Unique Schools Serving Unique Students: Charter Schools and Children with Special Needs

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May 2010
Edited by: Robin Lake

ORDER INFORMATION

The book can be purchased for $19.95. To pay by credit card, order from the print-on-demand service CreateSpace (an Amazon.com affiliate). To pay by check or money order, order directly from CRPE.

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Unique Schools Serving Unique Students (Robin Lake, editor) offers a pioneering look at the role of charter schools in meeting the needs of special education students. The book addresses choices made at the intersection of two very important policy arenas in education: special education and charter schools.

Drawing lessons from parent surveys and case studies, this volume poses and addresses a number of important questions that have received limited attention to date: How many students with disabilities attend charter schools? How do parents choose schools for their children with special needs and how satisfied are they with their choices? What innovations are coming out of the charter school sector that might be models for public education writ large? Finally, what challenges and opportunities do charter schools bring to special education?

Contributors are Dana Brinson, Kelly Hupfeld, Joanne Jacobs, Tracey O'Brien, Lauren Morando Rhim, and Paul Teske.

On May 24, in Washington, D.C., the Center on Reinventing Public Education and DC Special Education Cooperative hosted the book’s authors and other special education and charter school experts to discuss vivid examples of innovative practices. The panel discussed specific recommendations for policy action, technical supports, and further research to promote more widespread adoption of the special education practices we see in effective charter schools. Find out more about the event.