Reading is conceptualized as a hierarchy of component skills where lower order emergent literacy skills set the foundation for higher order reading skills such as fluency and comprehension. Approximately 20% of readers struggle within this hierarchical process (Fielding, Kerr, & Rosier, 2007). Struggling readers are susceptible to the Matthew…

In this article, the author offers a brief tribute to Judy Lupart, a trail blazer in inclusive education in Canada. The author looks back over the past two decades to highlight how Judy's efforts have contributed to the current accomplishments in inclusion and have challenged everyone to ensure education for all.

Dr. Judy Lupart's distinguished career is highlighted by her important contributions to the education of students with exceptional learning needs. The breadth of her vision and the range of exceptional learning needs she considered in her thinking about inclusive education changed the landscape of special education in Canada and elsewhere. Dr.…

Dr. Judy Lupart has had a distinguished career as a researcher, teacher, and leader in the field of education, and some of her most important work has stemmed from her creation of and continuing involvement in "Exceptionality Education Canada." Two articles she wrote for the journal, one in 1992 and one in 2002, are of particular note. To the…

Knowing what students should be able to accomplish academically is the first step in knowing how to write accurate Individual Education Plan (IEP) goals. By giving students short Curriculum-Based Measurements (CBM) in areas such as reading, writing, and mathematics, teachers are able to determine current level of performance, or baseline. Teachers…

In the United States, for typically developing children, age has historically been the most common factor determining when a child starts formal schooling. Recently, there has been increased emphasis on other indicators of being ready for school. Beginning with Head Start in 1965 and mushrooming into state-funded prekindergarten programs in most…

This paper discusses issues relevant to gifted children's readiness for school. It raises a number of questions that challenge thinking about what is meant by school readiness. Gifted children can often be ready for school entrance before the age traditionally considered appropriate. Their complex developmental profiles challenge accepted notions…

This article describes a study that documents the attempts of administrators of a new school to introduce and sustain inclusive leadership and program arrangements over the course of the first 3 years of the school's life. The data illustrate that while they were able to succeed on a number of levels, they also encountered a number of challenges.…

This paper explores the need for innovative leadership in teacher education in the Canadian context, with a particular call for renewed professional development of current teachers. Within a country defined as multicultural, recent demographic shifts, interregional migration, growing ethnic diversity, and the emergence of a paradigm of inclusion,…

There has been recent attention paid to the mental health issues experienced by many children and youth in Canada and internationally. In particular, the role of the school and educational leaders in preventing mental health difficulties and intervening in the case of mental illnesses has been highlighted. This paper presents an overview of…

The purpose of this paper is to describe a variety of teaching and learning strategies that were used within a classroom of Deaf adults participating in a high school English course as part of an upgrading program. The class was conducted in a bilingual manner; that is, being Deaf and communicating with American Sign Language (ASL) was not…

The paper presents the author's views on inspiring creative thinking among students through a folktale. The mbira metaphor is this author's interpretation of a unique African (Shona) folktale that has the potential to enrich the pedagogy of giftedness. The mbira metaphor is an informative and thought-provoking folktale originating from previous…

This piece is a poetic and narrative inquiry (Leggo, 2004) into the conceptual, physical, and emotional underpinnings of research methodology in the field of gifted education. First, the author explores the metaphorical possibility of swimming rather than standing in the field of inquiry and how relationships to self, environment, and other would…

This paper describes cases of two adolescents with learning disabilities working in automotive repair businesses as part of a work-based education program. Neither adolescent was judged to have been successful by the workplace supervisors. The frameworks chosen for analyzing these cases draw upon recent work in self-determination, workplace…