Reform in education has focused mainly on development of new programs and procedures to increase the achievement of the student in the classroom. Teacher evaluations are now based on how students perform in their classrooms on yearly standardized tests. The advent of integrating students with special needs into the regular classroom has brought both benefits and concerns for average and above average students. Special education in the United States has evolved from institutional and segregated environments to inclusion in the regular education classrooms. We examine how the practice has affected all students and question whether this change has created equal opportunity for those students without special education needs. This book researches and reports on issues of current practice: e.g., teacher preparation, placement of students with special needs, implications for the average and above in the classroom and the financial costs driving placement decisions in the education system. We examine the lowering of standards so all can pass tests, report on loss of engagement of students by middle school, and mourn the squandering of creativity to appease a mandate. Sir Ken Robinson relates that, “Education is meant to take us into a future we cannot even grasp.” Yet we continue on a road that lowers our educational ranking internationally. We recommend to provide services for all students, and take the system from its current state to one that provides a “Free and appropriate education for all!”

"Since the passage of the Education for All Handicapped Children Act in 1975, public schools are required to provide a free and appropriate education in the least restrictive environment for children with disabilities. Education is Special for Everyone questions the consequences of inclusion for students learning at average and above average levels. . . .This book takes a hard look at the impact of current practices regarding special education programs in public schools across the country. The authors are highly critical of increased demands on public schools as funds become more difficult to secure. They urge the educational community to consider the impact of special education programming on the total school environment before it is too late." - School Administrator