What Every Principal Needs to Know About Special Education
- Margaret J. McLaughlin - University of Maryland, USA
"Contains critical information that administrators need as they navigate special education policies and procedures. Administrators will discover a practical process for not only improving the quality of special education services, but also for transforming the teaching/learning cycle for all students."
—Kim Benton, Executive Director of Federal Programs and Special Populations
Meridian Public Schools, MS
Lead effective special education programs that promote student achievement!
The No Child Left Behind Act and other recent federal mandates have established a new level of accountability for special education programs. Updated to reflect these changes, this practical guide assists principals in developing special education programs that address current standards and students' diverse needs.
The second edition of McLaughlin's bestseller provides a straightforward overview of special education for principals and other administrators. This resource offers insights on how to lead programs for students with special needs and covers basic legal and procedural information. Written by a well-known and respected scholar in special education, this guide includes new information that enables principals to:
- Fulfill requirements of NCLB and the 2004 reauthorization of IDEA, including standards-based individualized education programs
- Ensure that special education students can appropriately access the general curriculum
- Understand standardized testing options and accommodations to comply with federal law
- Support accurate identification and eligibility decisions, including Response to Intervention procedures
- Promote positive behavior and encourage family involvement
Help your students with disabilities reach their full potential through high-quality special education programs and services.
"A practical and useable template for school administrators interested in creating exemplary programs for students with disabilities."
"This guidebook provides a solid foundation in special education for principals. The straightforward text will appeal to all building administrators."
"The book made me think a great deal about the leadership behaviors and content knowledge needed to create school programs that are effective for all children. The author has done a good job of pulling together critical information for principals."
"Contains critical information that administrators need to understand as they navigate through special education policies and procedures. In addition, administrators will discover a practical process for not only improving the quality of special education services, but also for transforming the teaching/learning cycle for all students. The clear explanations and examples contain the research-based ingredients that translate into a recipe for success!"
Two major changes have been made to this Edition. First, all information was updated to reflect changes made to the IDEA in the 2004 reauthorization as well as some regulatory changes made to the No Child Left Behind Act pertaining to students with disabilities. Second, the original 3 sections were renamed and reorganized to be more coherent and to provide a better logic to the presentation of information. For example, the first section is now a more comprehensive treatment of the major legal provisions of the IDEA while Section II now describes how schools must go about implementing the provisions…including specific programs that work. A second major change is that all resources have been expanded and updated and appear throughout the text to provide additional information about legal provisions, good programs or general strategies that are useful for principals.