Leading An Inclusive School

Richard A. Villa and Jacqueline S. Thousand provide an in-depth, research-based guide for ensuring that your school provides the federally guaranteed "least restrictive environment" for students no matter the severity of the challenges they face. Leading an Inclusive School: Access and Success for ALL Students offers administrators, teachers, and other educators working to promote inclusion a wealth of information about the history and research base of inclusive education in the United States, including pivotal amendments to and reauthorizations of the EHCA, landmark court cases, and the philosophical underpinnings of the movement; essential curricular and instructional practices for inclusive schools, such as heterogeneous grouping, creative problem solving, and co-teaching; powerful organizational structures such as Multitiered System of Support and Schoolwide Positive Behavior Supports to help optimize the benefits of differentiation for all students; and a conceptual framework for coordinating educational initiatives and best practices for educating all students in general education. Also included are vivid personal stories of students with disabilities that illustrate how these students flourish when they learn alongside their general education peers. Educators who are serious about committing to the success of learners at all levels of perceived physical, intellectual, communication, and social/emotional ability will find the examples, advice, and tools in this book indispensable for planning, implementing, and promoting inclusion in their schools.

Every principal and administrator will want this how-to book: the essential guide to bringing schoolwide inclusion from theory to practice.

Inclusion is increasingly becoming one of the policy drivers shaping educational discourse and practice. What constitutes the term “inclusion” itself and how ideas derived from the different perspectives on inclusion impact school leadership practice point to a highly contested field of enquiry. Originally embedded in discourse relating to special education, ideas relating to inclusion are attracting much broader appeal within system reforms in many jurisdictions. This book seeks to keep the consideration of inclusion firmly in its broader context and to decouple it from the discourse relating to students with special educational/additional needs. This allows the authors to position their contributions more explicitly within discourses that draw on difference and diversity as unavoidable features of schools. Within this collection we address the current political dogmas in many countries that take a purely rational, managerial approach to leadership, arguing that this is not contributing to inclusion in schools. In doing this, the book seeks to shape current discourses on leadership by exploring perspectives which are likely to enhance our understanding of inclusion. Tolerance, respect, listening, clarifying language, being comfortable with differences and ambiguity and articulating and challenging the rationale behind “the way we do things around here” are key aspects of inclusive leadership, and also fundamental imperatives for writing this book. It will be useful to those in education who are engaged in further academic study in education or in reflective practice and to anyone taking advanced programmes in educational leadership and management. The international perspectives on the issue of inclusion informing this book ensure that this book will be essential for those engaged in a comparative analysis of leadership practice in different contexts or those concerned with the complexity of ensuring inclusive models of education.

This book is a guide for ensuring that your school provides the federally guaranteed "least restrictive environment" for students no matter the severity of the challenges they face.

Teachers struggle every day to bring quality instruction to their students. Beset by lists of content standards and accompanying "high-stakes" accountability tests, many educators sense that both teaching and learning have been redirected in ways that are potentially impoverishing for those who teach and those who learn. Educators need a model that acknowledges the centrality of standards but also ensures that students truly understand content and can apply it in meaningful ways. For many educators, Understanding by Design addresses that need. Simultaneously, teachers find it increasingly difficult to ignore the diversity of the learners who populate their classrooms. Few teachers find their work effective or satisfying when they simply "serve up" a curriculum—even an elegant one—to students with no regard for their varied learning needs. For many educators, Differentiated Instruction offers a framework for addressing learner variance as a critical component of instructional planning. In this book the two models converge, providing readers fresh perspectives on two of the greatest contemporary challenges for educators: crafting powerful curriculum in a standards-dominated era and ensuring academic success for the full spectrum of learners. Each model strengthens the other. Understanding by Design is predominantly a curriculum design model that focuses on what we teach. Differentiated Instruction focuses on whom we teach, where we teach, and how we teach. Carol Ann Tomlinson and Jay McTighe show you how to use the principles of backward design and differentiation together to craft lesson plans that will teach essential knowledge and skills for the full spectrum of learners. Connecting content and kids in meaningful ways is what teachers strive to do every day. In tandem, UbD and DI help educators meet that goal by providing structures, tools, and guidance for developing curriculum and instruction that bring to students the best of what we know about effective teaching and learning.

This book provides case studies and resources to help school principals develop skills and knowledge in leading inclusive schools for students with special education needs.

Develop inclusive and equitable school communities where all learners thrive Research has shown that inclusive education results in better academic outcomes for ALL students, not just those identified with disabilities, by promoting self-efficacy, improving social and emotional health, and consistently implementing research-based instructional strategies. Still, many schools rely on deeply ingrained, segregated practices that fail to serve all students. Leading for All is a practical guide that provides a clear pathway for educators to develop a more inclusive school community from start to finish. Authors Jennifer Spencer-Iiams and Josh Flosi share lessons learned from spending nearly a decade building district schools where all students are served in their neighborhood school and in classrooms with their general education peers. Features include: Three focus areas to guide change: Creating Inclusive Cultures, Improving Instructional Practices, and Increasing Student Voice 7 Components of Inclusive and Equitable Learning Communities Supporting resources for promoting inclusion throughout the school day, including co-curricular activities and transportation Stories of real students and teachers and the actions that impacted their success Educators and school leaders want to create inclusive and excellent educational experiences for all students, but they do not always know how to proceed. Leading for All provides a model, stories, strategies, and clear evidence that it can be done effectively.

This book explores the challenges that school administrators face in ethnically diverse contexts. Based on an empirical study, it shows how principals do or do not promote inclusive practices in their schools. This volume is the first of its kind to specifically target school administrators and ethnic diversity. It will be of interest to school administrators, prospective administrators, teachers, graduate students, and academics.