ABSTRACT
An important question facing educational leaders is how to build capacity to effectively include and educate students with disabilities in general education settings so that these students are a part of the school community and have opportunities to achieve important learning outcomes. Knowledge about inclusive leadership has increased over the past two decades, providing a better understanding about the core activities of inclusive leadership and the distribution of leaders’ roles across states, districts, schools, and classrooms, as well as across the phases of inclusive reform (i.e., initiation, implementation, institutionalization). This chapter provides a synthesis of 28 peer-reviewed research studies focused on leadership for inclusive schools from 1995–2015. More specifically, 17 studies addressed how inclusive schools evolved during the process of change and 11 studies provided primarily descriptions of the activities of leaders in inclusive schools. Some findings suggest that the sharing of formal and informal leadership roles across the organization helped sustain change over time. The chapter concludes with recommendations and resources for leaders.
