Learning Resources

The learning resources are organized into seven main parts:

Part 1: School Leadership for Students with Disabilities
Part 2: What is Inclusion and Why is it Important?
Part 3: The Principal’s Role in Developing Effective Inclusive Schools
Part 4: Instructional Leadership for Students with Disabilities
Part 5: Facilitating Collaboration
Part 6: Partnering with Parents: Ensuring Successful Outcomes for Students with Disabilities
Part 7: District Support for School Leaders

Part 1: School Leadership for Students with Disabilities.

This part contains an overview of school leadership for students with disabilities and includes information about the current accountability context, leadership standards and ethics and the importance of school leaders for all students.

Part 1 includes handouts accompanying the anchor presentation that instructors and professional development providers can download for use.

Handout 1: Categories of Disabilities
Handout 2: PSEL Crosswalk
Resource 1: PSEL 2015 Standards
Resource 2: PSEL for Students with Disabilities
      Resource 3: PSEL Inclusive Leadership Crosswalk

Part 2: What is Inclusion, Why is it Important?

This part addresses what is meant by inclusion and why it is important. Specifically, it discusses what it means to truly include students with disabilities as a valued part of the school community. Information is provided about including students as part of the academic or learning community of the school, as well as in the social community of the school (that is, in all non-classroom activities in which other students participate).

Part 2 includes handouts accompanying the anchor presentation that instructors and professional development providers can download for use.

Handout 1: What is Inclusion: Discussion
Handout 2: What is Inclusion: High Quality Instruction
Handout 3: References and Follow-up

Part 3: The Principal’s Role in Developing Effective Inclusive Schools. 

This part addresses the principal’s role in developing effective inclusive schools and why it is important. It discusses the critical role that the principal plays as effective inclusive schools are developed. Principals are in a pivotal position to influence all major activities in a school; thus, the many changes that must occur as a school becomes effective and inclusive, and how important the active involvement of the principal is to ensuring that these changes occur will be discussed.

Part 3 includes handouts accompanying the anchor presentation that instructors and professional development providers can download for use.

Handout 1 Developing Inclusive Schools: Teacher Questions
Handout 2 Developing Inclusive Schools: Examining the Principal’s Role
Handout 3 References

Part 4: Instructional Leadership for Students with Disabilities.

This part reviews instructional leadership with an emphasis on supporting the learning of students with disabilities. Specifically, it discusses high expectations for all learners, key dimensions of instructional leadership and the relevance of collective and distributed forms of leadership for students with disabilities.

Part 4 includes handouts accompanying the anchor presentation that instructors and professional development providers can download for use.

Handout 1: Save the Last Word
Handout 2: Sources of Evidence
Handout 3: References

Part 5: Facilitating Collaboration. 

This part discusses principals’ work in facilitating collaboration. Specifically, it addresses the importance of a collaborative culture for student and teacher success; characteristics of collaborative work by school professionals; key leadership practices for principals to promote and sustain collaboration; and major structures that enable teachers and specialists to collaborate in support of inclusive education.

Part 5 includes handouts accompanying the anchor presentation that instructors and professional development providers can download for use.

Handout 1: Defining the Principal’s Role
Handout 2: Who’s Available as Consultants?
Handout 3: References

Part 6: Partnering with Parents: Ensuring Successful Outcomes for Students with Disabilities. 

This part provides information about supporting school leaders’ skills in partnering with parents to increase school achievement for students in special education, which is consistent with the tenets of IDEA and current research. Specifically, it addresses the impact of IDEA on parental rights; benefits of parent/professional partnering; comparison of the traditional family involvement model to the parent/professional partnership model; key professional behaviors that facilitate successful collaborative relationships; and ways parents support student achievement in special education.

Part 6 includes handouts accompanying the anchor presentation that instructors and professional development providers can download for use.

Handout 1: Anticipation Activity: Gauge Your familiarity with Best Practices in Partnering
Handout 2: Activity: Best practices in building school/parent partnerships support student Achievement.
Handout 3: References

Part 7: District Support for School Leaders. 

This part contains an overview of the importance of district leadership and the ways in which learning-focused district support can help school leaders improve instruction for students with disabilities in their schools. The goal of this CEM is to emphasize how supports from district leaders, including local special education administrators (LSEAs), can help principals address academic learning and life outcomes for their students with disabilities.

Part 7 includes handouts accompanying the anchor presentation that instructors and professional development providers can download for use.

Handout 1: References