Creating an inclusive learning environment for all students, including those with special needs or disabilities, should be a top concern for all educators and administrators. Yet, the path to helping students feel included isn’t always clear. Inspired by the best selling title Yes We Can! by Heather Friziellie, Julie Schmidt, and Jeanne Spiller, Beyond Labels professional development is a framework that encourages adopting inclusive practices that lead to improved learning outcomes, increased teacher satisfaction, an inclusive school culture, and equal access to education for all students.
“Yes We Can! has emerged as a highly effective resource for all types of education professionals working collaboratively to [ensure ALL students learn].”
—Maureen Hawes, director, North Central Regional Resource Center, Institute on Community Integration, University of Minnesota
The strategies you will gain through the Beyond Labels professional development series are applicable to all learners and are crucial for teachers of both general and special education, related service providers, principals, and central office administrators. Ultimately, we contend that embedding PLC tenets to positively impact student learning and focus on closing the achievement gap is relevant to all.
Collaboration is key, and when we all work together, we can improve outcomes across all demographics—including our students with special needs.
“Only after we begin to make strides toward shifting mindsets, reconsidering structures, and truly collaborating at high levels focused on the learning of all students will we begin to see steady and sustainable progress toward closing the gaps.”
—Yes We Can!
“We recognize that the concepts, suggestions, and protocols we outline may challenge many educators’ thinking. What everyone does agree on and what data support are that we continue to see large gaps in achievement between special and general education students. Those gaps lead to longitudinal societal disadvantages that are well documented. With Yes We Can!, we have attempted to leave you with action-oriented practices that you can implement no matter where you are in your journey toward improved outcomes for all students. We don’t contend that the work is easy. In fact, it is messy and fraught with potential barriers that will require continuous reflection and problem solving. However, doing nothing equates to educational malpractice and ensures that nothing changes for the students you serve. And in our seventy collective years as educators, we have rarely met a colleague who is okay with that.”
—Yes We Can!
If we expect our learners to grow, we must also grow. All means all should also mean all of us educators as well. Collaboration means we work together AND with our students. If student learning outcomes are going to improve, we must collectively be willing to open our minds to the truest meaning of “learning for all by all.”
