RUFO FINAL EXCERPT 1.pdf
"Should be required for all teachers! Rufo and Causton have found the brightest silver lining of the global pandemic: An opportunity to reimagine special education services." —Jennifer Kurth, Ph.D., Associate Professor, University of Kansas
"This book illustrates perfectly the idea that good teaching for students with disabilities is good teaching for all students." —Cheryl M. Jorgensen, Ph.D., author of It’s More Than “Just Being In”
As schools reopen their doors and students return to the classroom, what will the new normal of special education look like? The pandemic exposed educational inequities and areas of urgent need—and now, schools have a unique opportunity to press pause and reimagine their practices. This book helps K–12 school leaders and educators closely examine what worked during distance learning, let go of practices that keep some students struggling, and plan new routines and environments that meet the needs of every learner.
A visionary call to action from inclusion experts Jenna Mancini Rufo and Julie Causton.
Readers will discover how to:
- Re-story students by focusing on their gifts and strengths rather than their deficits
- Redesign instruction and assessment to be more flexible and better meet students’ unique needs
- Restructure intervention frameworks to move away from sorting and labeling
Reimagining Special Education
Using Inclusion as a Framework to Build Equity and Support All Students
by Jenna Mancini Rufo, Ed.D. empowerED School Solutions Collegeville, Pennsylvania
and Julie Causton, Ph.D. Inclusive Schooling Manilus, New York
Baltimore • London • Sydney
Excerpt from Reimagining Special Education Using Inclusion as a Framework to Build Equity and Support All Students by Jenna Mancini Rufo, Ed.D. & Julie Causton, Ph.D.
Contents
- About the Online Materials
- About the Authors
- Foreword
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- Dedication
Chapter 1: Resetting School: Lessons Learned From COVID-19 Remote Instruction
Chapter 2: Re-Storying Students
Chapter 3: Redesigning Instruction and Assessment
Chapter 4: Restructuring Intervention and Enrichment
Chapter 5: Revitalizing Co-Teaching
Chapter 6: Realigning Service Delivery
Chapter 7: Rethinking Equity
Redefining the Box
References
Index
About the Authors
Jenna Mancini Rufo, Ed.D.
Dr. Jenna Mancini Rufo is an experienced public school leader turned inclusive education consultant...
Julie Causton, Ph.D.
Dr. Julie Causton is founder and CEO of Inclusive Schooling...
Resetting School
Lessons Learned From COVID-19 Remote Instruction
We have a unique opportunity before us to press pause and reset school...
A System Long Overdue for Change
For just about as long as schools have existed, there have been debates about how to improve education...
Resetting School
Yet, despite nearly 50 years of legislation aimed at improving educational outcomes for students with disabilities...
Re-Story Students
A system of exclusion that largely separates students with disabilities from their typical peers relies heavily on labels to identify students...
Redesign Instruction and Assessment
In transitioning from live instruction to remote education during the COVID-19 pandemic...
Restructure Intervention and Enrichment
Prior to the school closures of 2020, systems of special education, intervention, and enrichment largely operated in isolation of one another...
Revitalize Co-Teaching
When in-person instruction ended at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic and schools shifted to remote learning...
Reconceptualize Equity
Perhaps the greatest realization that formed from distance learning came from the spotlight it placed on inequities in schools...
Inclusive Education as a Framework for Redesign
Many of the practices identified as necessary to success in a remote learning environment have a striking resemblance to effective inclusive education strategies...
- Re-story students by designing experiences that recognize their inherent potential and build upon their strengths.
- Redesign instruction and assessment through meaningful, differentiated tasks that provide students with multiple ways to demonstrate knowledge and understanding.
- Restructure intervention and enrichment so that the receipt of services is not contingent upon artificial labels.
- Revitalize co-teaching to maximize the talents of staff and provide them with collaborative structures that support their work.
- Realign service delivery to more flexibly meet the needs of all learners.
- Reconceptualize equity so that disability is included as just another form of diversity...
Essential reading for administrators, classroom teachers, and other education professionals, this is the forward-thinking guide every school needs to reimagine the possibilities for special education, support authentic inclusion, and help learners with and without disabilities.