With Promise: Redefining Reading and Writing Needs for 'Special' Students

Library Journal

This collection of 18 articles deals with teaching reading and writing to students outside the mainstream. It is divided into four sections: descriptions of real reading and writing programs; case studies to help inform the field and develop theoretical knowledge; a rationale for teaching special students through reading and writing processes and whole-language approaches; and models for conversation among colleagues. Unlike books which focus on the theory or practice of molding special education students to fit accepted labels and learning methods, it offers a liberating view of education based on students' actions, needs, and learning processes. Teachers and researchers who have made helping special students their livelihoods can gain a different perspective with this work. Despite containing five reprinted journal articles, this is a practical and useful resource on a topic with too few books.-- Samuel T. Huang, Northern Illinois Univ. Libs., DeKalb