In response to reform of the senior secondary school curriculum, parents, professionals and schools voiced out the significance of the learning equity and opportunities of school graduates in special schools. Different parties urged the government to clarify the academic structure, curriculum arrangement and resources for these SEN students in senior academic structure reform. This was a territory-wide study on parental views and preferences of the senior secondary curriculum among special schools for students with mental handicap, physical handicap and visual impairment in Hong Kong. In the study, it was found that at the initial stage of policy planning, the further education opportunities of children with intellectual disabilities and multiple disabilities after the 9-year basic education were not fully considered. The opportunities remained unchanged and were of limited variety. Other than the extension program in the special schools, there was no innovative policy and practice in offering further education for these students. Parents were dissatisfied the limited choice of the further education and career placement for their children after the graduation at the age of 18. They expressed their strong view on the equal opportunity in the reform of senior secondary academic structure. With regard to the scenario of development, the study further reported the views and expectations and preferences of parents. Parents expected a clear division of secondary education into junior and senior, two stages, as opposed to a six-year education without such distinction. The curriculum, arrangements and assessment of senior secondary education should be further enriched and strengthened. Education and vocational training for schools leavers were expected. The results were significant and the empirical data provided teachers, school administrators, curriculum planners, teacher educators and the authority with the insights for further actions. The teacher education in empowering

This article briefly examined the development and reforms of education for students with disabilities worldwide in the last 50 years and that of Hong Kong in the last 3 decades. It addressed the significant progress seen in Hong Kong and called for the need to install systems of transition planning and post-secondary support services that are currently absent in Hong Kong. Benefits of having these systems were discussed, drawing overseas examples in countries such as the U.S., U.K., Canada, and Australia where students with disabilities participate in and are accommodated at all levels of education. It was emphasized that the massive education reforms aiming at transforming the entire education system into a flexible system to accommodate diverse learners and promote lifelong learning for all would have been a perfect platform to address such gaps and issues. The conclusion of the paper calls for discourse and collaboration among relevant stakeholders toward a more inclusive and holistic reform.
[Copyright © 2009 The Hong Kong Special Education Society.]

Integration or inclusive education is a hot issue and a global trend. Different countries value the policy of integration or inclusive education through whole school approach but may be with different progress on the track. This essay intends to compare the education system of Finland and Hong Kong as any change in the general education system shapes the mechanism of and the provisions to the special education. The scholarly study of other education system will help us to get deeper understanding of our own system and so can work for its improvement (Bray, 2004). The approach of comparison will be adapted from Bereday’s Model for Undertaking Comparative Studies.
[Copyright © 2007 Canadian Center of Science and Education.]

This pilot study was about the effectiveness of the integration policy for disabled children in Hong Kong's mainstream kindergartens from the viewpoints of teachers.
[Copyright © 2005 Common Ground, Yuk Ching Eva Lai.]

Researchers have warned of the need to identify accurately students who are underachieving in Hong Kong, particularly among the gifted group. When comparing the relative effectiveness of three methods for estimating the proportion of underachievement, the absolute split method, using an arbitrary upper and lower limits for estimates of both performance and ability, is more useful for identifying gifted underachievers than the simple difference method (where standardized performance scores are subtracted from standardized ability scores) or the regression method. In contrast, the latter two methods are more useful for identifying underachievers at all levels of ability. All three methods, however, depend on measurements that are invariant, unidimensional and additive. With the advent of modern measurement theory using Rasch measurement models, it is now possible to satisfy these requirements. In this study, a sample of Primary 5 students in Hong Kong (n = 957) were asked to complete a test of mathematical achievement and the Ravens Progressive Matrices test in order to estimate the proportion of students who are underachieving at all levels of ability. Measurement scales were created using Rasch models for partial credit and dichotomous responses for each variable, respectively, and students placed on each scale according to their responses. Because the results are based on measurement scales that are invariant between persons, the identification of underachievement in these students across all levels of ability can be regarded as objective rather than sample dependent.
[Copyright © 2007 Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business.]