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Welcome: Have a Seat Towards the Front

Margaret Cage, Ed.D, OSE Director

Ria Gill, EA Curriculum Specialist

Leadership in Special Education: Supporting an Inclusive Environment for Students with Disabilities

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Thursday, February 29, 2024

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Leadership in Special Education: Supporting an Inclusive Environment for Students with Disabilities

Margaret Cage, Ed.D, OSE Director

Ria Gill, EA Curriculum Specialist

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Investing for tomorrow, delivering today.

Thursday, February 29, 2024

Presentation for …

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Meet Your Presenters: Dr. Margaret Cage

Margaret Cage, Ed.D.

Director of the Office of Special Education (OSE)

  • Twenty-five years experience as a certified special education teacher, instructional leader and administrator.
  • Originally from Louisiana.
  • Married with three grown children and one grandson.
  • Loves to cook

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Meet Your Presenters: Ria Gill

Ria Gill

EA Curriculum Specialist for the Office of Special Education (OSE)

  • Twenty years experience as a certified special education teacher, instructional leader, and administrator.
  • Originally from Colorado.
  • Married with three grown children.
  • Loves to bake, cook, garden, golf, hike, ride Peloton, and walk dogs.

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Office of Special Education (OSE) Mission

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All students with disabilities (SWDs) are engaged in high-quality curriculum and instruction within an inclusive educational environment with opportunities which are culturally and linguistically responsive, leading to deep learning and preparation for college, career, and community readiness.

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Why Is This Training Important?

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  • To foster collaboration between the Office of Special Education (OSE) and special education directors/educators.
  • To clearly articulate and share the vision of the Office of Special Education (OSE).
  • To reinforce the importance of culture and how leaders influence inclusivity for all students, including those with disabilities.
  • To provide an opportunity to interact with special education directors throughout the state.

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Icebreaker: Inclusivity Flower

  1. At your table, get into teams of six people.
  2. Each person will take a sheet of paper from the table, along with a pen, and write their name on the paper.
  3. Write your name and a trait you possess on one of the petals of your paper.
  4. After you have written your trait on the petal, go to each person on the team and have them write their name and a trait they possess on the petals of your paper.
  5. After you have completed your flower, go to a person at another table, and share it.
  6. You have ten minutes to complete this exercise.

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Icebreaker: Inclusivity Flower Reflections

  • What are your reflections on inclusivity after doing this exercise?
  • Take two minutes to discuss within your table groups.
  • Be prepared to potentially share out with the entire room.

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Inclusion Improves Outcomes

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In the United States, students with disabilities (SWDs) are more likely to be chronically absent and also receive exclusionary discipline such as out-of-school suspensions (OSSs) and expulsions at higher rates. SWDs are about 1.4 to 1.5 times as likely to be chronically absent as their general education peers (GENs; U.S. Department of Education, 2016). Moreover, in 2015 to 2016, SWDs made up about 12% of the student population, but 26% of students receiving one or more OSS, and 24% of students expelled (U.S. Department of Education, 2018b).

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Implementing Positive Behaviors and Supports

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To fully access and participate in the learning environment, all children should know the school- and program-wide behavioral expectations required to be successful, have opportunities to practice meeting those expectations, and receive support for and reinforcement of those behaviors by skilled adults trained in evidence-based practices.

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Chronic Exclusion

Chronic exclusion, repeated exclusion creates irreversible trauma.

- Tiffany Yu, Asian-American Disability Activist

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Turn and Talk

  • What benign and/or negative impacts have you seen as a result of chronic exclusion?
  • Take two minutes to discuss within your table groups.
  • Be prepared to potentially share out with the entire room.

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What are You Thinking?

Comments??

Questions??

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“Be A Mr. Jensen”

Watch This Three Minute Video and Reflect Upon its Meaning

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Turn and Talk

  • As a leader, how can you create a school environment that encourages a sustainable culture of inclusion for both students and staff?
  • Take two minutes to discuss within your table groups.
  • Be prepared to potentially share out with the entire room.

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The Late, Great Judy Heumann: Mother of ADA

Author of Being Heumann: The Unrepentant Memoir of a Disability Rights Activist

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Why Should Leaders Prioritize Inclusivity?

  1. Inclusive education encourages positive interactions between students with disabilities and general education students.
  2. Inclusive education lessens the dehumanization and institutionalization of students with disabilities.
  3. Inclusive education improves the opportunities for positive outcomes such as development of academic, language and social skills.

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You All Can Be Heroes

Meet Linda Cliatt-Wayman, former special education teacher, principal, and assistant superintendent.

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Next Steps

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  • Survey your special education teachers and support staff about their perceptions of inclusivity at their schools.
  • Survey your principals and school leaders about their perceptions of inclusivity at their schools.
  • Compare data from the groups
  • How an Effective Instructional Leader Measures Success
  • Next Steps
  • Questions?

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Questions

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Sources

Anderson, K.P. (2020, November 6). Sage Journals. The Relationship Between Inclusion, Absenteeism, and Disciplinary Outcomes for Students With Disabilities. Retrieved February 24, 2024, from https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.3102/0162373720968558.

Heumann, J. (2013, January 11). Judy Heumann: The Mother of ADA. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLSCjRqtzWY&t=98s.

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IDEA. (2022, July 19). Positive, Proactive Approaches to Supporting Children with Disabilities: A Guide for Stakeholders. Retrieved February 24, 2024, from https://sites.ed.gov/idea/idea-files/guide-positive-proactive-approaches-to-supporting-children-with-disabilities/

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National Center for Education Statistics. (2023). Students with Disabilities. Condition of Education. U.S. Department of Education Sciences. Retrieved June 25, 2023, from https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/indicator/cgg.

C-W, L. (2017, February 23). Modern Hero. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-F4OIRC8FI.

Pulver, C. (2017, May 4). Inspirational Video-Be a Mr. Jensen. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4p5286T_kn0.

Yu, T. (2023, February 28). #InequalityIs: Tiffany Yu on Inequality and Disability. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XYsmxEyC8oU.

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