This qualitative study examined aspects of the inclusive program in an elementary school in a rural section of the upper Midwest of the United States. This article describes a university and elementary school research partnership to study collaboration among the general education teachers and the special education staff (teachers and assistants)…

The content mastery center (CMC) model is responsive to the federal requirements of providing access to the general education curriculum for students with disabilities and allowing special education teachers to meet the highly qualified requirement by providing consultation and support services in the content areas. The CMC model has been…

As a result of No Child Left Behind (NCLB) legislation and the reauthorization of Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) 2004, Response to Intervention (RTI) is now a mandated process for documenting the existence or nonexistence of a learning disability. For educators new to the RTI approach, this text presents an overview of key…

Authentic assessment is a growing alternative to conventional testing. This research-to-practice article describes a framework for implementing authentic assessment. The R-E-A-L framework shows how roles, equipment, assessment tools, and location can be incorporated into early childhood practices.

This study sought to evaluate the implementation of a program to foster the inclusion of differently abled students into a regular elementary school classroom. The report is based on interviews with eight regular and two special education teachers, as well as the school principal, along with classroom materials and information on inclusion…

This paper describes the development of an inclusive special education program in 12 elementary schools in an urban Colorado school district. Specifically, the study examined the role of leadership in program implementation. Leadership is defined as a reciprocal, multidirectional, noncoercive influence that involves multiple leaders and followers…

This guide looks at implementation of principles of inclusive schools from the perspectives of parents, teachers, district and school administrators, and policymakers and is based on data from interviews, surveys, and focus groups. Each perspective is represented in a different chapter of the report, with implications or recommendations for the…

This article describes changes experienced by a multidisciplinary team of the Center for Learning Disabilities in Tirat Carmel, Israel, in the wake of the enactment of the country's Special Education Law. Over the course of several years, the team working at the Center was able to adapt to the changes, while preserving the professional level of…

School administrators must provide leadership in implementing inclusive education by taking ownership of inclusive programs; becoming informed; and promoting open communication between parents, teachers, and board members. Strategies for implementing inclusive programs must consider roles of general- and special-education teachers, administrators,…

Building upon a historical discussion of general and special education reform, this book gives suggestions on how to optimize learning for a diversity of students. The chapters in the book are: (1) "Practices in General Education: Past and Present" (Jennifer J. Coots, and others); (2) "Services for Students with Disabilities: Past…

This summary of the 1996 Schonell Memorial Lecture addresses four major topics related to the education of students with disabilities in general education classrooms with support, including characteristics of inclusive education, key lessons learned about inclusive education, tools to facilitate inclusion, and the impact of inclusion on students…

This guide for inclusion facilitators was developed as part of New Hampshire's Inclusion Facilitators Support Network, created as an activity of the New Hampshire Statewide Systems Change Project. The Network provides a forum for Inclusion Facilitators to meet, share ideas and strategies, and discuss the latest innovations in inclusive education.…

Webster University (Missouri), an independent, liberal arts university, developed a teacher preparation program on both the graduate and undergraduate levels in inclusive education aimed at preservice and practicing teachers and covering early childhood to secondary education. Several models emerged in the teacher preparation program. The unified…

This study examined actual implementation of inclusion as part of a district and university restructuring initiative. Participant observation and interviews did not find any movement of special education students to general education despite use of the term "inclusion." Two themes were seen to explain this failure to understand and implement…

New York City's SuperStart Plus and Kindergarten Plus programs provide a developmentally appropriate learning environment that encourages both general- and special-education children's language, cognitive, social, emotional, and physical development. Teachers integrate multicultural and English-as-a-Second-Language strategies into their teaching.…