What’s Your Inclusion Score?
“Never let a good crisis go to waste.”
We are at a turning point right now with provision of special education services. We have an opportunity to make some significant changes or simply watch old routine procedures restored. How will you use YOUR influence? This blog is written for school leaders, especially special education directors, and for anybody else who wants to have an impact on renovating* their systems for students with disabilities.
* Note: I’m using the term “renovating” because we don’t have to change everything to make major improvements. For example, when I renovated my kitchen, I decided which parts to keep, which parts to update, and which parts to totally redo. I even moved a wall to change the overall shape. Why do all that? Not just to make it more visually appealing (and it did). When I renovated my kitchen, I did it to make kitchen activities more efficient -- cooking, browsing for snacks, storing food, socializing, etc. So we could get the most value from my kitchen.
By the way, let’s face it, the renovation process is messy! Sometimes the decisions are difficult to make - especially when we don’t know all the options. And then it’s hard for everybody to get used to the changes — “Where are the cups now?” Eventually, we adjust and we create a new normal that is much improved.
In the same way, we should be strategic when we renovate our special education service delivery system. We don’t need to change everything. Here are the pressing issues to be considered:
+ Teacher retention & turnover
How can we fill our vacancies and make optimal use of all teachers?
How can we improve conditions so teachers will want to stay here?
+ Teacher professional growth
What does strong special educator collaborative practice look like in light of recent legal decisions and new research findings?
What professional development will our teachers need (new & seasoned) and how can we organize and integrate it all into one sequential unified system with expectations for implementation?
How can we offer collaborative learning opportunities for our faculty to grow collective efficacy (faculty meetings, PLCs, team meetings, co-teach planning)?
How can we provide our teachers coaching with encouragement, feedback, and accountability?
+ Student achievement
What are we doing to close the achievement gap between students with disabilities and their same-age peers?
Do teachers believe all students can achieve? Do they use appropriate evidence-based strategies and interventions to support student learning?
+ Social/ emotional/ equitable school climate
What can we do to promote trauma-informed social-emotional conditions across our schools to create safe and equitable learning environments?
How can we begin with creating a safe learning environment for our faculty?
+ Family & Community partnerships
What routine methods can we establish to listen to family and community voices (and use their input for improvement)?
How can we recruit partnerships to strengthen our learners’ network of support?
Of course, the overarching question is the influence of the school leader.
I hope you have been fortunate to experience
the positive impact of an encouraging leader
who set high expectations and provided
collaborative supports to the faculty!
In these schools, teachers feel safe to risk experimenting with new strategies, they self-reflect on adapting approaches to fit individual circumstances, and they build a powerful culture of collective learning.
Unfortunately, many of us have also experienced the stress of working with a demanding leader whose criticisms led to self-protection, finger pointing, and competition. In these schools, teachers may give lip service to professional development, but seldom change their practice.
Lately, I’ve had opportunities to talk with school and district leaders who ponder all these questions. They want to move forward with renovating their special education service delivery systems. They also know that special education does not operate in silos; school improvement must be accomplished as a joint venture of departments at the district level: Special Education, Instruction, Student Services, and Assessment.
