This book is a panoramic view of inclusive education, past, present, and future. Grounded in historical perspective and fueled by contemporary accomplishments, the insightful discussions in this volume cover a wide range of issues, from program implementation and classroom supports to court decisions and financing. The authors compare successes and setbacks from schools and studies nationwide, drawing the big picture of practice and research. Complementing their highly informed, balanced analysis of special education and inclusion programs are highlights of the results from a revealing national study of inclusive education. Emphasizing the need for the concurrent development of inclusion and school restructuring, this book gives policy makers, administrators, school board members, teachers and parents a solid understanding of the process of school reform, as well as a vision for the 21st century. - Back cover.

This ground-breaking book considers current perspective on educational reform in the Asia-Pacific regions with a focus on a new era of special education, particularly as this relates to the educational reform towards inclusive education.

This comprehensive book is grounded in the authentic experiences of educators who have done, and continue to do, the messy everyday work of transformative school reform. The work of these contributors, in conjunction with research done under the aegis of the National Institute of Urban School Improvement (NIUSI), demonstrates how schools and classrooms can move from a deficit model to a culturally responsive model that works for all learners. To strengthen relationships between research and practice, chapters are coauthored by a practitioner/researcher team and include a case study of an authentic urban reform situation. This volume will help practitioners, reformers, and researchers make use of emerging knowledge and culturally responsive pedagogy to implement reforms that are more congruent with the strengths and needs of urban education contexts. Contributors: Sue Abplanalp, Cynthia Alexander, Alfredo J. Artiles, David R. Garcia, Dorothy F. Garrison-Wade, JoEtta Gonzales, Taucia Gonzalez, Cristina Santamaría Graff, Donna Hart-Tervalon, Jack C. Jorgensen, Elaine Mulligan, Sheryl Petty, Samantha Paredes Scribner, Amanda L. Sullivan, Anne Smith, Sandra L. Vazquez,Shelley Zion “If you truly care about the serious, research-based pursuit of equity and inclusivity in urban schools, you must read this book. Using researcher-practitioner co-author teams and a case study of national urban reform, Kozleski, King Thorius, and their chapter team authors show how to go successfully to scale with systemic reform.” —James Joseph Scheurich, Professor, Indiana University School of Education, Indianapolis Elizabeth B. Kozleski chairs the Special Education program at the University of Kansas. She received the TED-Merrill award for her leadership in special education teacher education in 2011. Kathleen King Thorius is an assistant professor of urban special education in Indiana University’s School of Education at IUPUI. She is principal investigator for the Great Lakes Equity Center, a Regional Equity Assistance Center funded by the U. S. Department of Education.

The Irregular School explores the foundations of the current controversies and argues that continuing to think in terms of the regular school or the special school obstructs progress towards inclusive education.

Thoroughly revised throughout, this bestselling book returns in a new edition to take an even more comprehensive look at the question: How can teachers and schools create genuinely inclusive classrooms that meet the needs of every student? Inclusive Education for the 21st Century provides a rigorous overview of the foundational principles of inclusive education and the barriers to access and participation. It explores evidence-based strategies to support diverse learners, including specific changes in curriculum, pedagogy and assessment practices, and the use of data. It addresses the needs of children with physical, sensory and intellectual disabilities, as well as those with complex learning profiles, including mental health issues. This second edition is rich with new content, including six new chapters which address learning from international experience, multi-tiered systems of support, leading inclusive education reform, the importance of language and supporting friendships. A new section has been added to provide explicit support for implementing systemic inclusive education reform from the policy level right through to classroom practice. A new series of podcasts, featuring interviews with expert chapter authors, offers an engaging complement to the chapter topics and content. With many schools still operating under twentieth-century models that disadvantage students, this book presents the deep knowledge, tools and strategies to better equip pre- and in-service teachers and leaders to make inclusive education a reality in all schools.

This book, The Challenges of School Reform: Impact, Implementation, and Sustainability, explores why reforms todate have failed to live up to expectations, and it discusses promising practices and strategies for sustaining increased student achievement. This work expands on the ideas and themes discussed in the first two volumes in this series on education policy: The first book-Talented Teachers: The Essential Force for Improving Student Achievement-examines the importance of teacher quality. Years of research have repeatedly confirmed what we inferred to be true-outside of the home environment, the quality of a student's teacher has the strongest impact on learning. After talented teachers were found to be a powerful component for bettering education, the second book-Improving Student Achievement: Reforms that Work-introduces reform ideas and programs that positively impact both teacher quality and student work. Now, The Challenges of School Reform: Implementation, Impact, and Sustainability deepens these discussions by exploring the answers to questions regarding ensuring the longevity and sustained success of effective school reform.