School Leadership for Students With Disabilities Project #H325A Course Enhancement Module Anchor Presentation #3

Provides Instructional Leadership Facilitates Inclusive Culture (2 parts) Facilitates Collaboration Involves Parents & Community Academic & Life Outcomes School Leadership District Leadership

The Principal’s Role in Developing Effective Inclusive Schools

A Beginning Thought... Salisbury (2006) investigated the role of the principal in developing eight effective inclusive elementary schools and concluded that “schools that function inclusively do so for a reason... principals in these schools were the reason” (p. 79).

Organizing Questions What types of changes are needed to develop an effective inclusive school? What can be learned from teacher beliefs about inclusive schools? What types of principal leadership relate to improving student outcomes? How do these areas of principal leadership relate to the development of effective inclusive schools?

School Change & Effective Inclusive Schools Major changes are required to develop an effective and inclusive school. Some schools may be inclusive but are not effective. Other schools may be effective for many students but not for students with disabilities or others who struggle to learn academic content. Are there any schools that do not need to become more effective? More inclusive?

School Change & Effective Inclusive Schools To meet the needs of all students, the most substantial changes must occur in classrooms. These changes relate to the curriculum, instructional practices, teacher roles, classroom organization for delivering instruction, and teacher beliefs. When inclusion is initially proposed, teachers are often justifiably concerned and anxious about these changes. Why does this occur?

Teacher Concerns Regarding School Change Why are teachers anxious about school change? A major reason is that we all have difficulty with change. All change involves loss, anxiety, and struggle. Research on teacher beliefs and attitudes concerning inclusion provides insight into this issue—teacher concerns about these programs in particular.

Teacher Concerns & Inclusion Research on teacher beliefs and attitudes related to inclusion reveals that most teachers support the concept of inclusion and find it a desirable practice. However, major concerns are raised regarding how inclusion is implemented, how teachers will be supported, how well they can do their jobs, and how school change will influence their students.

Teacher Concerns & Inclusion Extensive research related to teacher beliefs and attitudes toward inclusion has revealed that teachers consistently ask several questions about their roles and how inclusion will impact students.

Discussion: Teacher Concerns In pairs or small groups, consider each of the questions that follow (or see Handout 1) and respond to the questions below: o Why do teachers raise each of these questions? o Are these reasonable questions for teachers to ask? o Are teachers justified in expecting answers to these questions as effective inclusive schools are being developed?

Discussion: Teacher Concerns Questions teachers have about their role include: o Will I (the teacher) have sufficient time to teach all students? o Do I have sufficient knowledge and skills to teach all students in my class? o Will sufficient high-quality professional development (PD) be available to prepare me for teaching in an inclusive classroom? o Will I have sufficient time, materials, and classroom support to be successful? o Will I have sufficient time to collaborate with other professionals as I address student needs?

Discussion: Teacher Concerns Questions teachers have about students: o Will students with disabilities benefit? o Will students who do not have disabilities benefit? o Will students with disabilities have a negative impact on the classroom environment (e.g., disruptive or teacher time required for instruction).

Discussion: Teacher Concerns Debrief regarding group responses to each teacher question: o Why do teachers raise each of these questions? o Are these reasonable questions for teachers to ask? o Are teachers justified in expecting answers to these questions as effective inclusive schools are being developed?

Discussion: Teacher Concerns A final question to ponder: o When teachers ask questions such as these, they are often characterized as resistant to developing inclusive programs. Do these questions reflect resistance? Why or why not? How does the following comment from Fullan relate to this discussion? Problems are our friends.

The Principal’s Role in Developing Effective Inclusive Schools Research has shown that several core principal practices underlie successful leadership and produce improved student outcome. These practices are: o Setting direction. o Developing people. o Redesigning the organization. o Managing the instructional program.

The Principal’s Role in Developing Effective Inclusive Schools Setting Direction: o Building a shared vision. o Fostering acceptance of group goals. o Creating high-performance expectations. o Communicating the direction.

The Principal’s Role in Developing Effective Inclusive Schools Developing people: o Providing individualized teacher support. o Offering intellectual stimulation. o Modeling appropriate values and practices.

The Principal’s Role in Developing Effective Inclusive Schools Redesigning the organization: o Building collaborative cultures. o Restructuring the organization to support collaboration. o Connecting the school to the wider community. o Building productive relationships with families and communities.

The Principal’s Role in Developing Effective Inclusive Schools Managing the instructional program: o Staffing the program. o Providing instructional support. o Monitoring school activity. o Aligning resources. o Buffering staff from distractions to their work.

Examining the Principal’s Role in Developing Effective Inclusive Schools Examine a case study of an effective inclusive school (McLeskey, Waldron, & Redd, 2014). In groups of three to four, identify practices that were critical for the development and support of this effective inclusive school.

Examining the Principal’s Role in Developing Effective Inclusive Schools How do these practices align with: o Setting direction. o Developing people. o Redesigning the organization. o Managing the instructional program.

Examining the Principal’s Role in Developing Effective Inclusive Schools Discussion: o Which of these practices seemed most important for developing an effective inclusive school? Why? o Were there practices that did not align with the four core leadership practices? o What did you learn about developing effective inclusive schools from this activity?

Examining the Principal’s Role in Developing Effective Inclusive Schools Research has shown that principals in effective inclusive schools provide leadership and address school change in much the same ways as any other school change. However, several case studies have shown that there are three principal practices that are must-haves related to the development of these programs.

Research on the Principal’s Role and Effective Inclusive Schools Setting direction: o Principals had a commitment to core values. o These values related to including and valuing all students as part of the school community and improving the achievement of all students, including those with disabilities. o Principals were adamant and uncompromising regarding these values. o Principals developed trusting, supportive relationships with teachers to ensure support for these values.

Research on the Principal’s Role and Effective Inclusive Schools Developing people: o Teachers felt they lacked skills to teach all students. o Principals worked with staff to develop a school-based system of PD. o Learner-centered PD was provided to teachers tailored to their individual needs. o Principals developed experts in their building to provide support and coaching to other teachers.

Research on the Principal’s Role and Effective Inclusive Schools Managing the instructional program o Data provided by the state and local district were insufficient (i.e., not timely or useful for guiding instructional decision making). o Developed a school-based data system to guide instructional decision making. o Teachers participated in developing the data system. o Teachers felt the data were: directly related to the content they were teaching. useful for instructional decision making.

Concluding Thoughts... Developing effective inclusive schools requires major changes in schools and classrooms. These changes will not occur without principal support. Planning time is needed before implementing these changes to ensure teacher input, buy-in, and support and to provide time for prepare teachers with the skills they will need to support the new program. To sustain these programs over time, ongoing evaluation and adjustment is required to meet changing needs of students and teachers.

References Fullan, M. (2007). The new meaning of educational change (4th ed.). New York, NY: Teachers College Press. Hehir, T., & Katzman, L. (2012). Effective inclusive schools: Designing successful schoolwide programs. Hoboken, NJ: Jossey-Bass. Hoppey, D., & McLeskey, J. (2013). A case study of principal leadership in an effective inclusive school. The Journal of Special Education, 46, Louis, K., Leithwood, K., Wahlstrom, K., & Anderson, S. (2010). Investigating the links to improved student learning: Final report of research findings. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota. McLeskey, J., Rosenberg, M., & Westling, D. (2013). Inclusion: Effective practices for all students. Boston, MA: Pearson Education.

References McLeskey, J., & Waldron, N. (2006). Comprehensive school reform and inclusive schools: Improving schools for all students. Theory into Practice, 45(3), McLeskey, J., & Waldron, N. (2015). Effective leadership can make schools truly inclusive. Phi Delta Kappan, 96(5), McLeskey, J., Waldron, N., & Redd, L. (2014). A case study of a highly effective, inclusive elementary school. The Journal of Special Education, 48(1), Salisbury, C. (2006). Principals’ perspectives on inclusive elementary schools. Research & Practice for Persons with Severe Disabilities, 31(1), Waldron, N., McLeskey, J., & Redd, L. (2011). Setting the direction: The role of the principal in developing an effective, inclusive school. Journal of Special Education Leadership, 24,