European Inclusive Learning Hub

Inclusion means a place for every student in every district—students with disabilities; students who are English language learners; students who are gifted; students who are gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, or questioning; and students who seem to fall neatly into the “average” range. All students deserve a chance to learn in a safe and supportive environment.

. Providing opportunities for students to demonstrate autonomy and self-advocacy by choosing appropriate learning tools and supports.

. Engaging learners in assessment discussions of what constitutes excellence and generates relevant examples that connect to students’ cultural backgrounds and interests.

. Helping students to build positive strategies for future success based on feedback and other evidence, including identifying patterns of errors and wrong answers.

. Forty Massachusetts educators, including teachers, specialized instructional support personnel, school administrators, and district administrators

. National experts and researchers in the fields of inclusive instruction, universal design for learning, positive behavioral interventions and supports, and social-emotional learning

. Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education staff with expertise in inclusive practice and educator evaluation.

. Use of UDL (Universal Design for Learning)

. Considering students’ diverse backgrounds, identities, strengths, and challenges during lesson planning, instruction, assessment, and classroom management.

. Creating an environment that is safe and respectful of all cultures and backgrounds.

. To identify elements within common assessments that interfere with students’ ability to demonstrate their knowledge.

. Common assessments have been identified, a system for progress monitoring should be developed to assist with charting students’ differential rates of learning.                           

. In an effective common assessment, all students should have the opportunity to demonstrate growth, regardless of their baseline scores.

. Educators should review measures to ensure that they are appropriate and fair for all students, including ELL [English language learners] students and students with disabilities.

. After common assessments have been identified, a system for progress monitoring should be developed to assist with charting students’ differential rates of learning.

. After end-of-course assessments are given, the educator’s reflections about student growth should be shared with the educator’s evaluator to inform professional judgment about student learning.

In inclusive settings with a diverse range of learner abilities, it is important to leverage the skills and expertise of all educators to serve students. Therefore, when appropriate, educators should consider setting professional practice goals as a team. Collaborative instructional models require clear identification of roles and responsibilities as well as shared responsibility for planning, delivering, and assessing instruction.

. Embracing high expectations for all students.

. Uses rituals, routines, and appropriate responses that create and maintain a safe physical and intellectual environment where students take academic risks and most behaviors that interfere with learning are prevented.

. Communicating with other educators (e.g., counselors, special education teachers, social workers) to support students and implement accessible instruction and positive behavior supports

. Collaborating with colleagues to implement accessible instruction strategies and positive behavior supports school wide

. Discussing student needs and progress with colleagues in professional learning communities

. Working to improve school culture and ensure the school is a welcoming place to all students

. Introducing a parent or guardian survey at the beginning of the year to determine preferred forms of communication.   

. Consistently adapting instruction, materials, and assessments to make challenging material accessible to all students, including English learners and students with disabilities.

. All students should have an equal chance to demonstrate high, moderate, and low growth, but not all students need to show the same change in score to do so 

. Actively engaging students in observable ways with high rates of varied opportunities to respond, prompts, and active supervision. 

. Providing a continuum of supports to both support appropriate behavior and correct inappropriate behavior 

. Acknowledging expected behavior with specific praise.

. Collaborating on a shared vision of inclusive instructional practice.

. Continuous refinement of assessments for accessibility and universal design.

. Designing the learning environment in a way that supports all students’ learning by facilitating various learning activities (e.g., small group, learning centers) and integrating multiple opportunities for student feedback and collaboration with peers. 

Accessible instruction and positive behavior supports provide entry points for students with a variety of learning needs to access the core instruction. Strong student learning goals identify specific strategies aligned with accessible instruction and positive behavior supports that meet the needs of students and support their attainment of the learning goal.