With the Best Intentions: Agents, Impetus, and Consequences of Placement Decisions

Decisions about special educational services including pull-out placements and retention are made by well-intended adults. I examine the complexities of such decisions and make that complexity personal through the stories of six children whose school lives I followed for four years. For each child, the further removed the decision maker was (e.g., state policy versus teacher recommendation), the less appropriate the placement. As much as the public longs for uniform policies (ending social promotion, establishing high standards, testing early and often), there are devastating human consequences to standardized "solutions." For these children, the best intentions of educators were not enough.