Behavior, describe the path that leads from exposure to risk factors to destrcutive outcomes. They argue that soicety must recommit itself to raising children safely, and they advocate strong collaborative arrangements between schools, families, and communities. James M. Kauffman, a professor of education at the University of Virginia, states that experts know what needs to be done to prevent emotional and behavioral disorders but that society as a whole has invented many reasons not to make prevention a reality. ISSUE 6. Do Students with Disabilities Threaten Effective School Discipline? YES: Kay S. Hymowitz, from Who Killed School Discipline? The City Journal (Spring 2000) NO: James A. Taylor and Richard A. Baker, Jr., from Discipline and the Special Education Student, Educational Leadership (January 2002) Kay S. Hymowitz, a regular contributing editor to The City Journal (published by The Manhattan Institute), cites inclusive educational programming for students with disabilities and the legal limitations of IDEA97 as primary contributors to the destruction of effective discipline in today
s schools. James A. Taylor and Richard A. Baker, Jr., president and vice-president of Edleaders.com, respectively, believe that school administrators who design and implement an effective disciplinary code that applies to all students, including those with disabilities, can create a more orderly environment for everyone. ISSUE 7. Will More Federal Oversight Result in Better Special Education? YES: National Council on Disability, from Back to School on Civil Rights: Advancing the Federal Commitment to Leave No Child Behind (January 25, 2000) NO: Frederick M. Hess and Frederick J. Brigham, from How Federal Special Education Policy Affects Schooling in Virginia, in Chester E. Finn, Jr., Andrew J. Rotherham, and Charles R. Hokanson, Jr., eds., Rethinking Special Education for a New Century (Thomas B. Fordham Foundation & Progressive Policy Institute, 2001) The National Council on Disability (NCD), an independent federal agency dedicated to promoting policies, programs, practices, and procedures that guarantee equal opportunity and empowerment for all individuals with disabilities, found that all 50 U.S. states are out of compliance with special education law, a condition that the council argues must be remedied by increased federal attention. Frederick M. Hess, an assistant professor of education and government, and Frederick J. Brigham, an assistant professor of education, both at the University of Virginia, maintain that increased federal monitoring will only deepen the separation between general and special education, drawing resources away from true educational excellence for all. ISSUE 8. Should One-on-One Nursing Care Be Part of Special Education? YES: John Paul Stevens, from Majority Opinion, Cedar Rapids Community Schood District v. Garret F., U.S. Supreme Court (March 3, 1999) NO: Clarence Thomas, from Dissenting Opinion, Cedar Rapids Community School District v. Garret F., U.S. Supreme Court (March 3, 1999) U.S. Supreme Court justice John Paul Stevens, writing for the majority of the Court, affirms the "bright line test," establishing that shcool districts are required by IDEA to provide one-on-one nursing services and any other health-related services that can be delivered by individuals other than a licensed physician. U.S. Supreme Court justice Clarence Thomas, representing the dissenting minority opinion, asserts that continuous one-on-one nursing services for disabled children are indeed medical and, as such, beyond the scope of congressional intent in IDEA. He concludes that such services are not the responsibility of special education programs within school districts. PART 2. Inclusion ISSUE 9. Does Inclusion Work? YES: Dorothy Kerzner Lipsky and Alan Gartner, from Taking Inclusion Into the Future, Educational Leadership (October 1998) NO: Daniel P. Hallahan, from We Need More Intensive Instruction, LD Online, (June 30, 2001) Dorothy Kerzner Lipsky, director of the National Center on Educational Restructuring and Inclusion at the City University of New York, and professor of educational psychology Alan Gartner emphasize that IDEA97 supports inclusion as the best way to educate students with disabilities and discuss the ingredients that contribute to successful inclusionary practices. Daniel P. Hallahan, a professor of education at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, fears that students with disabilities will lose access to necessary, specially designed instruction in the inclusionary rush to return them to the very classrooms in which they experienced failure. ISSUE 10. Does Full Inclusion Deliver a Good Education? YES: Susan Shapiro-Barnard, Carol Tashie, Jill Martin, Joanne Malloy, Mary Schuh, Jim Piet, Stephen Lichtenstein and Jan Nisbet, from Petroglyphs: The Writing on the Wall (Institue on Disability/UAP, 1996) NO: Gary M. Chesley and Paul D. Calaluce, Jr., from The Deception of Inclusion, Me ntal Retardation (December 1997) Susan Shapiro-Barnard and her colleagues in the Institute on Disability at the University of New Hampshire affirm the positive outcomes of full inclusion at the high school level for students with significant cognitive disabilites. Public school administrators Gary M. Chesley and Paul D. Calaluce, Jr., express their concern that full inclusion of students with significant cognitive disabilities does not provide appropriate preparation for successful life following school. ISSUE 11. Are Residential Schools the Least Restrictive Environment for Deaf Children? YES: Harlan Lane, Robert Hoffmeister, and Ben Bahan, from A Journey Into the Deaf-World (DawnSignPress, 1996) NO: Tom Bertling, from A Child Sacrificed to the Deaf Culture (Kodiak Media Group, 1994) Harlan Lane, a faculty member at Northeastern University, Robert Hoffmeister, director of the Deaf Studies Program at Boston University; and Ben Bahan, a deaf scholar in American Sign Language linguistics, value residential schools as rich cultural resources that enable Deaf children to participate fully in the educational experience. Tom Bertling, who acquired a severe hearing loss at age 5 and attended a residential school for the deaf after third grade, favors the use of sign language in social situations but views residential schools as segregated enclaves designed to preserve the Deaf culture rather than to develop adults who can contribute fully to society. ISSUE 12. Should Students with Disabilities Be Exempt from Standards-Based Curriculum? YES: Rex Knowles and Trudy Knowles, from Accountability for What? Phi Delta Kappan (January 2001) NO: Jerry Jesness, from You Have Your Teacher
s Permission to Be Ignorant, Education Week (November 8, 2000) Rex Knowles, a retired college professor, and Trudy Knowles, an assistant professor of elementary education, argue that federal mandates for all students to master the same curriculum fail to consider students
individual differences and needs. Jerry Jesness, a special education teacher, stresses that students who complete school without learning the basics will be ill-equipped to succeed as adults and that any program that avoids teaching these essentials fails to address the long-term needs of students. ISSUE 13. Are the Least-Trained Teaching Our Most Needy Children? YES: Michael F. Giangreco, Susan W. Edelman, Tracy Evans Luiselli and Stephanie Z. C. MacFarland, from Helping or Hovering? Effects of Instructional Assistant Proximity on Students With Disabilities, Exceptional Children (Fall 1997) NO: Susan Unok Marks, Carl Schrader and Mark Levine, from Paraeducator Experiences in Inclusive Settings: Helping, Hovering, or Holding Their Own? Exceptional Children (Spring 1999) Michael F. Giangreco, a research associate professor specializing in inclusive education, and his colleagues assert that untrained teacher assistants spend too much time closely attached to individual students, often hindering the involvement of certified teachers and nondisabled peers. Susan Unok Marks, Carl Schrader, and Mark Levine, of the Behavioral Counseling and Research Center in San Rafael, California, find that professionally trained classroom teachers are often less prepared than some assistants to work with children in inclusive settings and that, unprepared to supervise assistants, they use this lack of knowledge to avoid teaching children with disabilities. PART 3. Issues About Disabilities ISSUE 14. Can Brain Scans Unravel the Mystery of Learning Disabilities? YES: Sally E. Shaywitz and Bennett A. Shaywitz, from Reading Disability and the Brain, Educational Leadership (March 2004) NO: Gerald Coles, from Dangers in the Classroom:
Brain Glitch
Research and Learning to Read, Phi Delta Kappan (January 2004) Sally and Bennett Shaywitz, codirectors of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development-Yale Center for the Study of Learning and Attention, and Yale University professors, summarize their recent research findings suggesting that advances in medicine, together with reading research, can virtually eliminate reading disabilities. Gerald Coles, an educational psychologist and former member of the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, contests the claim that neurological procedures can identify reading disabilities and identify the methods to help children read. ISSUE 15. Is Attention Deficit (Hyperactivity) Disorder Overdiagnosed? YES: Arthur Allen, from The Trouble with ADHD, The Washington Post (March 18, 2001) NO: Russell A. Barkley, from Taking Charge of ADHD: The Complete, Authoritative Guide for Parents, 2d ed. (New York: The Guilford Press, 2000) Arthur Allen, reporter for The Washington Post, believes ADHD exists, but thinks too many children are given this diagnosis, masking other conditions (or simply normal behavior), and resulting in the prescribing of drugs that do more harm than good. Dr. Russell Barkley, director of psychology and a Professor at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center, addresses several current beliefs about ADHD and maintains it is, in fact, under-diagnosed and undertreated in today
s children. ISSUE 16. Are We Over-Prescribing Medication to Solve Our Children
s Problems? YES: Lawrence H. Diller, from The Run on Ritalin: Attention Deficit Disorder and Stimulant Treatment in the 1990s, Hastings Center Report (March/April 1996) NO: Larry S. Goldman, Myron Genel, Rebecca Bezman and Priscilla Slanetz, from Diagnosis and Treatment of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder in Children and Adolescents, JAMA, The Journal of the American Medical Association (April 8, 1998) Lawrence H. Diller, a pediatrician and family therapist, assserts that the use of stimulants on children has risen to epidemic proportions, occasioned by competitive social pressures for ever more effective functioning in school and at work. Larry S. Goldman, a faculty member of the Pritzker School of Medicine at the University of Chicago, and his colleagues review 20 years of medical literature regarding the diagnosis of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and the use of stimulants. They conclude that the condition is not being overdiagnosed or misdiagnosed and that medications are not being overprescribed or overused. ISSUE 17. Should Parents Choose Cochlear Implants for Their Deaf Children? YES: Thomas Balkany, Annelle V. Hodges and Kenneth W. Goodman, from Cochlear Implants for Young Children: Ethical Issues, in Warren Estabrooks, ed., Cochlear Implants for Kids (Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, 1998) NO: National Association of the Deaf, from NAD Position Statement on Choclear Implants, (October 6, 2000) Thomas Balkany, Annelle V. Hodges, and Kenneth W. Goodman, of the University of Miami, argue that the Deaf community actively works to disuade families from choosing cochlear implants for their children, prefering to have the decision made by Deaf individuals as a way to perpetuate the existence of a separate culture. The authors maintain that parents must decide whether or not their children receive cochlear implants, based on each child
s best interest. The National Association of the Deaf (NAD), an education and advocacy organization committed to supporting the deaf and the hard of hearing, uses its updated position paper on cochlear implants to express concern that medical professionals will dissuade parents from considering the positive benefits of the Deaf community and choose, instead, a medical procedure that is not yet proven. ISSUE 18. Are There Scientifically Effective Treatments for Autism? YES: James B. Adams, Stephen M. Edelson, Temple Grandin and Bernard Rimland, from Advice For Parents of Young Autistic Children, Autism Research Institute (Spring 2004) NO: Committee on Educational Interventions for Children with Autism, Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education, National Research Council, from Educating Children With Autism (Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press, 2001) ISSUE 19. Have Schools Gone Too Far in Using Accommodations? YES: James M. Kauffman, Kathleen McGee and Michele Brigham, from Enabling or Disabling? Observations on Changes in Special Education, Phi Delta Kappan (April 2004) NO: MaryAnn Byrnes, from Accomodations for Students with Disabilities: Removing Barriers to Learning, National Association of Secondary School Principals Bulletin (2000) James M. Kauffman, a faculty member at the University of Virginia, along with Kathleen McGee and Michele Brigham, both special education teachers, maintains that special education has pursued its goal of normalization to an extreme. The emphasis has shifted from increasing competence to perpetuating disabilities through the unwise use of accomodations. MaryAnn Byrnes, a University of Massachusetts
Boston faculty member, former special education administrator, and editor of this Taking Sides, argues that relevant accommodations are necessary to ensure that people with disabilities have a fair chance to demonstrate what they know and can do. ISSUE 20. Should Students with Disabilities Participate in High-Stakes Testing? YES: Martha L. Thurlow and David R. Johnson, from High-Stakes Testing of Students with Disabilities, Journal of Teacher Education (September/October 2000) NO: Pixie J. Holbrook, from When Bad Things Happen to Good Children: A Special Educator
s Views of MCAS, Phi Delta Kappan (June 2001) Martha L. Thurlow, director of the National Center on Educational Outcomes, and David R. Johnson, director of the Institute on Community Integration, both at the University of Minnesota, assert that high-stakes testing may hold many benefits for students with disabilities, especially if the tests are carefully designed and implemented. Pixie J. Holbrook, a special education teacher and consultant, maintins that high-stakes testing marks children with disabilities as worthless failures, ignores their accomplishments and positive attributes, and seriously limits their range of possibilities in adult life.