Preface

Special education administration in the 21st century is a challenging endeavor due to the roles and responsibilities that special education administrators face in today's world. Part of the challenge comes from federal legislation such as the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) of 2001 and the Individuals with Disabilities Improvement Act (IDEIA) of 2004. These acts require more program accountability and innovative leadership by special education administrators. Challenges also arise from the changing demographics in American schools. For instance, special education administrators need to develop and administer programs to a growing diverse school population. Leadership is needed in this area to alter the disturbing disproportionate number of multicultural students that are placed in special education programs. Proactive leadership in preventing the misassessment, miscategorization, misidentification, and misplacement of multicultural students is critical.