The School Leader's Guide to Special Education

Special education is often a confusing and expensive consideration of running a school. You have IEPs and BIPs in place, but are they really working? Find a refresher on the key legal rights of students with disabilities, along with methods for designing and implementing IEPs and BIPs that work, approaches to creating effective instruction and assessment practices, and opportunities for inclusion in the general education classroom.

Margaret J. McLaughlin is the Associate Dean for Research and Education and professor in the department of special education at the University of Maryland. She is the author of five books and numerous book chapters and articles on educational reform policy and students with disabilities. Dr. McLaughlin s research focuses on special education policy, including investigation of the impact of education reform on students with disabilities and special education programs. She also directs the doctoral program in special education policy leadership development as well as a doctoral program focused on the use of large-scale data to conduct policy research. Dr. McLaughlin is an expert not only in domestic special education policy and students with disabilities but also in international education policy. She has consulted in the United States and overseas to help develop programs and policies that would include students with disabilities in general education programs. Before coming to Maryland, she was the executive director of the Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr. Foundation. As a teacher, she taught children with emotional disturbance and learning disabilities.

Kristin Ruedel earned her doctorate in special education policy from the University of Maryland in 2008. In her dissertation research, she used the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study (ECLS) dataset to examine predictors of disproportionality in special education. Dr. Ruedel currently serves as the project coordinator for the special education doctoral program focused on the use of large-scale datasets at the University of Maryland, works as a consultant for PowerUp WHAT WORKS, and teaches as an adjunct faculty member for Washington State University. In addition to her domestic work, Dr. Ruedel has worked with several countries as an international consultant to improve the educational opportunities for children with disabilities. Dr. Ruedel has experience as an educational consultant, was a research scientist at the American Institutes for Research, and served as a Peace Corps volunteer teaching students with hearing impairments.