This book is designed to teach preservice and advanced education professionals how to work with others to develop successful inclusive education programs for students with unique learning needs. The content, examples, and related skill-building activities enable readers to develop the essential knowledge, skills, and attitudes needed to serve as leaders in this effort. In addition to successful collaboration, careful consideration has been given to other important issues related to program development such as staffing, instructional planning, ongoing classroom support, and IEP development. Issues addressed at the district, school, and classroom levels. KEY FEATURES: An emphasis on essential program features required for lasting success in inclusive education. Careful consideration of the change process as schools attempt to modify their traditional support service delivery options. Strategies to facilitate school-home teamwork in the development student IEPs based on collaborative service delivery structures. This book is appropriate for educators with a wide variety of professional roles and leadership responsibilities including general educators, special educators, education specialists, administrators, and related services providers such as school psychologists, counselors, speech and language pathologists, occupational and physical therapists, and English-as-Second-Language (ESL), reading, and gifted education specialists. In addition, it is designed for use in staff development efforts and as a personal reference for practicing professionals.

Shortlisted for the NASEN/TES 2007 Book Award Increased partnership between professionals, particularly through the integration of services, indicates a major opportunity for child and parent participation, but one that seems in danger of being side-stepped. Drawing on substantial research evidence, this book looks at reasons for this situation; what is happening now, what developments and initiatives have been tried and what can be done to develop a culture of participation? Some of the main threats to participation are discussed in this book including: Has ‘partnership’ ever been? Who is excluded from 'partnership'? Which discourses have made participation illusive and what are the implications – theoretical and practical - for how we move forward? Partnerships for Inclusive Education includes a helpful framework map which guides critical thinking towards the development of a culture of collaboration and presents original and stimulating ideas to open up the complex processes that can frustrate participative practice. Combining socio-cultural ideas with post-structural thinking gives this book a strong yet accessible theoretical basis, making it a valuable resource to both an academic and a professional educational audience.

Instructional Collaboration in International Inclusive Education Contexts looks at the instructional collaboration between special education and general education in international educational contexts and the role this plays in enabling inclusive education.

As a result of the mandates of the Individual with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEIA), inclusive practices have become the norm for addressing the needs of all learners. In addition, these mandates require that steps must be taken to guarantee that all students are successful in all school settings, regardless of ability. Possibly now more than ever, educators should be experts in building collaborative relationships for inclusive settings. The perceived positive benefits of collaboration among teachers for inclusive settings creates a topic of interest. Research has begun to focus on the study of the deep, or integrated, collaborative relationships between special education and general education teachers and the use of inclusive learning communities to support practice. Building Integrated Collaborative Relationships for Inclusive Learning Settings provides background information on special education law, inclusion, and strategies for integrated collaborative relationships that include the creation of inclusion professional learning communities and a map for intended collaboration. Moreover, the book provides insights and supports professionals concerned with the evolving environment of schools and education and how to best meet the needs of all learners. This book is intended for teachers, special education teachers, counsellors, professionals, and researchers working in the field of education, and inservice and preservice teachers, administrators, teacher educators, practitioners, researchers, academicians, and students looking to improve their understanding on how to build and maintain practices to support inclusive learning settings.

Inclusive Education includes two sections: readings and cases. The readings present approaches for creating inclusive classrooms and schools; their purpose is to give prospective and practicing teachers background information in curricular, instructional, assessment, and collaborative problem-solving strategies that foster inclusive education. The Casebook consists of "An Introduction to Cases" and 14 teaching cases based on actual events as experienced by the case authors that describe in rich detail the experiences of parents, students, and teachers related to inclusive education. Most of the cases pose problems or dilemmas to be resolved--including the struggles of parents seeking inclusive education for their children; students' attempts to succeed in general education classrooms; special educators', principals' and teachers' experiences as they collaborate in moving toward inclusive programs; and teachers' concerns for the future success of their students.

Collaboration 101 for teachers, parents, and school communities Teachers in both general and special education classrooms are being asked to collaborate to give all students access to the general education curriculum. The challenge is that teachers receive very little training in how to collaborate successfully.Collaborate, Communicate, and Differentiate! takes collaboration out of the abstract and applies it to daily tasks such as: Planning and differentiating instruction Communicating with families Assessing students with diverse backgrounds and abilities Co-teaching Coordinating with all staff members