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Special Education: Contemporary Perspectives for School Professionals, 6th edition

Published by Pearson (November 22, 2022) © 2023

  • Marilyn Friend The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Professor Emerita

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For introductory courses in special education.

Real teachers, real students, and real classrooms

Special Education brings special education to life with a multi-dimensional view of the field. A just-right blend of up-to-date, research-based information is presented in an easy-to-understand way. Each chapter features real stories of individuals with disabilities, their parents, and professionals. Readers will gain an understanding of their future role as professionals and learn how to translate critical concepts into educational practices.

The 6th Edition incorporates current research, data and standards for practice. It explores the most critical issues affecting the field today.

Hallmark features of this title

  • The full spectrum of special education is covered, from the history of the field to the students that readers will teach, to assessing and instructing.
  • Real vignettes tell the story of children who have disabilities or gifts/talents, their families, and the professionals who work with them.
  • Evidence-based practice features show how effective teaching practices can influence student success. Positive behavior supports, samples lessons, tips and techniques prepare readers for the classroom.
  • Collaboration, diversity, and cultural competence topics include approaches for reaching diverse students and modern collaborative practices in schools.
  • Technology Notes show examples of technology for teaching students in special or general education settings.

New and updated features of this title

  • UPDATED: Contemporary standards for practice include The Council for Exceptional Children's Ethical Principles and Practice Standards and the University of Florida's CEEDAR Center's High Leverage Practices for Students with Disabilities.
  • UPDATED: The multi-tiered system of support model is presented in detail to reflect current interventions supported by the Every Student Succeeds Act.
  • UPDATED/NEW: Issues facing the field help teacher candidates prepare to analyze current classroom problems. Examples include disruptive behavior, the too-frequent inequality of treatment of Black students, and the systemic challenges of educating students with disabilities in general education settings.
  • UPDATED/NEW: Recent data and research includes over 600 new references reflecting contemporary thinking, legislative and litigative information. All data and statistics are updated.
  • UPDATED: Did You Know? sidebars highlight interesting facts, studies or resources that expand on chapter topics. These sidebars have been doubled in this edition.

The LMS-Compatible Assessment Bank streamlines assessments and grading

  • NEW: Learning outcome quizzes, application exercises and automatically graded chapter tests can be assigned from a packaged file. Questions give students feedback and model responses based on their answers.

Features of Pearson eText for the 6th Edition

  • Video Examples, including authentic classroom videos and interviews with experts in the field, expand on principles or concepts in each chapter, helping put the reading into context.
  1. Understanding Special Education
  2. The Personnel and Procedures of Special Education
  3. Multicultural Perspectives
  4. Collaboration in Special Education
  5. Students with Specific Learning Disabilities
  6. Students with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder
  7. Students with Emotional and Behavior Disorders
  8. Students with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities
  9. Students with Speech and Language Disorders
  10. Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder
  11. Students with Deafness and Hearing Loss
  12. Students with Visual Impairments
  13. Students with Orthopedic Impairments, Traumatic Brain Injury, and Other Health Impairments
  14. Students with Intensive Support Needs
  15. Students Who Are Gifted and Talented

About our author

Marilyn Friend began her career as an educator when she engaged in one of her favorite pastimes as a child, that is, playing school with her siblings and friends. Her more formal experiences span more than 45 years and include working as a general education teacher and a special education teacher as well as a university professor, teacher educator, researcher, consultant, and staff developer. She is past president of the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC), the world's largest professional association for educators who work with and advocate for students with disabilities and gifts/talents and their families. Her contributions have been widely recognized: She was the 2016 recipient of the Teacher Education Division (CEC)/Pearson Excellence in Special Education Teacher Education Award; a 2019 awardee of the Indiana University School of Education Distinguished Alumni Award; and the 2021 recipient of the Division of Visual and Performing Arts Education (DARTS, CEC) Lifetime Achievement Award. Dr. Friend's specific areas of expertise include collaboration among school professionals, inclusive practices, co-teaching, and specialized instruction. What makes her unique is the balance among her professional activities: Although she retired as Chair and Professor of Special Education, Department of Specialized Education Services, The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, as a faculty member she always maintained close contact with elementary, middle, and high school educators, assisting those in rural, suburban, and urban school districts to refine their practices for meeting diverse student needs. Since leaving the university setting, she has focused on projects with professionals in the U.S. and around the world, at the same time continuing to contribute to the professional literature on inclusive education. She is widely recognized for her ability to translate research into effective, use-tomorrow classroom, school, and district/system strategies.

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