Leading an Inclusive School: Access and Success for ALL Students

Richard A. Villa and Jacqueline S. Thousand provide an in-depth, research-based guide for ensuring that your school provides the federally guaranteed "least restrictive environment" for students no matter the severity of the challenges they face.

Leading an Inclusive School: Access and Success for ALL Students offers administrators, teachers, and other educators working to promote inclusion a wealth of information about

• the history and research base of inclusive education in the United States, including pivotal amendments to and reauthorizations of the EHCA, landmark court cases, and the philosophical underpinnings of the movement;
• essential curricular and instructional practices for inclusive schools, such as heterogeneous grouping, creative problem solving, and co-teaching;
• powerful organizational structures such as Multitiered System of Support and Schoolwide Positive Behavior Supports to help optimize the benefits of differentiation for all students; and
• a conceptual framework for coordinating educational initiatives and best practices for educating all students in general education.

Also included are vivid personal stories of students with disabilities that illustrate how these students flourish when they learn alongside their general education peers.

Educators who are serious about committing to the success of learners at all levels of perceived physical, intellectual, communication, and social/emotional ability will find the examples, advice, and tools in this book indispensable for planning, implementing, and promoting inclusion in their schools.

Richard A. Villa is President of Bayridge Consortium, Inc. His primary field of expertise is the development of administrative and instructional support systems for educating all students within general education settings. Rich is recognized as an educational leader who motivates and works collaboratively with others to implement current and emerging exemplary educational practices. He has been a classroom teacher, special education administrator, pupil personnel services director, and director of instructional services, and has authored 19 books and more than 120 articles and chapters.

Jacqueline S. Thousand is Professor Emerita in the College of Education, Health, and Human Services of California State University San Marcos, where she designed and coordinated the School of Education's special education professional preparation and master's programs. She previously directed the Inclusion Facilitator and Early Childhood/Special Education graduate and postgraduate programs at the University of Vermont, and coordinated federal grants concerned with the inclusion of students with disabilities in local schools. A nationally known teacher, author, systems change consultant, and disability rights and inclusive education advocate, she is the author of numerous books, research articles, and chapters on issues related to inclusive schooling, organizational change strategies, differentiated instruction and universal design, co-teaching and teaming, cooperative group learning, creative problem solving, and positive behavioral supports.