The international debate on colonisation is gaining momentum, primarily in the Americas, Africa and Australasia. Recent incidents in South Africa, such as the Fallist movement and the protest over rules on black girls' hair at certain schools, have sparked renewed debates on (de-)colonisation in the education system. It has become critical that…

The national center on Schoolwide Integrated Framework for Transformation (SWIFT Center) is now approaching the halfway point in its first full year of providing intensive technical assistance (TA) to 68 schools in 20 local educational agencies across five states. The purpose of this brief is to provide a thumbnail sketch of how this TA process…

It is of great importance to maximize access to general education for all students with disabilities. This article focuses on how leaders create inclusive schools for all students--inclusive school reform. Inclusive school reform can result in all students with disabilities being placed into general education settings (including students with…

Special education reform has targeted placement of children with disabilities. Terms such as "mainstreaming,""least restrictive environment," and "full inclusion" describe various reform stages. This article briefly reviews the history of special education reform, discusses current ideas related to best practice, and…

With research suggesting increased (or no difference in) academic performance and reduced behavior problems for students in cotaught classrooms, it seems that coteaching is one logical solution to the classroom space problem. In this article, the authors define "coteaching" as two or more professionals delivering substantive instruction to a…

This response to EC 604 968 seeks to provide a broader perspective to discussion of the least restrictive environment and contemporary practices and to link the ethics and practices of collaborative processes in special education to the issues and strategies for facilitating school reform in general. (JDD)

This collection of papers offers advice on restructuring education to create heterogeneous schools, with the goal of creating happy, comfortable, and successful learning environments for all the children and adults who learn and teach in them. Section I, titled "A Rationale for Restructuring and the Change Process," contains the following papers:…

This report documents the collaborative efforts of faculty and students in the School of Education at Virginia Commonwealth University to revise the regular program for elementary teachers so that teachers will be adequately prepared to meet the demands of mainstreaming. This two-year effort focused on developing skills in providing relevant…

This paper argues that present service delivery models for Chapter 1 students have questionable effectiveness and calls for collaborative consultation between teachers of Chapter 1 and regular programs to better serve this population of at-risk students. This system change requires defining collaborative consultation, developing a collaborative…

This paper argues that in the pursuit of influencing inclusive education development, definitions of inclusion have been promulgated that remain a distant concept in the minds of the most significant partners in this process, i.e. teachers and schools. This is despite best efforts to share ideas for sustainable change based on such definitions.…

This qualitative study of teachers'"sensemaking" about changing professional relationships and inclusive education involved interviews and observations of three teachers over the course of a school year. The teachers, one each from regular and special education and a "collaborating teacher," were employed in an urban upper elementary school in the…

This guide was developed to help people meet the challenge of developing early childhood programs that are inclusive of all children, regardless of disability. The manual was written in the spirit of a quilting book, in its recognition of the importance of the quiltmaker's (and the program developer's) own adaptations, creativity, and inspiration.…

This final report of the School Building Models for Educating Children with Disabilities in the Regular Education Environment project provides a conceptual framework and describes the problem solving-planning process which links school-wide collaboration, individual professional development, and inclusionary practices with shared responsibility…

This paper presents ideas on restructuring teacher education in the field of special education and the ensuring implications for training personnel. The reform of the American education system requires the simultaneous reform of the teacher education system. The different procedural standards, methodologies, and certification tracks used by each…

Addressing both processes and outcomes, this book provides a framework for developing inclusive high schools, illustrated by detailed accounts of high schools that have struggled, strategized, and ultimately achieved success. Themes discussed include building crucial school-based relationships, developing support strategies, communicating…