The Positive Side of Special Education: Minimizing its Fads, Fancies, and Follies(Leading Systemic School Improvement)

Special education often goes astray because of a continuing failure to see events in historical context. The failure to resolve issues means that special education has developed a tendency to enact interventions without any regard to past success or failure. Here, authors Kavale and Mostert provide a description of special education practices that have had significant impact but lacked scientific validation. The history of special education shows a number of instances where practices were initiated more for ideological rather than scientific reasons. When scientific standards of evidence are applied, these practices are found to verge on being fraudulent, worthless, or sometimes harmful. Although these practices were initiated with good intentions, the logic and rationality emanating from a scientific foundation quickly made them highly questionable. The authors describe many of these examples and show how a more scientific attitude can avoid beliefs that potentially undermine the integrity of special education.The Positive Side of Special Education: covers past and present intervention activities, describes scientific method and what it means, describes the influence of ideology, special education practice, and how science can overcome it, decribes the notion of "fallible judgment" and pseudoscience. A must read for special education professionals, special education undergraduates, graduate students, psychologists, parents, and teachers of students with disabilities.

Table of Contents:
Chapter 1 Preface Chapter 2 Acknowledgments Chapter 3 1. Science: Good, Bad, and Bogus Chapter 4 2. Educating Intelligence: Mind over Matter Chapter 5 3. Heredity, Environment, and the Great Debate about "Intelligence" Chapter 6 4. Perceptual-Motor Training and the Improvement of Nothing at All Chapter 7 5. Psycholinguistic Training: Faculty Psychology Revisited Chapter 8 6. Treating Autism: Manipulators, Mystics, and Monsters Chapter 9 7. Dyslexia Interventions: Sorcery, Witchcraft, and Legerdemain Chapter 10 8. Ideology and Special Education: Cry "Havoc!" Chapter 11 9. The End of Special Education? Chapter 12 Epilogue Chapter 13 References Chapter 14 Subject Index Chapter 15 Author Index Chapter 16 About the Authors

About the Author :
Kenneth A. Kavale is professor of Special Education at Regent University in Virginia Beach, Virginia. He has held faculty positions at the universities of Georgia, Colorado, California-Riverside, and Iowa. Mark P. Mostert is professor of Special Education at Regent University in Virginia Beach, Virginia. Mark has served as a classroom teacher and administrator in general and special education. His current research interests include validity aspects of research synthesis, empirical research bases for effective classroom practices, and societal perceptions of disability.

Review :
From the 'wild boy of Aveyron' to recent work in autism and dyslexia, the authors give a fascinating perspective of what was hot and why it is not. Highly Recommended.