"This is the second of two themed volumes addressing current issues and trends in special education. Volume 20 covers research, technology, and teacher preparation whilst volume 19 covered identification, assessment and instruction. The field of special education constantly changes as a result of legislation, new instructional formats and current research investigations. It can be difficult for general and special educators, school counselors and psychologists, administrators and practicing clinicians to keep up with these changes and be current in all areas relating to special education. The special education literature knowledge base should reflect these changes; however, there is no current resource that effectively and comprehensively does this. The purpose of "Current Issues and Trends in Special Education" is to fill this void, providing chapters written by active researchers and practitioners in their respective areas.

Emiliana Mangone is a Full Professor of Sociology of Culture and Communication at the Department of Political and Communication Sciences, University of Salerno (Italy). She is a Director of the Narratives and Social Changes-International Research Group (NaSC-IRG, 2020-2026) and she was a Director of the International Centre for Studies and Research on “Mediterranean Knowledge” (2015-2020). Her main investigative interests are in the field of cultural and institutional systems, with particular attention to the social representations, relational processes, knowledge, and narrative as key elements to the human act, in migration studies, and as well as the study pf the thought of Pitirim.

Giovanna Russo is an Associate Professor of Sociology of Culture and Communication at the Department of Educational Sciences “G.M. Bertin” of the University of Bologna “AMS ”, where she teaches socio-communicative subjects in the courses of Education Sciences and Motor Sciences. She is the Director of the editorial series “Sport, Culture, Society” (published by F. Angeli, Milan), and is a member of various editorial boards at national and international levels. Her research interests concern cultural consumption and the culture of well-being, with particular attention to the phenomenon of sport and physical activity in its multiple dimensions (cultural, media, educational, communication, and marketing). She is also interested in migratory phenomena, cultural heritage, and memory