Transformational Leadership In Special Education

Using the principles of transformational leadership, IEP teams become effective tools to ensure student success and achievements. There is a difference of teams that are simply chaired and those that are lead. Teams with transformational leaders promote the best efforts of all participants including parents and students to effectively deliver special education services that meet real student outcomes. Using a step-by-step approach to developing the IEP, improving team function and producing Great IEPs, schools and districts can demonstrate special education effectiveness through success and achievement of students. Transformational Leadership provides the reader with a background of meaningful and purposeful leadership, and the building blocks of the learning organization. These concepts are applied to the values and the operation of the IEP team. Teams following these principals improve service delivery by full participation of all team members. Transformational leadership can improve student advancement, school improve, and district accountability.

Framed by real stories and grounded in research, the second edition of Transformative Leadership in Education presents an alternative approach to leadership that is engaged, active, and courageous. Noted scholar Carolyn M. Shields explores the concept of transformative leadership and its potential to create learning environments that are academically excellent, equitable, inclusive, and socially just, even in the face of the volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous world of education today. Chapters combine contemporary research findings with stories of schools, leaders, students, teachers, and community members to demonstrate that transformative leadership can promote academic achievement, family and community empowerment, democratic engagement, and global citizenship. This exciting text will appeal to all aspiring and practicing leaders who want to prepare students to be successful, caring, and engaged citizens of the global community. New in this edition: Updated end-of-chapter guiding questions to help readers reflect on their own practice and to apply the concepts in their own contexts. Enriched discussion of the interrelationships among the eight tenets of transformative leadership and leading for social justice. Elaborated discussion of the need for reflection, grounding, and spiritual connections on the part of transformative leaders. Expanded discussion of refugee and transgender students. Supplemental eResources to prompt further dialogue and reflection, downloadable at www.routledge.com/9781138633773.

Creating Capacity for Learning and Equity in Schools provides a comprehensive guide for aspiring and practicing leaders to strengthen their capacity to create high levels of learning and equity. Chapters explore key theories and research, provide resources for developing personal and organizational leadership capacity, and guide leaders through a reflective process to help them link theory and practice. Hooper and Bernhardt’s model for excellence and equity provides a pathway for educators to create and sustain learning communities in schools. Exploring three leadership approaches—Instructional, Adaptive, and Transformational—this textbook prepares and develops leaders to engage school communities through effective instructional leadership, data-informed decision-making, and a vision for learning and equity for all. Special Features: Theory to Practice (T2P) Framework—A series of structured exercises help readers review and reflect on existing organizational practices and develop new action plans. Case Studies—Encourage individual reflection and collective discussion on key leadership scenarios. Examples in Action—Challenge readers to analyze new connections and leadership processes. A companion website—Includes additional resources and tools for instructors to facilitate activities in the classroom.

Inclusion is increasingly becoming one of the policy drivers shaping educational discourse and practice. What constitutes the term “inclusion” itself and how ideas derived from the different perspectives on inclusion impact school leadership practice point to a highly contested field of enquiry. Originally embedded in discourse relating to special education, ideas relating to inclusion are attracting much broader appeal within system reforms in many jurisdictions. This book seeks to keep the consideration of inclusion firmly in its broader context and to decouple it from the discourse relating to students with special educational/additional needs. This allows the authors to position their contributions more explicitly within discourses that draw on difference and diversity as unavoidable features of schools. Within this collection we address the current political dogmas in many countries that take a purely rational, managerial approach to leadership, arguing that this is not contributing to inclusion in schools. In doing this, the book seeks to shape current discourses on leadership by exploring perspectives which are likely to enhance our understanding of inclusion. Tolerance, respect, listening, clarifying language, being comfortable with differences and ambiguity and articulating and challenging the rationale behind “the way we do things around here” are key aspects of inclusive leadership, and also fundamental imperatives for writing this book. It will be useful to those in education who are engaged in further academic study in education or in reflective practice and to anyone taking advanced programmes in educational leadership and management. The international perspectives on the issue of inclusion informing this book ensure that this book will be essential for those engaged in a comparative analysis of leadership practice in different contexts or those concerned with the complexity of ensuring inclusive models of education.

To address today’s numerous goals and challenges, K–12 schools need transformational leaders—leaders able to substantively enhance and improve educational systems and educator practices in order to achieve better, longer-lasting outcomes for all students. This practical resource is for superintendents, principals, and other education leaders who are charged with rapidly improving their schools and districts. Grounded in WestEd’s research-based and field-tested Four Domains of Rapid School Improvement framework, this book offers guidance, support, and resources in the areas of school turnaround, talent development, instructional transformation, and culture shift. Every chapter includes prompts to encourage reflection and discussion with colleagues, as well as action steps to put guidance into practice. Transformational Leadership for Rapid School Improvement can be used as a text for educational leadership courses and for professional learning with practicing principals and superintendents. Contributors: Jenny Betz, Deborah A. Bradley, Andrea Browning, Alexis Stern, Rebecca Cerna, Shandy Hauk, Nancy Gerzon, Shazia Hashmi, Stephen C. Hamilton, Nancy Hurley, Joyce Kaser, Nakanya Magby, Dona Meinders, Michael Middleton, Michael P. Nagler, Maria Paredes, Christina Pate, Kristen Reedy, Robert Rosenfeld, Saroja Warner

Integrating coverage of the most important knowledge base, research, and practice in the field, this book prepares educators for the challenging role of special education leader. Special Education Leadership provides leaders with tools to review programs, implement special education law, and build special education programs that effectively supervise and support teachers. Grounded in theory, this book also includes best practice for day-to-day operations, such as issues of teaching and learning, personnel selection and evaluation, basic financial management, working with parent relations, mental health issues, and legal matters related to special education. Full of advice from practitioners, end-of-chapter questions, and coverage of emerging trends, this book helps prepare special education administrators and supervisors to survive the pressures of working with students with disabilities while supporting appropriate services and preventing litigation.

This book brings together for the first time research informing leadership practice in special education from preschool through transition into post-secondary settings. It provides comprehensive coverage of 1) disability policy 2) leadership knowledge, 3) school reform, and 4) effective educational leadership practices. Broader in scope than previous books, it provides in-depth analysis by prominent scholars from across the disciplines of both general and special education leadership. Coverage includes historical roots, policy and legal perspectives, and content supporting collaborative and instructional leadership that support the administration of special education. Comprehensive – This is the first book to integrate the knowledge bases of special education and educational leadership as these fields impact school improvement and the performance of students with disabilities. Chapter Structure – Chapters provide a review of the knowledge base as well as recommendations for special education leadership and future research. Multicultural Focus – Addressing special education leadership within the context of a multicultural society, chapters incorporate content related to the diversity of families, teachers, and students. Expertise – Chapter authors have made significant contributions to the knowledge base in their specific areas of study such as educational policy, special education law and finance, school reform,, organizational management, and instructional leadership. This book is a reference volume for scholars, leaders, and policy makers and a textbook for graduate courses in special education, educational administration, and policy studies.

This thought-provoking reader is a collection of original chapters by authors from five different countries, each of whom explores a facet of transformative leadership.

"Design is the rendering of intent." What if education leaders approached their work with the perspective of a designer? This new perspective of seeing the world differently is desperately needed in schools and begins with school leadership. Alyssa Gallagher and Kami Thordarson, widely recognized experts on Design Thinking, educational leadership, and innovative strategies, call this new perspective design-inspired leadership—one of the most powerful ways to ignite positive change and address education challenges using the same design and innovation principles that have been so successful in private industry. Design Thinking for School Leaders explores the changing landscape of leadership and offers practical ways to reframe the role of school leader using Design Thinking, one step at a time. Leaders can shift from "accidental designers" to "design-inspired leaders," acting with greater intention and achieving greater impact. You'll learn how viewing the world through a more empathetic lens—a critical first step on the path to becoming a design-inspired leader—can raise your awareness of the uniqueness of your teachers and students and prompt you to question the ways in which they experience your school. Gallagher and Thordarson detail five specific roles to help you identify opportunities for positively impacting students, teachers, districts, parents, and the community: Opportunity Seeker. Shifts from problem solving to problem finding. Experience Architect. Designs and curates learning experiences. Rule Breaker. Challenges the way things are "always" done. Producer. Gets things done and creates rapid learning cycles for teams. Storyteller. Captures the hearts and minds of a community. Full of examples of Design Thinking in action in schools across the country, Design Thinking for School Leaders can help you guide your school to the forefront of the new design + education movement, one that will move traditional education into the modern world and drive the future of learning.