This article looks at the possibilities of content-based instruction in mainstream English secondary schools. It considers the continuum from a language to content focus in classrooms where teachers collaborate. English as an additional language (EAL) and subject curriculum teachers work together to support young people while they simultaneously…

School-level administrators are often concerned about tertiary supports for English language learners (ELLs), such as translating signs and school documents or offering Spanish classes for their teachers. Although modeling and learning the heritage language(s) of the ESL population can be helpful, its focus on language differences can limit our…

In recent years, special educators' roles and responsibilities have undergone significant transformations deriving from both internal and external sources. This article initially reviews some of the reform movements that have sought to bring research-based practices into the classroom, particularly for students considered exceptional or at-risk.…

Inclusive education aims toward integrating special needs students into all events of the typical classroom. For North American educators, the process of inclusion does not unfold naturally as in the routines of the Reggio Emilia approach. Reggio's powerful image of the child nourishes the authentic practice of maximizing each child's…

In spite of the emphasis in public policy and the professional literature on developing inclusive programs for students with disabilities over the past 30 years, surprisingly little progress has been made in this regard in school districts across the United States. One approach to change that is currently being used with some success in general…

The purpose of this article is to discuss critically the idea of inclusion as social justice. The authors outline the multiple discourses on inclusion and the disparate meanings of social justice that permeate the inclusive education literature. They assume that greater conceptual clarity will strengthen ongoing reform efforts and help educators…

This article focuses on the instructional aspects of inclusive education and describes how collaborating teams of general education and special education teachers can adapt instruction so that students with disabilities and their classmates without disabilities can learn together in shared activities. A model for creating individualized…

Successful inclusion of students with disabilities in general education classrooms requires a variety of supports. This article demonstrates the role that peers can play in supporting each other. Whole-classroom strategies such as Class-Wide Peer Tutoring (CWPT) and cross-age tutoring are highlighted as methods of supporting inclusive education.…

Educators have been challenged to meet the needs of students with disabilities in the least restrictive environment. Although this mandate has existed for 30 years, local educators report difficulties with program planning; graduation and grading of students with disabilities; recruitment and retention of qualified teachers; ensuring access of all…

General education classrooms are increasingly diverse as students with and without disabilities learn alongside one another. At each level, all students are learning to read and reading to learn standards-based content. A worry among some general and special educators who otherwise support the principles of inclusive education is what to do about…

Differentiating instruction, a comprehensive approach to teaching, enables the successful inclusion of all students, including the disabled, in general-education classrooms. As inclusive educators, we argue that disability is an enacted, interactional process and not an empirical, stable fact or condition. We recommend planning responsive lessons…

The standards movement arose from the struggle for equal educational opportunity in American public education. Beginning with the seemingly simple task of defining an adequate education in student content standards, reform graduated to setting professional requirements for teachers and paraprofessionals and for professional inservice training.…

After describing collaboration and its role in school reform, the paper discusses commonalities and distinctions of schools referred to as professional collaborative and as student-centered collaborative, providing examples of such schools and noting the role collaboration has played in their development. The paper recommends that schools push…

Provides ideas for applying the Learner-Centered Psychological Principles to meet the needs of special education students in inclusive classrooms, examining the perceptions of middle school students with and without disabilities about teacher practices known to enhance student learning and motivation for all students; and describing examples of…

Describes the comparison paradigm and the ethics paradigm relative to the inclusion debate. The paper shows how the debate is often due to arguments from individuals who hold different paradigmatic views, and argues that the first step in managing conflict is for individuals to articulate their paradigmatic underpinning. (SM)