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Leadership Project: Inclusion
Leadership Project:
Increasing General Education Teachers’ Awareness to Inclusion for Students With Learning Disabilities
Marisa Barba
University of California Los Angeles
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Leadership Project: Inclusion
The proposed topic of my project is raising general education teachers’ awareness of inclusion for students with
Learning Disabilities (LD). The project will help improve educational outcomes for students with disabilities because
their low academic achievement is highly affected by their disability, teachers’ expectations, and teaching practices.
Therefore, I chose this topic because students with disabilities have historically struggled in their academics in the general
education setting. This issue is related to social justice and equity because students with disabilities have historically been
underserved in schools. For example, general education teachers tend to set low academic expectations for students with
disabilities because they tend to focus on students’ academic weaknesses and disabilities rather than improving teaching
practices and understanding different learning styles. As a result, many students with learning disabilities continue to be
grade levels behind their general education peers in reading and math. Therefore, by providing general education teachers’
awareness of inclusion and how this can be approached in classrooms, we can shift focus to understanding how the child
learns and how to accommodate those needs in the general education classroom. This essay will discuss how my
leadership project was implemented, how it has evolved, and types of collected data. Additionally, this essay will also
discuss how my leadership project connected to the California Professional Standards for Educational Leaders
(CPSELs) and what my future plans are in terms of continuing this project at my school site.
Project Implementation and Data
Conducting five Professional Development (PD), co-teaching, and consulting with teachers will all be part of the
implementation of my leadership project. In this project I worked with the special education department that includes the
principal, Assistant Principal Education Specialist (APEIS), psychologist, Psychiatric Social Worker (PSW), general and
special education teachers, para-educator, students, Occupational Therapist (OT), and speech pathologist. With the special
education team, during formal and informal meetings, we looked at the data that I collected and discussed ways on how
this can be presented to the staff. Moreover, we also discussed how we could encourage a meaningful dialogue during the
PD by raising issues, facilitating activities, and providing resources. Lastly, we discussed as a team logistical issues such
as planning time, meeting dates, and gathering materials. Before conducting my leadership project, I studied the current
Special Education census, teacher survey and a root cause analysis.
Part A) Special Education Census: Number of students with IEP per grade level, service providers, impacted grade
levels, and service providers with the most students in their caseload. The data we collected by revealed data on Special
Education census that includes: current number of students in Special Education (Figure 1), grade levels impacted with
special education students (Figure 2), service providers (Figure 3), and number of students per disability (Figure 4). The
data gathered from this census is crucial in order to understand the population that the leadership project will be focusing
on.
Part B) Teacher Survey: My initial survey (Figure 5) included questions such as: Do you think that students with
disabilities should be educated in the general education classroom?, Are you aware of special laws such as IDEA, LRE,
Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, etc?, Are you aware of inclusion?, Are you aware of inclusion practices for students
with disabilities in a general education classroom? Do you implement any of the accommodations/modifications for
students with disabilities in accordance to their IEP? Have you considered co-teaching with a special education teacher
Leadership Project: Inclusion
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in the area of math or language arts or both?, Do you think that students with disabilities should receive services both in
and outside the classroom?, Do you think that students with disabilities should only receive services outside the
classroom?, Do you utilize the service providers (AP, RSP, Psychologist, Speech Therapist, Occupational Therapy, etc.)
for students with disabilities in the general education classroom in order to learn about the child's disability and unique
needs?, and Do you feel that you have sufficient knowledge and experience to educate students with disabilities in the
general education classroom? The purpose of this Liker Survey is help me understand teachers’ current feelings,
understanding, and practices towards inclusion. The result of the survey indicated that teachers do not feel competent to
teach students with disabilities because they stated that they lack training, support, and knowledge.
Part C) Root Cause Analysis: After studying the Special Education census and conducting the Likert Survey, I created a
root causes analysis (Figure 6) that further analyzed data from the Special Education Census and the Likert Survey. This
information provided me information on what might be causing the lack of awareness of inclusion for students with LD in
the classroom. These four areas are: training, resources, motivation, and support.
During the leadership project, I have collected data on surveys and interviews on teachers. First I collected data
before the Leadership Project implementation that include Special Education census, Likert survey, and Root Cause
Analysis (Figure 1-6). Second, I conducted surveys after each PDs. The second teachers survey (Figure 7-13) that I gave
to teachers reflected the topics, discussion, and activities from PD one, two, and three. The results of the survey indicated
that the Special Education PDs have been extremely helpful and informative in regards to current laws and district
regulations. Many teachers also indicated that they are now more reflective of their own classroom practices and longterm effects of having a Special Education label before referring a child for Student Success Team (SST) meeting and/or
Special Education assessment. Many teachers also indicated that they feel more aware of service providers and would like
to learn more about the OT. Lastly, the teachers stated that they would like a PD about prevalent LD and how to
specifically help students with this type of PD.
The third teacher survey reflected the topics, discussion, and activities from PD four. The materials covered in
PD 4 came from the previous survey where a majority of the teachers stated that they would like to have a PD about
different types of LD and teaching strategies. We provided teachers information about SLD, Autism, Other Health
Impairment (OHI), Emotional Disturbance, and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and specific teaching
strategies for each category that was presented by different special education staff and a student in a video. Along with the
video was a worksheet where teachers filled out the blank space with a partner. One of the problems I had was retrieving
and getting my surveys back from the teachers. One barrier was that the Surveymonkey website was not permitted under
the LAUSD internet connection. Therefore, I decided to provide the teachers two ways to fill out the survey
Surveymonkey website and a paper copy in their mailboxes the day after PD number 4.
In the third teacher survey online (Figure 15-19) and paper survey samples (Figure 20), many teachers provided
useful feedback regarding the video. Many teachers indicated that they felt that the materials presented in the movie were
relevant, clear, and helpful to the students in their classroom. Many also stated that they felt that the teaching strategies
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Leadership Project: Inclusion
were extremely useful and applicable to the population that they are servicing. Teachers also stated that the part that
student presented about the strategies on how to work with students with ADHD was powerful and many felt that this part
was one of the most significant topics. Lastly, many teachers enjoyed the movie presentation of the staff instead of the
traditional power point and would like the special education PDs to continue next year.
Lastly, I conducted a final survey to the teachers about how the leadership project has helped their inclusion
practices in the classroom. First, many teachers stated that addressing the Special Education population is well overdue
and believe that the PD should be revisited next year in a regular basis (Figure 21). In addition, many teachers stated that
the PD was helpful and believe that it will make a positive impact to students with disabilities. Second, about 83% of the
teachers stated that they felt that revisiting the special education laws increased knowledge about Special Education laws
(Figure 22 ). Third, 100% of the teachers who took the survey felt that they felt more aware of service providers and the
services that they provide (Figure 23). Fourth, 83% of the teachers state that they felt that they receive appropriate
Special Education resources (Figure 24). Fifth, 100% of the teachers stated that they are more aware of student’s
disabilities and specific ways that they can work with them (Figure 25). Sixth, 100%of the teachers stated that they are
now more reflective of their teaching practices for students with disabilities (Figure 26). Seventh, 67% of the teachers
stated that they felt that PD 4: A video about students’ disabilities and teaching strategies were relevant (Figure 27). Eight,
83% of the teachers stated that the Special Education PD increased their inclusive practices the classroom (Figure 28).
Ninth, most teachers would like to see PD 4: A video about students’ disabilities and teaching strategies (Figure 29).
Lastly, many teachers stated that they would like the PD’s continued but would like some of the topics to be presented in
smaller chunks (Figure 30).
Evolvement
My plans for the leadership project have evolved in several ways. First, a change of administration at the end did
not have an impact on the leadership project but added more realistic experience during its process. However, the
transition made me feel anxious and apprehensive about how the project was going to move forward. The prior principal
before supported and played a tremendous role in ensuring that this program moved forward. After the principal took on a
new district position, we had an interim principal who suspended many of the ongoing programs at school because she
wanted the new principal to decide which programs could continue. Shortly, a new interim principal who is currently
placed at my school unfroze and supported all the ongoing programs, including the leadership project. Second, many of
the PD was planned as part of the implementation of the leadership project. However, it is extremely difficult to ensure
the team’s presence during the PD. For example, the OT and speech each have three schools, the psychologist typically
attends case review meetings on Tuesday afternoon during the PD, and the members got sick. Therefore, I decided to film
the team members’ part and conducted informal interviews in order to incorporate their part during the presentation.
Third, as planned, all the PDs will be conducted once a month every Tuesday. However, the PDs and the activities
that were involved in the project took longer than 40 minutes and we ended having to conduct a second PD during the
following meeting. Lastly, I initially started to co-teach with a fifth and kindergarten general education teacher. However,
as the project continued, I started to feel comfortable approaching teachers to co-teach. As a result, I asked a fifth grade
magnet teacher to co-teach the end of the year fifth grade district culmination essay and presentation and he happily
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Leadership Project: Inclusion
agreed. Lastly, the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) web prevented us from showing the teachers certain
videos from Youtube and prevented teachers from accessing the Surveymonkey to complete the survey.
The special education team has done an excellent job in terms of working as a team. I often referred and
showed survey results to my colleagues and it has helped us in creating ideas and topics for the next PDs. More
importantly, it helped the Special Education raise some awareness to some issues that need to be addressed. For
example, one of the questions that became an issue was the large increase in student enrolled with Special
Education eligibilities from fourth to fifth grade. Many teachers stated that maybe there needs to be a higher
referral to Student Success Team (SST) in a much younger grade rather than fifth grade. Some teachers stated that
that this is an important concern because many fifth grade teachers are ending up with many students who require
intensive academic support. Another issue that became an important topic is the lack of behavioral training and
support for teachers. This has become an important problem to address because there are some students with
extreme behavioral concerns in kindergarten and fifth grade that many teachers lacked background to work with.
Raising awareness of these issues, discussing as a group, and forming an action plan help validate some of concerns
that the general education teachers had because they felt neglected.
My short term goals for my Leadership Project are to increase the co-teaching model between the general
and Special Education teachers, to have regular PDs that address teachers’ concerns and questions, to see more
teachers implementing the teaching strategies learned from PD and think about the effects of having a LD, and to
reflect on their teaching practices in the areas of behavior and academics when referring a child for a SST meeting
and Special Education assessment. My long-term goals for my leadership project are to see more co-planning and
co-teaching between special and general education teachers. I would also like for the special and general education
teachers to analyze data of students and examine areas of improvement and create interventions. I would like to
see my short-term goals become a standard practice because I know that students with disabilities and their
parents would benefit from this type of practice. Overall, I would hope that this practice could help students with
disabilities exit from the program and avoid diagnosis of having a LD by having strategic interventions.
CPSELs
My leadership project is connected to the CPSELs under Standard 2: A school administrator is an
educational leader who promotes the success of all students by advocating, nurturing, and
sustaining a school culture and instructional program conducive to student learning and staff professional
growth. My Leadership Project met this criterion because I engaged teachers in meaningful PDs and activities that
increased their knowledge in Special Education laws, teaching strategies, and resources. These activities promote
academic and behavioral success for all students, especially students with disabilities. My Leadership project also
met Standard 5: A school administrator is an educational leader who promotes the success of all students
by modeling personal code of ethics and developing leadership capacity. My Leadership Project met this goal
because I modeled best teaching practices during the PDs, conducted co-teaching with various teachers in different
grade levels, and regularly met with teachers and parents to discuss students’ progress and areas of needs.
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Leadership Project: Inclusion
Additionally, I consulted with general education teachers and parents before student’s Individualized Education
(IEP) meetings.
Future Plans
In the future, I wish to continue my leadership project and make changes to it in order to target the specific
needs of the teachers and students. First, I would conduct a special education census analysis to see the types of
prevalent LD and to see impacted grade levels in the beginning of the year. Having knowledge of the Special
Education population can give me an idea of the types of PD or support that I can give teachers. Second, I would
conduct a root analysis in order to learn about the lack of awareness of inclusion. As I moved forward with the
project, I learned that the analysis of the root causes were accurate because it was reflected on the survey answers
and some informal conversation/interviews. Third, I would ask the administrators for two days of PD on Special
Education topics because forty minutes for the lectures, activities, and questions/answers was not sufficient.
Fourth, I would break up the presentation of LD to teachers per topic instead of one session because all the
information became too overwhelming for the teachers. Lastly, I would want to invite parents during the Special
Education PD’s because I feel that the information that were presented were extremely relevant to the parent as
well.
In conclusion, the leadership project has given me the experience that I needed to work with teachers that
will help increase student success. This process has provided me knowledge on the importance of planning stages
before beginning a new project. For example, this process has taught me to look at various data to understand the
problem and conduct a root cause analysis. According to previous surveys 40% of the teachers were aware of the
Special Education Laws after the final PD 83% of the teachers stated awareness of the Special Education laws. In
the previous survey, 40% of the teachers stated they reflected and/or provided accommodations and modifications
and in the final survey 100% of the teachers stated that they reflect and/or provided accommodations and
modifications. During the initial survey 37% of the teachers stated that they were aware of Special Education
service providers and the final survey revealed that 83% of the teachers are aware of different Special Education
service providers. Lastly, 47% of the teachers stated that they felt that they had enough knowledge to educate
students with disabilities in the classroom and 83% of the teachers reported that they feel more aware of inclusive
practices to help students with disabilities. After examining the data, I feel that two of my root cause analysis of the
problems which were lack of training (No Special Education PD or unaware of new Special Education PD
regulations) and resources (lack of tools such as behavioral strategies/instructional accommodations) were
accurate because of the level of increase on the survey, informal meetings/discussions, and how some of her
resources from service providers were utilized during SST meetings. Overall this journey has taught me how to
meaningfully start a project by providing me training on how to use survey/interview data and root cause analysis
and how to incorporate these tools to hear and empower teachers’ voices. By utilizing both the data/surveys and
collaboration with the Special Education team, I was able to target the realistic issues in special education at my
school site. More importantly I was able to address these issues in an enjoyable way collaboratively with the
Special Education team.
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Leadership Project: Inclusion
Appendix
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Leadership Project: Inclusion
Part A) Special Education Census
Figure 1
Part B) Likert Survey
Figure 5
Figure 2
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Leadership Project: Inclusion
Part C) Root Cause Analysis
Figure 6
Teacher survey #2
Figure 7
Figure 8
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Leadership Project: Inclusion
Figure 9
Figure 11
Figure 13
Figure 10
Figure 12
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Leadership Project: Inclusion
Figure 14
Teacher Survey #3 (online)
Figure 15
Figure 16
Figure 17
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Leadership Project: Inclusion
Figure 18
Teacher Survey 3 (Paper Sample)
Figure 20
Figure 19
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Leadership Project: Inclusion
Final Survey
Figure 21
Figure 23
Figure 22
Figure 24
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Leadership Project: Inclusion
Figure 25
Figure 27
Figure 26
Figure 28
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Leadership Project: Inclusion
Figure 29
Figure 30