August 2023: School Administrator
This issue examines how school districts are making strides for inclusion and advancing equity work.
Advertisement
Additional Articles
-
The Delicate Handling of Equity Work in Conservative CommunitiesThree superintendents tread cautiously while making progress in their school districts.
-
The Invisible Subgroup: LGBTQAs a mentor to aspiring superintendents, the author is asked how to deal with the “partner game” when interviewing with school boards.
-
Board RelationsSuperintendents’ views of their boards have changed somewhat over the course of the pandemic.
-
A Pedagogical Purpose for the N-Word?A superintendent teaching the historical impact of racism in a graduate school law course wants to quote a U.S. senator’s use of a racial slur.
-
Coach-led Prayer at Football GamesWhat’s permissible in light of the Supreme Court’s decision on religious practices at school sporting events?
-
The School District’s Triangle of SuccessConsider the chief financial officer essential to the district governance conversation, expanding it to a three-way partnership.
-
Retaining New Teachers by Strengthening Their InductionSupporting teachers in their early years by building structure into their professional work.
-
Engaging Reluctant Staff in New Initiatives
Practical solutions for getting buy-in when putting in place strategies or moving in different directions.
-
.png?sfvrsn=2c854cfb_9)
Inclusion as the Sum of UsThe new AASA president’s debut column examines school leaders’ duty to maintain a welcoming environment.
-
Empathy for Building a Sense of BelongingTo support inclusivity practices in schooling, we need to listen to understand, to truly hear others.
-
Equity Drives Mission for Early College in High SchoolEleventh in a series about AASA demonstration districts spotlights the West Allegheny School District in Pennsylvania.
-
Acting on Implicit Bias to Benefit AllThe superintendent in Northfield, Minn., recognizes how his implicit biases come into play.
Staff
Editor's Note
Marking Progress on Inclusion
The notion of educating children with intellectual and developmental disabilities in school settings with their same-age peers seems simple enough. It’s been anything but as our magazine’s continuing focus on the subject of inclusion over the past 30 years would suggest.
We renew our attention here by focusing on the work waged by Kurt Schneider, superintendent of a cooperative of 18 school districts in the suburbs just north of Chicago. Schneider has prompted significant moves to educate much higher totals of students in their least restrictive environments in a state that historically has ranked close to the bottom on those measures. The story starts on page 15.
During his seven years in charge, the TrueNorth cooperative has demonstrated how to deliver services to all students in new and different ways based on what the research says about better outcomes emerging when kids are educated together in schools.
Schneider has presented progress on his inclusion leadership over the past three years at the national conference of TASH, a disability advocacy organization. It’s where I also learned about the work of two other important contributors to this month’s issue — Kate Cavanaugh, an elementary school principal in Lake Forest. Ill., and Shannon Hitch, special services director in Lake Washington, Wash. I commend your attention to their practical, can-do thinking in their respective articles.
Advertisement
Advertisement
