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The Ethics of Special Education

Second Edition

Kenneth R. Howe, Amy L. Ferrell, Ofelia B. Miramontes

Foreword by: Alfredo J. Artiles

Publication Date: June 8, 2018

Pages: 168

Available Formats
PAPERBACK
ISBN: 9780807758953
$31.95
EBOOK
ISBN: 9780807776841
$31.95
The Ethics of Special Education 9780807758953
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  • Description
  • Author
  • Reviews
  • Contents

Description+

Since publication of the original edition of this book, there have been significant changes across the landscape of special education. This new edition addresses those changes and revisits enduring ethical issues that are most salient and pressing to special education teachers and administrators. Using a case-based approach, this popular text encourages students to reason and collaborate about ethical issues rather than simply master a set of principles and precepts. The issues highlighted in this volume include due process, the distribution of educational resources, institutional unresponsiveness, professional relationships, conflicts among parents and teachers, and confidentiality. The Ethics of Special Education, Second Edition emphasizes the perspectives and predicaments of special educators, but is also germane to the professional lives of a much wider range of individuals, from classroom teachers engaged in inclusion to administrators and school psychologists involved in negotiating IEPs (Individualized Education Programs).

Book Features:

  • Real-life cases that raise personal, institutional, and policy issues endemic to special education.
  • A philosophically grounded framework for discussing the cases.
  • An approach that helps students work as a group to disentangle the ethical problems associated with the case.
  • Examples of what reasonably careful and comprehensive analyses look like.
  • Updated and completely new cases based on feedback from special educators and administrators.
  • An updated version of the Council for Exceptional Children’s code of ethics.

Author+

Kenneth R. Howe is professor emeritus of educational foundations, policy, and practice at the School of Education, University of Colorado Boulder. Amy L. Boelé is assistant professor of special education at the School of Education and Human Development at the University of Colorado Denver. The late Ofelia B. Miramontes was associate professor of education and associate vice chancellor for diversity and equity at the University of Colorado at Boulder.

Reviews+

“By placing typical, everyday scenarios on the table and providing a tool through which to contemplate the options, the authors make an earnest attempt to engage pre-service and in-service educators in being thoughtful, contemplative professionals in a variety of potentially challenging situations…I appreciated the care, candor, and balanced approach of this slim volume…I commend the authors for incorporating a broad range of diverse issues and perspectives on disability that accurately reflect the daily challenges of special educators.”

― Teachers College Record

“This book offers a sound approach to dealing with difficult issues, . . . recommend(ed) highly for advanced graduates, graduates students, or even practicing professionals.”

—American Journal on Mental Retardation (first edition)

“Readers of The Ethics of Special Education will find real-world ethical dilemmas that reflect the current laws and trends in special education policy and practice. As a researcher in the field, a lawyer, a former teacher, and as a parent, I recommend this book for all those who help students with disabilities succeed in life. This casebook highlights the importance of reasoned exploration and empathy when attempting to solve the kind of hard questions faced by members of school communities across the nation. There are no simple answers, but for all stakeholders, this book will help you develop a clearer understanding of sound approaches to the difficult problems that you will likely grapple with.”
—Daniel Losen, director, Center for Civil Rights Remedies

“Opportunities to access, participate, and learn alongside a diverse range of public school students are vital to the success of students who have dis/abilities. It has never been more important for educators to work deliberately and ethically to ensure that their choices for curriculum, pedagogies, and learning outcomes benefit the learners they serve. Neoliberal politics, raced assumptions about what counts as learning, and the forced march towards globalization challenge educators. Decisions about who enters special education, for what purpose and whose benefit, are fraught. Howe and Boele’s new edition extends the vision that Miramontes had for schools that embraced all who entered.”
—Elizabeth B. Kozleski, University of Kansas

Contents+

Tentative Table of Contents

Foreword to the 1st Edition by James M. Kauffman

Foreword to the 2nd Edition

Acknowledgments

A Note on the Case-Based Approach to the Study of Ethics

Chapter 1. Introduction
   A Preliminary Observation Regarding the Study of Ethics
   Organization of the Book
   Getting Started
      Case: Where Are the Lines to Be Drawn?

Chapter 2. The Nature of Ethical Deliberation
   Law and Ethics
   Facts and Values
   Philosophical Ethics
   Conclusion

Chapter 3. Public Policy and the Mission of Special Education
   Due Process
      Case: Power Grab in the Staffing
      Case: Delinquent or Disabled?
   The Distribution of Educational Resources
      Case: Refusing to Fund Outside Special Services?
      Case: Must the Gifted Earn Their Placement?
      Case: Who Gets Benefits and Whose Benefits Are to Be Sacrificed?
   The Bureau-Therapeutic Structure of Special Education
      Case: "Get My Son Out of Special Education!"
      Case: Reverse Incentives
      Case: Pull-Out Is Best

Chapter 4. Pragmatist Ethical Theory
   The View from Nowhere vs. the View from Here: The Pragmatist Alternative
   Professional Ethics and Compromise
   Religion and Ethical Deliberation
   Professional Ethical Codes and Ethical Deliberation 

Chapter 5. Institutional Demands and Constraints
   Institutional Unresponsiveness
      Case: Broken Promises
      Case: Negotiating the Disability
   Special Education Teacher as Broker
      Case: Resistance to Inclusion
      Case: Least Restrictive Environment or Decent Classroom Space?
   Labeling
      Case: Special Education: Opportunity or Stigma?
      Case: What to Call the Special Education Program?
   Professional Relationships
      Case: Covering for Incompetence
      Case: Turfing Students

Chapter 6. The Obligations of Schools to Special Needs Students and Their Families 
   Conflicts Among Parents and Teachers About Student Welfare
      Case: Withholding Information About Poor Performance?
      Case: Parents' Wishes Versus Professional Judgment
   Confidentiality
      Case: Loose Talk in the Lounge
      Case: Who Really Needs to Know?
   Special Allowances for Special Education Students?
      Case: Special Grading for Special Education Students?
      Case: Teacher as Friend?

Appendix A: Cases for Discussion
   Case #1: Reward for a Job Well Done?
   Case #2: Arbitrary and Capricious Placement Criteria?
   Case #3: Double Jeopardy
   Case #4: LRE and Paraprofessonals
   Case #5: Medication or Else
   Case #6: Do the Ends Justify the Means?
   Case #7: Teaching Responsibility or Limiting Opportunity?
   Case #8: Multilingual Students with Monolingual Teachers
   Case #9: Who Decides the Curriculum?
   Case #10: Who Should Pay?
   Case #11: No Label, No Service
   Case #12: Ready to Graduate?
   Case #13: Treating Like Cases Alike?

Appendix B: Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) Code of Ethics

References

Index

About the Authors 

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