The disability rights movement in the United States provides an alternative paradigm for understanding [Page 678]how persons with exceptionalities can engage in society and enjoy fulfilling, self-determined lives. The school-based component of this movement, special education, has been envisioned as a civil rights discourse and has provided students with disabilities, vital educational services, and resources. Since the advent of special education, divergent perspectives of exceptionality have created tensions in the field over issues such as the origins of disabilities and the appropriate educational response to students with special needs. This entry examines several perspectives of exceptionality that span the ideological continuum and their intersections with ethnic, racial, and cultural diversity in schools.