Opinion on Recent Developments and the Future of Special Education

Overview & Synopsis

Three encouraging trends in special education are greater focus on instruction, emphasis on positive approaches to problem behavior, and greater reliance on scientific evidence. Next steps involving instruction should include research on modifications of instruction needed to accommodate learners with disabilities and on the place in which these modifications can best be made. In using positive approaches to teaching and behavior management, next steps should focus on making them typical in special education first, then on encouraging their use in general education. Regarding scientific evidence, next steps should be unambiguous preference for science and training special education teachers to rely only on scientific evidence.