Emma Hilldrup

Annotated Bibliography
Constitution and By-Laws of the Division of International Special Education and Services (15
October 2015). Council for Exceptional Children: Division of International Special
Education and Services. Retrieved from http://dises-cec.org/site/wpcontent/uploads/2014/08/DISES-Bylaws-Amended2015.10.15.pdf
The Division of International Special Education and Services is a subdivision of the
Council for Exceptional Children which promotes knowledge, collaboration, and
advocacy for countries who provide services for individuals with disabilities. The
Constitution and By-Laws primarily deal with the inner-workings of the organization,
such as how leadership positions are elected and the specific tasks carried out by the subcommittees. This specific source may not prove extremely useful in the scope of overall
research because it mostly contains logistical information concerning the physical
makeup of the organization rather than a detailed outline of the actions carried out and
their international success.
Enos-Matheny, H. Ed.S. (2012). A Paradigm Shift: Inclusion in South Africa? Autism Around the
Globe. Retrieved from
http://www.autismaroundtheglobe.org/countries/South_Africa3.asp
Heather Ethos-Matheny, Ed.S., a school psychologist from the United States, recounts her
experiences during her teaching stint in Durban, South Africa as a Behavioral
Psychologist focused mainly on interactions with Autistic students. The education system
in South Africa is different from that of the United States, most notably in the respect that
the United States provides a clear account of the rights provided to its citizens, especially

Emma Hilldrup
in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. In South Africa, there exists a legal
mandate system which oversees the implementation of special education (South African
Constitution). While legislation is in place, it is carried out in a means that may be
considered degenerate from the kind of progress that the United States has made. For
example, Ethos-Matheny summarizes the account in the Inaugural White Paper 6 that
children with disabilities [experience] the greatest difficulty in gaining access to
education and are continually separated based on the basis of race and disability. This
source is an important addition because it delves into a personal account of ones
experience in a foreign special education system in comparison to the United States.
Kritzer, J.B. (2012). Comparing Special Education in the United States and China. International
Journal of Special Education, Vol. 27 (No. 2). Retrieved from
http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ982859.pdf
The Chinese system has made significant progress since the first legal mandate
concerning special education in 1982, but, as always, there is room for improvement.
Even though special needs students are welcomed into the general education classrooms,
it is extremely difficult to individualize instruction because of the immense class sizes,
averaging at about 59.46 students per classroom, enormous in comparison to the United
States' average class size of 22.62 students. China's implemented inclusion lacks
necessary resources, such as pull-out rooms with expert care. The United States system of
special education is considered by many other countries as an exemplary model. China,
in comparison, still has much work to do just to be at the same step as the United
States. This source is accessible for the overall research topic, especially in the
comparison of two countries (the United States and China) who share many similarities.

Emma Hilldrup

Michael, E., Janeth, I. & Onu, V. (2012). A Review of Special Education Services Delivery in the
United States and Nigeria: Implications for Inclusive Education. U.S. Education Review
B. 9, 824-831. Retrieved from http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED537176.pdf
The main theme of the article is that the United States should serve as an inspirational
figure to be followed and that Nigeria's commitment to equality is merely symbolic and
fails to be enforced. Nigeria is a signatory to the United Nations Education on Human
Rights and Child Rights, as well as a signing proponent of the United Nations'
Declarations and Resolutions to promote equality among individuals on all fronts. The
goal for special education between the two countries is the same: maximize the social and
academic potentials of learners with disabilities. However, a wide schism exists between
the two due to an inability on Nigeria's part to act upon the equality standards they have
agreed to. This source will prove beneficial in a research paper as it provides information
as to how special education is implemented in a third-world country as well as how the
United States exists as an international special education model.
Pang, Y. (May 2009). A Review of Chinas Special Education Law and its Impact on the Living
Status of Individuals with Disabilities in China. Bloomsburg University of University.
Retrieved from http://organizations.bloomu.edu/gasi/2009%20Proceedings
%20PDFs/Pang1china's_special_education_law_pang.pdf
Author Yanhui Pangs article centers on a review of Chinas laws that safeguard citizens
rights to education, vocation, and community life. Special education focus and progress
in China has been a recent endeavor, with the first legal mandates applied in the mid-

Emma Hilldrup
1990s. The report provides statistics on the current status of people with disabilities in
China as well as how they are identified by category. A fascinating aspect of the article is
the provided information on culture, governmental structure, and societal views and their
influence on the educational system. This source will prove beneficial in analysis
between the United States system and the Chinese system because of its unique insights
into culture and society, rather than just legality of special education.
Sharmah, U., Forlin, C., Loreman, T., et al. Pre-Service Teachers Attitudes, Concerns, and
Sentiments About Inclusive Education: An International Comparison of Novice PreService Teachers (2006). International Journal of Special Education, Vol. 21 (No. 2).
Retrieved from http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ843609.pdf
One of the main sources of differentiation that exists between special education systems
around the world is the diversity of social and cultural attitudes towards people with
disabilities. An interesting factor of this observation is that attitudes between countries
tend to blend with others who are from a similar geographical region of the world. In the
following article, a study was executed to analyze pre-service teacher's attitudes in
Canada, Australia, Singapore, and Hong Kong towards students with disabilities in
relation to their training and preparation for educating in an integrated classroom
setting. For the most part, each country provides minimal special education training for
teachers, however, in many cases, it is not required and is generally only offered as an
elective course. The primary purpose of the study was to compare pre-service teachers,
teachers preparing to enter into educational training to become teaching-certified in their
respective countries, in their attitudes and concerns towards inclusive education as well
as their feelings toward preparedness to interact with special needs students. The findings

Emma Hilldrup
of this specific study are an interesting addition to research because it provides an insight
beyond the physical and legal implementation of special education by focusing on
internal views towards the situation in each respective country.
South Africa: Education Barriers for Children with Disabilities (18 August 2015). Human Rights
Watch. Retrieved from https://www.hrw.org/news/2015/08/18/south-africa-educationbarriers-children-disabilities
The Human Rights Watch released a report dictating that an estimated half-a-million
children with disabilities have been shut out of South Africas education system. The
research team found that in five out of South Africas nine provinces children with
disabilities face physical and societal barriers from receiving a proper and equal
education, even after the government claimed it met the United Nations Millennium
Development Goal of enrolling all children in primary schools by 2015. Since 2001, the
South African Government has stood by a policy to end educational exclusion and
provide education for all in inclusive schools, but government funding and action
continues to falter in efforts to stand by their protocols. This source is a constructive
addend to comparisons between foreign systems and the United States because it
identifies differences and allows for suggestion from the U.S. system as a model,
fulfilling the research thesis.
The Salamanca Statement and Framework for Action on Special Needs Education (7-10 June
1994). United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization. Retrieved
from http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0009/000984/098427eo.pdf

Emma Hilldrup
In June of 1994, representatives from 92 governments and 25 international organizations
met in Salamanca, Spain for the World Conference on Special Needs Education. As a
result, the Salamanca Statement was formulated, which includes both a commitment to
"Education for All" as well as a Framework for Action. The Government of Spain in
cooperation with UNESCO brought together senior education officials, administrators,
policy-makers and specialists to promote an inclusive approach to special education,
powered by the belief that special education is of equal concern to all countries. The
document represents a worldwide consensus on the direction that special needs reform
should take in the future. In other words, the statement reflects a Bill of Rights more than
an outline of necessary steps of action. It is up to the individual country to stand by such
proclamations and apply them to their respective states in an appropriate manner for their
setting. This source, similar to that of the Constitution and By-Laws of the DISES, is an
excellent example of the increasing international awareness for special education and the
necessity of its equality to regular education. However, specific legal mandates that can
be and are enforced may prove to be more beneficial than decrees of individual rights.
UN Enable Fact Sheet on Persons with Disabilities (date). United Nations. Retrieved from
http://www.un.org/disabilities/default.asp?id=18
The United Nations Statistics Division provides international date on a wide range of
topics to promote the growth of member countries as well as relations between such
countries. This specific entry of the UN Fact Sheet details international statistics
concerning prevalence of disabilities. The most shocking statistic provided is that 80% of
persons with disabilities live in developing countries. In relation to this, disability rates
are significantly higher among groups with lower educational attainment: 19% of less

Emma Hilldrup
educated people have disabilities in comparison to the 11% of people with disabilities
who come from a better educated group. From these two figures, it is obvious that
amount of education directly correlates to occurrences of disability in individuals. This
resource is useful in administering a baseline perception of the worlds current numerical
status of persons with disabilities, therefore providing a beneficial introduction into
definitive comparisons of special education systems around the world.
Wilde, J.W., Ph.D. (1 August 2001). A Comparative Study on Disability Laws of China and the
USA. The Legal Knowledge Handbook on Rights-Protecting of the People with
Disabilities. Retrieved from http://fog.ccsf.edu/~jwilde/United_Nations_Report.pdf
In the spring of 2001, J.W. Wilde, Ph.D., author of the report, met with Mr. Wang
Daming, Program Officer of the Child Protection Services of UNICEF Office in Beijing,
to discuss the differences between disability laws in the Peoples Republic of China and
the United States. The reports comparison was endorsed and was brought to the attention
of the UNICEF staff, eventually influencing the publication of The Legal Knowledge
Handbook on Rights of Peoples with Disabilities, a 320 page text written in majority
Chinese but also containing questions in English to serve as the primary comparison
between the two systems. The purpose of the document is to detail the process taken in
the overall project as well as assist the Peoples Republic of China government in
comparing and contrasting existing laws in China with existing laws in the U.S., in hopes
to spur progressive improvements. This source is an influential addition to the compiling
research comparing Chinas special education system to the U.S., mostly due to its focus
on differences and similarities between government mandates and interaction in
education.