Evaluating special education programs in Australia: A partnership between government and voluntary organizations

Special education has seen rapid and extensive changes over the last decade in many countries. Even where a legislative mandate has been introduced (as with P.L. 94–142 in the United States), evaluation has developed more slowly than the provision of services. For example, the comprehensive $\text{Handbook of Special Education}$ (Kauffman & Hallahan, 1981) contains no index entry for evaluation. Furthermore, it will be argued here that contemporary emphases in educational evaluation have not addressed certain values that are crirical for special education.