Critical Issues in Special Education is aimed at any course in the undergraduate or graduate special education curriculum that is wholly or partly devoted to a critical examination of current issues in special education. The book organizes fourteen issues into six parts. Each part begins with an introduction that provides historical, legal, and theoretical background information and organizing themes for the issues that follow. Each issue is then presented from two divergent viewpoints, each written in advocate language to be as compelling as possible. The book's objective, in addition to informing the readers about the issues, is to develop critical thinking skills in the context of special education. Key features include the following.

Dialectic Format - Each of the fourteen issue chapters presents two convincingly argued, alternative positions on a particular issue. This dialectic format encourages readers to weigh the arguments, seek additional information, and come up with a synthesized position of their own. This, of course, is the essence of critical thinking.

Organizing Framework - The sections have been arranged according to a 6 Ws scheme (why, who, where, how, when, and what) that is the essence of most investigative reporting and provides a coherent, easy to manage framework for readers.

Pedagogy - Each of the book's six parts begins with a brief introduction that provides background information for the issues that follow and each paired discussion ends with questions that provoke a critical analysis of the contrasting positions just presented.

Expertise - All issue chapters are written by leading researchers who are highly regarded experts regarding the issue at hand.