How Can Principals Encourage Collaboration in Their Schools Between School Leaders And

How can principals encourage collaboration in their schools between school leaders and teachers, among teachers, and between school staff and parents?

· To improve collaboration between school leaders and teachers it is very important to give teachers leadership roles and then support them in their roles. It is also important to encourage the teachers to share ideas and opinions.

· To improve collaboration between teachers, a co-teacher can be provided for in class assistance. For outside of the classroom it is important for general education and special education teachers to communicate about teaching and behavior strategies and curriculum adaption. It is also important for them to maintain a moral support system.

· To improve collaboration between teachers and parents it helps to respect the parents and encourage parental involvement in decision making. The parents can assist the teachers in understanding their child’s needs and ask any questions that they may have.

What are some of the positive results of a school environment in which there is collaboration and shared high expectations for all students?

· When high expectations are set on the students, most will feel a desire to learn and succeed, perform well on their tests and feel a sense of belonging in their environment.

What are some of the important steps in implementing inclusive assessment practices in a school? How can school leaders make certain that students with disabilities are being assessed properly?

· Students should always be informed of upcoming tests so that they can have time to prepare for it and feedback is very important so that the students can improve for their next assessment.

· Teachers, parents, students and IEP teams can all help in deciding which accommodations are necessary to ensure that the student is being assessed properly. Teachers often know which form of the test would be most appropriate. For example, students aiming for a High School Diploma would all take the same tests, whereas a student with adapted learning would need a different form of the test. Parents understand their child better than anyone; they can help the teacher decide which form of assessment would work best for their child if necessary. Students are responsible for their own studies and should take their preparation seriously. IEP teams can help guide teachers to certain goals. For example, they would look at what they are evaluating, what accommodations would help this student and how to grade their results with the adapted test.