Special Education in the Restructured School

Abstract

Two significant, overriding trends in reform have emerged in special education at all levels from policy to program implementation during the past decade. These are, first, the movement to integrate students with severe disabilities and those with low-incidence disabilities into general education schools and classrooms for their educational programs; second, the effort to retain students with mild and moderate disabilities in the general classroom as an alternative to pull-out programs. These trends are closely associated. Until recently, parallel trends in general education reform have tended to focus on improvement in curriculum and in instructional techniques. Most recently, however, these reform efforts have shifted in the direction of systematic reorganization of school governance structures, policy, and resource utilization at the school site. This shift presents an opportunity for amalgamation of these various related viewpoints through broad-based, school restructuring policy reform. This amalgamation is particularly reflected in those aspects of restructuring that are concerned with regulatory waivers, site-based management and budgetary control, shared decision making, and full infusion, with school site coordination, of federal, categorical program resources into the general education program. Sufficient parallels exist between the general and special education reform agendas to suggest that the time may be at hand for a shared educational agenda.