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Leadership for Effective Inclusive Schools: Considerations for Preparation and Reform

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 May 2018

Bonnie Billingsley ,
David DeMatthews ,
Kaylan Connally  and
James McLeskey
Bonnie Billingsley*
Affiliation:
Virginia Tech, USA
David DeMatthews
Affiliation:
University of Texas at Austin, USA
Kaylan Connally
Affiliation:
Council of Chief State School Officers, USA
James McLeskey
Affiliation:
University of Florida, USA
*
Correspondence: Bonnie Billingsley, Virginia Tech School of Education, 205 War Memorial Hall, Blacksburg, VA 24061-0313, USA. Email: billingsley@vt.edu
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Abstract

School leadership is critical to provide students with disabilities with opportunities to learn in inclusive schools. We summarise research about inclusive leadership, outlining factors that promoted and impeded inclusive schools in the United States. Next, we provide an example of a national collaboration between the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) and the Collaboration for Effective Educator Development, Accountability, and Reform (CEEDAR) Center that linked the Professional Standards for Educational Leaders (PSEL; National Policy Board for Educational Administration, 2015) to a supplemental guidance document, titled PSEL 2015 and Promoting Principal Leadership for the Success of Students With Disabilities. The latter illustrates what effective inclusive school leadership means for each of the 10 PSEL standards, and provides recommendations for improving leadership preparation and policy, including licensure. We also consider possible implications of this work for those in other countries, emphasising the need for widely understood and shared leadership practices and the need to link such practices to initial and ongoing leadership development.

Keywords

inclusiveleadersprincipalstandardspreparationdisabilities
Type
Original Articles
Information
Australasian Journal of Special and Inclusive Education , Volume 42 , Special Issue 1: Preparing Special and Inclusive Educators for Their New Roles in the 21st Century , July 2018 , pp. 65 - 81
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s) 2018 

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Footnotes

*This manuscript was accepted under the Editorship of Umesh Sharma.

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