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Inclusion: North America (incl. Middle America)

The following webdossier provides resources from North America (USA, Canada, Mexico) as well as Middle America (Central America and the Wes Indies). While in the USA inclusion is often discussed in relation to racism and ethnic minorities, in the Middle American context one can eventual find a focus on social equity (you will find a similar focus in South America for example).

Our dossier is divided into three categories, according to their subject and / or resource type. Inside these categories, the websites are sorted by country and region (Canada, USA, Middle America):

Political Frame

Central America; North America; South America
This Wikipedia article provides a short summary of the "Inter-American Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Persons with Disabilities" adopted in 1999. The article furthermore offers links to the text of the concention in English, Spanish and Portuguese, as well as [...]

Canada
The National Report Card on Inclusion (2007-2013) was a short annual summary of the situation of people with intellectual disabilities in Canada. The respective reports have different foci, for example on inclusive education, work, poverty, family support, or children's rights. They were published by the Canadian Association for [...]

United States
The Office of Special Education and and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS), a unit of the U.S. Department of Education, offers a an overview on support programmes that assist in educating children with special needs, in the rehabilitation of youth and adults with disabilities, and supports research to improve the lives of [...]

United States
The "Individuals with Disabilities Education Act" (IDEA) is a U.S. American federal statute that regulates the (right to) education of people (children) with disabilities in the United States.The first version of this statute was adopted in 1975 under the title "Education for All Handicapped Children Act (EAHCA)". The statute has [...]

United States
This website of the U.S. department of Education provides the text of the law and additional information and materials to the Parts B and C of the "Individuals with Disabilities Education Act" (IDEA). Part B deals with Children and youth (ages 3-21), Part C with Infants and toddlers (birth-2). The website provides information on [...]

The "Individuals with Disabilities Education Act" (IDEA) is a U.S. American federal statute that regulates the (right to) education of people (children) with disabilities in the United States.The first version of this statute was adopted in 1975 under the title "Education for All Handicapped Children Act (EAHCA)". The statute has been amended several times since then, last in [...]

United States
Formerly known as the "National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR)" and belonging to the U.S. Department of Education, NIDILRR now has a slightly changed name and belongs to the Department of Health and Human Services. The institute supports and analyses the situtation and rights of persons with [...]

Central America; Latin America; South America
This website provides an overview of a project (ca. 2007-2016) on the cooperation of the Central American (and partly Ibero-American) countries in the field of inclusive education. You will find a chronology of important events in educational policy as well as important official documents, [...]

Central America
This short report summarizes a regional seminar about "Public policies for inclusion and equity in Central America" that took place in Panama on 28 and 29 January 2015. International regional cooperations as well as national programes and projects of some Central American countries are mentioned in the summary. [Abstract: [...]

Literature, Overview, Statistics

Canada; Sweden
[We link to a copy of the site from the Internet Archive 2013. Unfortunately, the new journal website only offers 5 free articles and lacks the French articles of the issue.]

This 2013 issue of the journal Education Canada has a focus on inclusive [...]

This article is a summary of the PhD thesis of the same author on Inclusion in Canada, published in German in 2013. The PhD thesis is based on ethnographic research in schools in the three Canadian provinces New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Québec. [Abstract: Editors of Education Worldwide].

This publication summarizes the results of a workshop that took place in 2012 in Canada. The theme of the workshop was a comparison of the politics of inclusion in education in the different provinces of Canada. [Abstract: Editors of Education Worldwide].

"In the report that follows, you will find six chapters, or Parts. Part I contains a general description of the organization and structure of U.S. education, Part II describes the roles played by all three levels of government in education policy, administration, and financing, with an emphasis on elementary and secondary education, Part III provides a description of the [...]

"Being a country of diversity, the United States has had a long tradition of research and practices in special education in the form of inclusion. Since passage of the Education for All Handicapped Children Act (EAHCA) of 1975, now referred to as the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) of 2004, a free appropriate public education has been available to all [...]

In this comprehensive study, author Robert L. Osgood reveals how the idea of inclusion has evolved into broader realms of thought and practice. In its earliest manifestations, educators dwelled upon the classroom setting itself, wondering whether "disabled" children belonged there; if not, why not; and if so, how this could be accomplished? By the late 1960s, the scope of the [...]

The present article provides an overview over the history of inclusion in education in the United States. It has a focus on the development and decisions in educational policy and a short discussion of the meaning of the term 'inclusion'. [Abstract: Editors of Education Worldwide].

United States
On this page, the U.S. National Center for Education Statistics provides statistics for the following question: "What percentage of students with disabilities are educated in regular classrooms?" The page also provides further links to related statistics. [Abstract: Editors of Education Worldwide]

North America; Mexico; Guatemala; Belize; Costa Rica; El Salvador; Honduras; Nicaragua; Panama; Central America
The website Disabled World is an information site on disability that draws its information from websites all over the world. The sub-site on Central America provides short paragraphs about the situation of people with disabilities in [...]

Central America; Caribbean
Article published in: TESOL Journal 7 (5) 1998, S. 38-41., author: Shana R. Grossman. The article analyses cultural differences in the conception of disability using the example of Central America and the Caribbean. [Abstract: Editors of Education Worldwide]

"The history of schooling for students with disabilities in the United States is marked by exclusion and, until the passage of the Education for All Children Act in the 1970s, a substantial number of students with disabilities were denied free public education and many more were poorly served by public schools. The requirement that all children be educated in the "least [...]

In his article of 2006, the author analyses the US-American "Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 (IDEA 2004)". He argues that, contrary to its intention, the act has led to an institutionalisation of discrimination against people with disabilities (ableism). The author furthermore draws an analogy between ableims and racism and suggests [...]

This article is a direct response in the same journal issue (2006) to Beratan's article "Institutionalizing Inequity: Ableism, Racism and IDEA 2004". Beratan criticized the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 (IDEA 2004) as paradoxically institutionalising discrimination against people with disabilities. Fierros adds to the article by giving a [...]

This article is a direct response in the same journal issue (2006) to Beratan's article "Institutionalizing Inequity: Ableism, Racism and IDEA 2004". Beratan criticized the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 (IDEA 2004) as paradoxically institutionalising discrimination against people with disabilities. Peters agrees with Beratan's analysis, but [...]

Research Centres & Advocacy

Canada
Inclusive Education Canada provides information on inclusive education not only in Canada but worldwide. You will find publications, videos, information about projects and other things. The website furthermore provides a list of partner organisations working in the same field. [Abstract: Editors of Education Worldwide]

Canada; international
The Inclusive Design Research Centre at OCAD University is doing research on design and disability. Many of their projects focus on the education area, especially e-learning / new technologies. You will find information on many projects, for example: Project Outside In (Skills Training Program for Youths) , Floe Project [...]

Canada; international
The Canadian Research Centre on Inclusive Education is located at the Western University. Its website provides information on past and current research, publications, a newsletter, a journal on "Exceptionality Education International" with free articles (except the two most recent issues), information on events and more. [...]

United States
Formerly known as the "National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR)" and belonging to the U.S. Department of Education, NIDILRR now has a slightly changed name and belongs to the Department of Health and Human Services. The institute supports and analyses the situtation and rights of persons with [...]

United States
The Society for Disability Studies is an association of more than 400 artists, scholars and activists. The website provides information on the society, its link lists, conferences, awards and publications. Unfortunately, a lot of these short informations don't offer further links. The item with the most content is the Society's [...]

North America; Mexico; Guatemala; Belize; Costa Rica; El Salvador; Honduras; Nicaragua; Panama; Central America
[Our link leads to an archived site as of 06.02.2015 as the organisation's new website doesn't provide info sorted regionally any more but sorted by subject. For current information please visit the [...]

Guatemala; Malawi
The goal of the refie project was to explore the driving mechanisms of inclusion and exclusion in education. The research has been conducted using Guatemala (Central America) and Malawi (Southern Africa) as case studies. We link to the project's final report.

The [...]