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Description
Leading a complete school and culture transformation can be a daunting task for administrators; especially, when change agents advocate for inclusive reform within their schools. Leaders must ascertain that an inclusive environment is not a place, a classroom, nor a resource setting; it is acceptance nurtured by supportive and meaningful learning opportunities where all students can thrive. Along with their teaching and school community, they must become capable stakeholders to promote the vision of inclusion, plan a structured approach, and act to make it a reality. It is the principal's responsibility to create buy-in within their staff using data that shows inclusive education yields valuable benefits for students with disabilities and their typically developing peers (Murray-Seegert, 1998; Staub & Peck, 1995; Voeltz & Brennan, 1983; Fisher, Roach, & Frey, 2002,). Findings reveal the insights of fourteen semi-structured interviews with principals of exemplary inclusive settings. Villa and Thousand (2005) delineate five organizational supports to achieve inclusive educational reform: Vision, Skills, Incentives, Resources, and an Action Plan. Through incorporation of these variables, principals were able to develop and sustain successful inclusive environments where both teachers and students were motivated, made capable, and were supported through redefinition and restructuring of systems within the school. Various key details of the five variables for change depict essential components within these systems which include quality professional development, coaching and modeling of co-teaching strategies, collaborative co-planning, teacher leadership, and continuous stakeholder (i.e., teachers, students, support staff, and parents) involvement.
