Using a pragmatic and realistic approach to inclusion, this first edition text emphasizes three main themes: the underlying values of making all students active participants in the classroom; the importance of effective evidenced-based practices that work in real classrooms; and the worth of creating highly effective professional educators who have the knowledge, skills, and dispositions to meet the needs of a broad spectrum of diverse students.
Among the many helpful features in the text, Inclusion weaves the stories of three real-world schools throughout the text. The three inclusive schools, which cover the elementary, middle, and high school levels, are used to color the content of the text with examples, interviews, descriptions, and practices that work in real settings with real students.
Written in a clear, succinct, practical, and approachable style, and with consistent pedagogical elements and themes carried throughout, this text addresses the needs of the diverse range of pre-service professionals: traditional special education students, traditional general education students, and alternative certification students.
The book paints a complete picture of inclusion by breaking the subject into three overarching segments: Foundations of Successful Inclusion, Meeting the Needs of All Students, and Effective Practices for All Students. The initial section provides an introduction to inclusion, an account of how and why it has evolved, and how the diversity of students in today’s schools influence inclusion and education in general. The second section includes seven brief chapters that provide background information regarding specific disabilities as well as key issues and challenges for including students in each category. Section three provides an in-depth presentation of key evidence-based practices.
James McLeskey is professor and chair of the Department of Special Education at the University of Florida. He is the author of Special Education for Today’s Teachers: An Introduction (Prentice Hall, 2008), Reflections on Inclusion: Classic Articles that Shaped our Thinking (CEC, 2007), and Inclusive Education in Action: Making Differences Ordinary (ASCD, 2000). He has worked extensively with helping local schools develop inclusive classrooms, and has written numerous articles regarding this work.
David L. Westling is the Adelaide Worth Daniels Distinguished Professor of Special Education at Western Carolina University in Cullowhee, North Carolina. He received his Ed.D. Degree in Special Education from the University of Florida in 1976. He is the co-author of Teaching Students with Severe Disabilities (Prentice Hall, 2008), Special Education for Today’s Teachers: An Introduction (Prentice Hall, 2008), and numerous papers in professional journals on related subjects.