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Meeting the Needs of Students of ALL Abilities
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Meeting the Needs of Students of ALL Abilities
How Leaders Go Beyond Inclusion

Second Edition


November 2008 | 192 pages | Corwin

"Provides a clear road map for everyone interested in changing schools to be responsive to ALL students. School personnel, school boards, and individual educators will be challenged to think courageously about how schools should operate for every student who comes through the classroom door."
—Darin Drill, Executive Director of Secondary Programs
North Clackamas School District, Milwaukie, OR

"Offers specific strategies for creating environments where children can work together and learn from each other regardless of their abilities."
—Cathleen J. Chamberlain, Assistant Superintendent
Oswego City School District, NY

Promote high achievement for all students through equitable, integrated school services!

This step-by-step handbook provides the foundation for school leaders who want to shift from costly special learning programs for a few learners to excellent, inclusive educational services for all students, including English language learners and those with special needs such as learning disabilities and disadvantaged backgrounds.

This useful guide covers school policies, reform, and restructuring, and demonstrates how to establish standards for physical and emotional safety, student behavior, and quality instruction and learning. Based on current research, this second edition places a greater emphasis on social justice and standards, offers a new equity audit questionnaire, and includes examples of success from schools that have used the book to implement change. Readers will find practical strategies, reproducible handouts, and self-assessments for:

  • Transitioning schools from separate programs to inclusive services
  • Establishing broad standards as prerequisites for student success
  • Understanding legal and financial considerations for meeting student needs
  • Preparing for the process of change

Meeting the Needs of Students of ALL Abilities provides a realistic portrayal of how leaders can create and sustain excellent, integrated, socially just schools, and ensure success for all.


 
List of Handouts
 
Preface to the Second Edition
 
Acknowledgments
 
About the Authors
 
Introduction
 
Part I. Shift From Programs to Services
 
1. Setting the Stage: The Social and Legal Impetus for Services Rather Than Programs in Integrated, Socially Just Schools
 
2. Shifting From Programs to Services: Where to Begin?
First Stage: Ask Necessary Questions

 
Second Stage: Establish a School Service Delivery Team to Initiate Change

 
Third Stage: Shift Personnel Roles to Meet Student Needs

 
 
3. Leading for Social Justice at the School and District Levels
Primary Leadership Characteristic: Inclusive Social Justice and Equity Are the Leader's Core Identity

 
Leading for Social Justice at the District Level

 
Traditional Roles of Central Office Administrators Impede Change

 
Transforming From Centralized Leaders to Social Justice Leaders

 
 
Part II. Establish Standards for Integrated, Socially Just Schools and Districts
 
4. Standards for Physical and Emotional Safety: Prerequisites for Student Success
Standard 1: Make Physical and Emotional Safety Central to All Aspects of the School

 
Standard 2: Establish a Culture of Inclusivity and Visibility

 
Standard 3: Take Harassment Seriously

 
Standard 4: Cocreate Antiharassment Policy and Strategies

 
Standard 5: Integrate Antiharassment Into the Curriculum

 
Examples of an Antiharassment Policy in Practice

 
 
5. Standards for Student Behavior
Standard 1: Be Conscious of How We Label Students; Student Behavior Is Relative

 
Standard 2: Hold High Expectations for Student Behavior in a Context of Care

 
Standard 3: Develop and Consistently Implement Schoolwide Discipline Policies That Have Individually Designed Consequences and Positive Incentives

 
Standard 4: Provide Early Intervention

 
Standard 5: Involve Students in All Aspects of Intervention

 
Standard 6: All Staff Must Understand That All Behavior Is an Attempt to Communicate

 
Standard 7: All Staff Must Have Similar Expectations and Strategies for Student Behavior

 
Standard 8: View Teaching and Learning Appropriate Behaviors as a Long-Term Process

 
Standard 9: Staff Must Use Proactive Strategies for Students Who Need More Intense Support

 
 
6. Quality Instruction and Assessment: The Foundation for Integrated, Socially Just Schools
Strategy 1: Focus on Instruction: Ensure That ALL Students Have Access to Quality Teaching

 
Strategy 2: Get It Right the First Time: Interventions and Programs Are Not the Answer

 
Strategy 3: Develop Teacher Capacity/Hiring

 
Strategy 4: All Teachers Are Experts and Shall Teach All Kids, No Magic in Student Services

 
Strategy 5: Reduce Student-to-Teacher Ratios and Class Size

 
Strategy 6: Configure Class Grouping to Meet Student Needs Without Labeling

 
Strategy 7: Make Early Literacy a Priority

 
Strategy 8: Provide Early Intervention and Prevention Without Labeling

 
Strategy 9: Make Curriculum Accommodations but Not as a Substitute for Skillful Teaching

 
Strategy 10: Use Teaching Assistants With Caution

 
Strategy 11: Begin With the End in Mind

 
Frequently Assess to Measure Student Progress and to Inform Instruction

 
Dos and Don'ts When Addressing High-Quality Instruction

 
 
Part III. Leverage Law, Funding, and Student Differences Toward Critical Transformative Change
 
7. Leveraging the Law and Funding Toward Integrated, Socially Just Schools
How Educators Can Use the Law to Leverage an Integrated, Socially Just Education

 
Reallocating Resources for Integrated, Socially Just Schools

 
 
8. Toward Integrated, Socially Just Schools: A Framework for Change
Determining the Locus of Control

 
A Dual Approach to Change

 
One Framework for Equity and Social Justice Change

 
 
Resource A: Equity Audit Data Collection and Analysis
 
Resource B: Reference Material for Service Delivery Teams
 
Resource C: Malcolm Shabazz City High School
 
References
 
Index

"A timely and friendly read with useful surveys, self-evaluations, and stories. The book brings together current trends and educational issues, including Response to Intervention, bullying, professional learning communities, the planning and change process, and the school’s responsibility in providing for at-risk students."

Pat Rhodes, Principal
Bryan Elementary School, Omaha, NE

"This book provides a clear road map for everyone who is interested in changing schools to be responsive to ALL students. School personnel, school boards, and individual educators will be challenged to think courageously about how schools should operate for every student who comes through the classroom door."

Darin Drill, Executive Director of Secondary Programs
North Clackamas School District, Milwaukie, OR

"Offers specific strategies for creating environments where children can work together and learn from each other regardless of their abilities."

Cathleen J. Chamberlain, Assistant Superintendent
Oswego City School District, NY

"Brings a creative, well-researched perspective to schools that is inclusive in exciting ways. I strongly recommend it for use in graduate courses in educational administration and to administrators who want to put their caring and commitment into effective action."

Ruth Harper, Professor
South Dakota State University

For instructors

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Paperback
ISBN: 9781412966955
$41.95