Principal Leadership in Inclusive and Effective Schools

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Principal Leadership in Inclusive andEffective
Schools

• Chriss Walther-Thomas, Ph.D.
• Professor and Chair
• KU Special Education Department
• chrisswt_at_ku.edu
• 785-864-0545

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Session Objectives

• Participants will consider ways in which
  effective principals develop effective special
  education programs.

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Reynolds and Birch (1977)

• The whole history of education for exceptional
  children can be told in terms of one steady trend
  that can be described as progressive inclusion
  (p. 22).

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Special Education Facts

• About 6 million students receive special
  education services 9.1 of the total school-age
  population.
• Almost all students with disabilities (96) are
  educated in regular schools.
• USDOE 2007

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• More than 8 in 10 general educators have special
  education students in their classes.
• Half of all students with disabilities (49.9
  percent) spend most of their time in general ed.
  classrooms.
• 90 spend some time in these settings.

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• Almost 34 drop out before graduating.
• Secondary students with emotional disturbance are
  more likely to be male, black and live in
  poverty.
• More than half of all students with disabilities
  graduate with regular high school diplomas.
• Every year more go on to college.

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Minority Misrepresentation
SOURCE Education Week analysis of U.S.
Department of Education, Office of Special
Education Programs, Individuals with Disabilities
Education Act Data, 2002-03
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• Approximately 50 of all new teachers leave the
  field within five years.
• Almost half of all special educators leave or
  transfer to gen education within three years.
• Principals are leaving at a faster rate than new
  ones are being hired.

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Teacher Employment and Turnover 1987-2000
National Commission on Teaching and Americas
Future NCTAF, 2003
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Cumulative BeginningTeacher Attrition
National Commission on Teaching and Americas
Future NCTAF, 2003
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NCLB- IDEA Challenges

• High Performance Expectations for All
• Early-Career Teacher Attrition
• Lack of Emerging Leaders
• Complex and Diverse Learning Needs
• Increasing Personnel Shortages
• High Need Area Teacher Qualifications

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Leadership for Special Education

• School leadership is the most critical factor in
  the successor failureof inclusive special
  education.
• DiPaolo, Tschannen-Moran,
• Walther-Thomas, 2003

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Principals Role in Facilitating School Progress

• Champion Core Values
• Ensure Evidence-based Practices and Continuous
  Progress Monitoring
• Share a Common Visionand A Plan
• Build and Enhance Networks at All Levels
• Use Collaborative Decision Making and Shared
  Leadership
• Respect, Protect, and Promote Quality Work
• Emphasize Mentoring Faculty Development

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• SIX Ways Principals
• Ensure Effective Special Education

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1 Create Conditions for Effective Special
Education

• Communicate special education is a servicenot a
  place
• Good general education instruction may not be
  enough
• Use Multi-tiered Systems of Support (MTSS)

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Conditions

• Implement School-wide Positive Behavior Support
• Ensure flexible and collaborative learning
  environments
• Multiple ways for teacher collaboration
• Ongoing professional development
• Shared responsibility and accountability

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Shifts in Thinking How Schools Respond
(Dan Reschly, 2004)
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Kansas Multi-Tiered System of Support (MTSS)

• Student centered planning
• Customized function-based interventions
• Frequent progress monitoring to guide
  intervention design

Academics
Behavior

• More intense supplemental targeted skill
  interventions
• Customized interventions
• Frequent progress monitoring to guide
  intervention design

• Supplemental targeted skill interventions
• Small groups
• Frequent progress monitoring to guide
  intervention design

• Supplemental targeted function-based
  interventions
• Small groups or individual support
• Frequent progress monitoring to guide
  intervention design

• All students, All settings
• Positive behavioral expectations
• explicitly taught and reinforced
• Consistent approach to discipline
• Assessment system and data-based decision making

• All students
• Evidence-based core curriculum instruction
• Assessment system and data-based decision making

KSDE - July 2007 Draft
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• 2 Develop Effective
• Roles Responsibilities
• Distribute Leadership
• Build Strong Teams
• Create Manageable Caseloads
• Balance Classroom Rosters

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3 Facilitate GENUINE Collaboration

• Ensure Collaborators Have Skills They Need
• Problem Solving
• Evidence-based Instructional Skills
• Co-teaching
• Consultation
• Provide Scheduled Common Planning Time

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4 Ensure Meaningful IEPs

• Provide Engaged Admin. Leadership
• Ensure NCLB and IDEA Alignment
• Promote Cutting-edge Thinking
• Monitor Child and Team Progress

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Standards Driven IEP Framework
Postsecondary Goals
?Education ? Employment ? Independent Living
Content Standards
Local Curriculum
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Education Related Settings
Community Based Instruction (Store, Bank,
Library, Public Transportation, etc.)
The IEP
Extra Curricular Activities
Non Academic Settings
School sponsored activities such as Clubs,
Sports teams and events, Dances, Plays, Concerts,
etc.
Playground, School Cafeteria, School Bus,
Assembly, Job Site, etc.
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(No Transcript)
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5 Support Novice Teachers

• Ensure Ongoing
• Needed Classroom Resources
• Professional Development
• Moral Support
• Engage Effective Mentors
• Monitor Progress

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6 Be Their Schools Best Special Education
Advocate

• Serve as a model and a mentorhelp colleagues
  develop their potential and take responsibility
  for their own development
• Attend to each individuals needs for growth and
  achievement

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Leaderships Example

• Develop learning opportunities within a
  supportive climate
• Recognize and accept individual differences in
  needs and values
• Model effective two-way communication

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Building-Level Leadership Challenges

• Creating Clock-Building Commitment
• Preserving Core Values WHILE Stimulating Progress

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Team ThinkingTime Telling vs. Clock Building

• Great Ideas
• Charismatic Leaders
• Innovative Thinking
• Product Emphasis

• Openness to New Ideas
• Visionary Organization
• Cult-like Commitment
• Process Emphasis

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Clock-building Organizations
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Creating Cult-like Commitment to the Core

• Provide Distributive and Principled Leadership
• Ensure Quality Education for All
• Model Mutual Trust and Ongoing Collaboration
• Show Respect for All
• Provide Exemplary Professional Preparation
• Quality Outcomes for Students and Families

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• Change is a process, not an event.
• Gene Hall, 1977

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QUESTIONS
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NCLB-IDEA Resources

• USDOE Office of Special Education
• http//www.osepideasthatwork.org/toolkit/index.asp
  
• KU Department of Special Education
• http//soe.ku.edu/sped/

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More Resources..

• NCLB Access Center
• http//www.k8accesscenter.org/index.php
• KSDE Resources
• http//www.kansped.org/ksde/resources/resources.ht
  ml

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More Resources

• KSDE MTSS
• http//www.kansped.org/ksde/advisory/MTSS
• The IRIS Center
• http//iris.peabody.vanderbilt.edu/index.html