Festus E. Obiakor

Anthony F. Rotatori

Tachelle Banks

This text addresses the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on K-12 education, especially for students with special education needs. It emphasizes the need for a proactive, collaborative approach to support these students, acknowledging both the challenges and the opportunities for improving educational experiences during unpredictable times.

Considerations for Change in Practice

Special Education During the Pandemic

This book provides readers with a comprehensive description of procedures and practices that can enhance special education collaboration, consultation and cooperation in classroom learning environments and ancillary educational services. Experts in the field of special education provide detailed information on critical topics such as fostering the collaboration between regular education and special education teachers. Detailed discussions also focus on the role of mental health providers in special education, and the innovative use of technology in enhancing partnerships in general and special education. Unique chapters include the psychologist in the special education process, the role of the government as a partner to enhance special education services, and the vital role that principals play as school leaders to insure that special education students garner the necessary services to maximize their learning potential. Lastly, the critical roles that speech and language and physical education specialists play are discussed with regard to optimizing the overall development of students with special needs.

Innovative Collaboration, Consultation, and Cooperation

Enhancing Partnerships in Special Education

This is a book that exposes silenced and invisible voices in Colleges/Schools of Education. These voices of African immigrants are seldom heard in serious educational quarters since most foreign-born teacher educators try their very best to play by the rules as immigrant minorities. However, they find themselves between cultural continuity and cultural discontinuity. They are pressured to do well by their families in their native countries; but these pressures force them to forget home and think about survival strategies in their new found home. Very often, they do well and at tremendous costs! Additionally, they are expected to be happy and endure all kinds of mistreatments with a smile because they seem to have fewer survival options. On the one hand, they are generally treated as Blacks; and as Blacks, they encounter racist behaviours. On the other hand, they are treated as invisible, primitive, and inferior Blacks who have nothing to share and who are supposed to be seen and not heard. As a consequence, they endure discrimination from both native born African Americans and Whites in America. Interestingly, when they are confident, they are labelled as arrogant, troublemaker, foreigner, chauvinistic, and so on. When they are quiet, they are labelled as incompetent, timid, naïve, unprepared, and so on. The tendency is to forget that they are human-beings with aspirations to do well and contribute to their "new" society, that is, America. The critical question then is, how can they do well or contribute to the advancement of their new society if they are not given opportunities to learn, teach, serve, or grow?

Voices of Foreign-born African American Teacher Educators in the United States

Jeffrey P. Bakken

This book discusses the considerable challenges students with disabilities conquer in education, varying from relationships with teachers and academics, learning resources, and everyday social situations.

Special Education Transition Services for Students with Disabilities

Floyd D. Beachum

Improving Educational Outcomes of Vulnerable Children seeks to examine the plight of vulnerable students in America's educational system. Scholars and practitioners will benefit from this in-depth and unique resource for working with diverse populations of students. The term "vulnerable" is the current construct used to address students who are at-risk of dropping out of school or of being mislabeled because of myriad social-economic, structural, educational, cultural, racial, linguistic, and societal burdens that impinge upon their learning and survival in school environments. These populations can include students in urban areas, students with "special" needs, and/or at-risk students who are disenfranchised, disadvantaged, and disillusioned. While the term "vulnerable" is used most often, authors also address students who are oppressed. In such cases, the authors explore power relations, contexts, and situations that place students in positions of powerlessness. A few of the topics discussed include students with special needs, the scholar identity of black males, parent perspectives, teacher preparation, and using technology in the classroom. A diverse group of contributors offer their expertise in this distinctive text. Authors include scholars and practitioners from fields such as educational leadership, special education, teacher education, educational technology, and educational psychology. Key Features Explores the diversity of students in today's classrooms: culturally, linguistically, and racially different students; students in urban areas; students with "special" needs; and/or at-risk students who are disenfranchised, disadvantaged, and disillusioned.Details multiple strategies for teacher preparation and mentoringDiscusses methods for effective parent-teacher collaboration

Improving Educational Outcomes of Vulnerable Children

Today, we live in changing times and how we respond to these changes creates some uneasiness in our daily lives. Some of these changes reflect demographic shifts in power and paradigm in the United States, while others reflect the reckless assumption that our problems are insurmountable. Multiculturalism Still Matters in Education and Society: Responding to Changing Times urges us to collaborate, consult, and cooperate for our common good. It rightly emphasizes that multiculturalism will always matter in whatever we do in our complex world. In addition, it challenges us to continue to see differences as strengths that must be valued in dealing with our students, educational professionals, leaders, and communities. Finally, this book inspires us to expand our discourses, create avenues for “hearty” conversations, look for ways to make invisible voices visible, and help culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) and vulnerable populations to maximize their fullest potential.

Responding to Changing Times

Multiculturalism Still Matters in Education and Society

This volume addresses the most current perspectives and issues related to giftedness and is written by leaders in the field. An excellent resource for special educators, administrators, mental health clinicians, school counselors, and psychologists, this volume addresses the different educational issues that impact this population.

Current Perspectives and Issues

Gifted Education

Examines the history of special education by categorical areas (for example, Learning Disabilities, Mental Retardation, and Autistic Spectrum Disorders). This title includes chapters on the changing philosophy related to educating students with exceptionalities as well as a history of legal and legislation content concerned with special education.

History of Special Education

Patrick A. Grant

In this book immigrant minorities from Africa and the Caribbean tell their unique stories. These 'new' Americans recount their travels in the American maze, and thus, allow their voices to be heard. Who really cares for these voices? They do care and Americans should care! Foreign born African Americans frequently find themselves in precarious situations. They confront three intriguing questions: How Black are they? How much racism do they endure? How do they survive in spite of the odds? In reality, they are Blacks who are Black enough to encounter problems that other Blacks in America experience. However, they also understand that they must succeed in a competitive complex society like America. On the one hand, they are grateful to be in America; but on the other hand, they wonder why they must cross so many rubicons to achieve their goals. This book is unique! Never before have voices of Africans (from Africa and the Caribbean) been heard in this manner!! These voices provide multidimensional cases for scholars, educators, program planners, community leaders, and politicians. This book could be a required text for courses in international/global education, intercultural education, and multicultural education. It could also be a supplementary text for courses in general education and African/African American Studies. In fact, it should be on the reading list of every American interested in making our world a better place to live.

Silenced Voices in the Discourse on Race

Foreign-born African Americans

Addresses the perspectives and issues related to behavior disorders and involves leaders in the behaviour disorders field. This book addresses such topics as: legal issues, assessment, placement prevention, culturally and linguistically diverse students, English Language learners, and more.

Festus E. Obiakor

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