Facilitators and Barriers to Inclusion of Students With Autism Spectrum Disorder: Parent, Teacher, and Principal Perspectives

The inclusion of students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is increasing, but there have been no longitudinal studies of included students in Australia. Interview data reported in this study concern primary school children with ASD enrolled in mainstream classes in South Australia and New South Wales, Australia. In order to examine perceived facilitators and barriers to inclusion, parents, teachers, and principals were asked to comment on the facilitators and barriers to inclusion relevant to each child. Data are reported about 60 students, comprising a total of 305 parent interviews, 208 teacher interviews, and 227 principal interviews collected at 6-monthly intervals over 3.5 years. The most commonly mentioned facilitator was teacher practices. The most commonly mentioned barrier was intrinsic student factors. Other factors not directly controllable by school staff, such as resource limitations, were also commonly identified by principals and teachers. Parents were more likely to mention school- or teacher-related barriers. Many of the current findings were consistent with previous studies but some differences were noted, including limited reporting of sensory issues and bullying as barriers. There was little change in the pattern of facilitators and barriers identified by respondents over time. A number of implications for practice and directions for future research are discussed.

Pembelajaran Toilet Training dalam Melatih Kemandirian Anak

Toilet training is one way that teachers can do in the development of children's independence. This study aims to describe the implementation of toilet training in exercising independence in children aged 2-3 years. This research is a field research with descriptive qualitative approach. The source of the data was taken from the results of the class teacher and school principal interviews as well as the observations of the students playing the Al-Ikhlas class aged 2-3 years at the Ulul Albab Integrated Islamic Palace Kraton Pekalongan City. The results of the study show the purpose of toilet training is to train children's independence in toileting, to introduce early on unclean objects, to identify items in the toilet and to properly teach urinating and defecating. The implementation of toilet training starts with planning, that is preparing story material from story books on the themes of activities in the toilet, the implementation is carried out by the teacher using the habituation method and the method of storytelling, and evaluating that the teacher assigns tasks to the child in the form of direct practice about activities related with toilet training

Leading in a digital age : digital leaders' impact on the professional development culture in a secondary school setting

The greater demand for administrators and teachers to stay current in the ever-changing world of technology and education (Cho, 2016; Merriam and Bierema, 2014), justifies the need for more effective, personalized approaches to professional development (Dill, 2015). The data analysis procedure in this study was multi-step and addressed the five research questions. A convergent-mixed design approach was used to capture both quantitative and qualitative data through the theoretical lens of Adult Learning Theory. This research was conducted on the campuses of four rural high schools within 90 minutes of Kansas City where two principals had a presence on social media, and two principals did not have a presence. Data were collected through four principal interviews and 106 teacher surveys. Lastly, the researcher collected survey data from 30 higher education pre-service professors who are actively teaching within their institution's pre-service leadership programs. Qualitative analysis found three recurring themes: Professional learning in the digital age, social media in schools, and lack of preparation and training at the preservice leadership level. Additionally, quantitative data showed there is a difference in teacher's perceptions of professional development if their principal is active on social media or not active on social media. Research from this study shows that principal's commitment to personalized professional development, using Twitter, promotes a culture of collaboration and self-directed learning. Knowing this, the data provides the necessary research for universities to include the use of social media as a professional tool for principals within the curriculum of their leadership programs and provide professors the necessary professional development and resources to achieve this goal.

Policy Enactment and Leader Agency

As agents in reform processes, Principals can be pressured to respond to government and private change agendas. Far from merely implementing policy, Principals engage in complex enactments where they demonstrate agency in their interpretations and recontextualisations. Drawing data from Principal interviews, the authors consider leader agency in relation to discourses of economic rationalism, change and change leadership. The operationalisation of schooling reform and the necessity to think critically about policy within limited official consultation frameworks is highlighted. The political control of school clustering can potentially impinge on leader agency, particularly when there are additional hierarchical layers of leadership.

Brokering, buffering, and the rationalities of principal work

Purpose Brokering and buffering represent two ways in which principals may respond to hyperrational elements of policy demands in the current era of accountability. The purpose of this paper is to examine how some principals broker more efficient, measurable, and predictable evaluation practices for teachers and others buffer their teachers from inefficient, immeasurable, and unpredictable aspects of policy. Design/methodology/approach Qualitative data were obtained from 37 school principals and 363 teachers across 12 districts participating in a new teacher evaluation policy in one state of the USA. Principal interviews and teacher focus groups were conducted at the beginning, middle, and end of 2012-2013. Transcripts were coded to identify hyperrational elements of the policy and principals’ brokering and buffering practices. Findings All principals described elements of the new evaluation policy as inefficient, incalculable, or unpredictable – hallmarks of hyperrationality. Principals brokered efficiency by designing schoolwide parent goals and centralizing procedures; brokered transparency of calculation methods and focused teacher attention on measuring effort, rather than outcomes; and encouraged collective sensemaking to facilitate predictable procedures and outcomes. Principals buffered teachers by de-emphasizing the parent-based component; minimizing the quantitative nature of the ratings; ceding responsibility over calculations to district leaders; and lowering expectations to make ratings controllable. Originality/value The paper provides new understanding of principals’ strategic leadership practices, which represented rational responses to hyperrational policy demands. Therefore, the paper includes recommendations for principal preparation, district support for policy implementation, and further research on principal practice.

Managing the Ebb and Flow:

This case study explored how a principal in a suburban elementary school in the northeastern United States empowered students and used student voice to develop his own leadership. The researchers collected and analyzed data in the form of observations, principal interviews, and student focus groups. Results and discussion describe and explain how the principal engaged with students’ perspectives to structure his experiences of school and learn- ing. Also, results indicate that the principal’s self- awareness of his instructional leadership actions, particularly regarding the inclusion of student voice and agency, is critical for effective and meaningful leadership. This case provides a new direction for develop- ing and practicing school leaders to consider self- evaluation, and reflection as part of ongoing leadership improvement, framed by the research-based concepts of instructional leadership, student voice, and perceptual congruence. Finally, the case study provides an opportunity for the field of educational research to open meaningful and often-overlooked discussions emphasizing the value of including students in models of shared instructional leadership and empowering youth as learners and leaders in their own right.

EDUCATION QUALITY IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS: AN EXPERIMENT TO REDUCE THE AGE-GRADE GAP IN THE CITY OF RIO DE JANEIRO

This article developes a critical reflection about a learning acceleration project facing the senior students of fundamental education . The project entitled Autonomia Carioca was prepared by a private institution and recently introduced in public schools of Rio de Janeiro, in the perspective of public-private partnership. The Project proposal is based on teacher training to deal with different languages, emphasizing the values construction, the self-esteem recovery and the study habits formation. Facing the challenge of dropout, 8500 students concluded the first stage of elementary education. This paper describes the objectives and methodology of the Project and also analyze work field observations and school principal interviews in a school in order to discuss challenges and opportunities. From the proposal of the Project to its implementation in the classroom, many factors were involved in the task of teaching the students who did not succeed in the traditional education. Some aspects discussed in this case study are: school director support, pedagogical attendance, teacher profile identification, classes’ arrangement, partnership with families and distinguished accompanying of students. The results point to the joint action of school agents as a determining factor for the success of the work. Key words: age-grade gap, education quality, learning acceleration, public-private partnership.