Inclusive Education for Students with Disabilities

Dear Colleagues,

We are pleased to announce a Special Issue that will address the needs of students with disabilities in inclusive education settings, and the related (and essential) policy and practice issues. In recent decades, inclusive educational reform has been prioritized worldwide in response to the increased learning diversity in schools. Legislation and regulations have been mandated in many countries to improve special education provision for students with disabilities, with the aim of equal and quality education for all. Radical changes in the conception and structure of educational provisions for students with disabilities have advanced from the traditional special education settings toward(s) more inclusive education placements at a different pace. While the primary goal of inclusive education is to provide high-quality and appropriate education for all students in developed countries, many developing nations enroll just as many children with disabilities who were denied education to school as possible via inclusion. This has led to ongoing debate about the attitudes and beliefs, policy and practice, support system, and effectiveness and related factors of inclusive education across different socio-cultural contexts. The research findings are very controversial and may lead to significant challenges for countries striving to implement high-quality inclusive education programs.

Therefore, this Special Issue on Equitable and Quality Inclusive Education for Students with Disabilities encourages both theoretical and empirical (qualitative, quantitative, and mixed research) contributions on inclusive education. Potential topics include (but are not limited to): policy analyses and reviews, attitudinal studies related to values and beliefs, school access and barriers, new inclusive models and practices, best practices and challenges in schools and classrooms, support systems, disability intervention, teacher preparedness and professional development, information-assisted teaching, participation and achievement of students with disabilities, family-school partnership, etc.

We aim to serve as an academic platform for exchanges and reflections on the theories and practices that have been researched and practiced by various inclusive education stakeholders worldwide. We are particularly interested in (1) Systematic reviews that collate the most up-to-date knowledge on a specific area related to the inclusive education model. (2) Empirical research and innovative projects with an evaluation of their impact focused on inclusive education. (3) Theoretical reflections and discussions on inclusive education that contribute to our understanding and insights of inclusion from the philosophical, sociological, and cultural perspectives.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Prof. Dr. Meng Deng
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Education Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.