[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"doc-seo-599668-105":3,"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":80,"doc-detail-599668-en":130},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"ok",{"site_id":7,"language":8,"slug":9,"title":10,"keywords":11,"description":12,"schema_data":13,"social_meta":73,"head_meta":75,"extra_data":77,"updated_unix":79},105,"en","maxs-family-experience-web-resources-for-working-with-special-education-students-and-their-families","Max’s Family Experience - Web-Resources for Working with Special Education Students and their Families","","The article examines how school principals can build a positive school climate while integrating special education (SPED) as an active, welcomed part of the community. It connects principal leadership and communication to standards and accountability under NCLB and IDEIA, emphasizing academic and social outcomes for students with disabilities, including autism. Using a case study with two elementary principals, it highlights effective and ineffective practices in curriculum access, responsibilities communication, IEP meeting participation, and family support.",{"@graph":14,"@context":72},[15,34,55],{"@type":16,"itemListElement":17},"BreadcrumbList",[18,23,27,31],{"item":19,"name":20,"@type":21,"position":22},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",1,{"item":24,"name":25,"@type":21,"position":26},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":28,"name":29,"@type":21,"position":30},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/healthcare/","Healthcare",3,{"item":32,"name":10,"@type":21,"position":33},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/maxs-family-experience-web-resources-for-working-with-special-education-students-and-their-families/599668/",4,{"url":32,"name":10,"@type":35,"image":36,"author":41,"headline":10,"publisher":44,"fileFormat":47,"inLanguage":8,"description":12,"dateModified":48,"datePublished":49,"encodingFormat":47,"isAccessibleForFree":50,"interactionStatistic":51},"DigitalDocument",{"url":37,"@type":38,"width":39,"height":40},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/maxs-family-experience-web-resources-for-working-with-special-education-students-and-their-families/599668.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":42,"@type":43},"jayni","Person",{"url":19,"name":45,"@type":46},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-16","2026-10-15",true,{"@type":52,"interactionType":53,"userInteractionCount":22},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":54},"ViewAction",{"@type":56,"mainEntity":57},"FAQPage",[58,64,68],{"name":59,"@type":60,"acceptedAnswer":61},"Why is developing a positive school culture described as challenging for today’s principals?","Question",{"text":62,"@type":63},"The text explains that principals face unprecedented responsibilities, including longer working hours, leading larger schools, supervising more staff, and creating productive environments for students and employees.","Answer",{"name":65,"@type":60,"acceptedAnswer":66},"How do NCLB and IDEIA increase principals’ responsibilities for students with disabilities?",{"text":67,"@type":63},"NCLB and its accountability requirements push principals to ensure academic success for all students, especially those with disabilities. IDEIA reauthorization reinforces NCLB requirements and underscores implementation aligned with intended goals.",{"name":69,"@type":60,"acceptedAnswer":70},"What role does principal leadership and communication play at the building level?",{"text":71,"@type":63},"The document states that strong leadership and communication skills positively impact classroom and school conditions, help inform staff about mission and progress, and support understanding and comfort across the building.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":32,"og:type":74,"og:title":10,"og:site_name":45,"og:description":12},"article",{"robots":76,"canonical":32},"index,follow",{"doc_id":78,"site_id":7},599668,1792139933,{"code":4,"msg":81,"data":82},"success",[83,87,91,95,100,105,109,114,119,122,126],{"id":22,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":84,"show_sort_weight":85,"slug":86},"Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":26,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":88,"show_sort_weight":89,"slug":90},"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":33,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":92,"show_sort_weight":93,"slug":94},"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":96,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":97,"show_sort_weight":98,"slug":99},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":101,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":102,"show_sort_weight":103,"slug":104},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":106,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":29,"show_sort_weight":107,"slug":108},7,40,"healthcare",{"id":110,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":111,"show_sort_weight":112,"slug":113},8,"Research & Report",30,"research-report",{"id":115,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":116,"show_sort_weight":117,"slug":118},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":117,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":120,"show_sort_weight":117,"slug":121},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":123,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":124,"show_sort_weight":123,"slug":125},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":127,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":128,"show_sort_weight":96,"slug":129},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":81,"data":131},{"doc_id":78,"user_id":132,"nickname":42,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":106,"category_name":29,"doc_title":10,"doc_description":12,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":22,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":22,"is_downloadable":22,"audit_status":22,"page_count":139,"language":140,"language_code":8,"site_id":7,"html_lang":8,"table_of_contents":141,"faqs":142,"seo_title":143,"seo_description":12,"update_tm":144,"read_time":145},3985747859343,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_276721f389ce27ea32af1340a28f341c","Max’s Family Experience: Web-Resources for Working with Special Education Students and their Families  \nRaschelle Theoharis, Gallaudet University & Michael Fitzpatrick, Mexico State University  \nIntroduction  \nDeveloping a positive school culture has become an extremely daunting task for today’s principals to achieve (Habegger, 2008) because they typically undertake unprecedented responsibilities (Hess & Kelly, 2007) compared to principals of the past (Sewall, 1996) . This is clearly evident as today’s principals are required to put in longer hours, lead larger schools, and supervise more faculty and staff members (Ferrandino, 2001) . Additionally they need to create a positive learning environment for students (Halawah, 2005), a productive work environment for their employees (Kaplan & Owings, 2002), and contend with a variety of student behaviors at the building level (Hartzell & Petrie, 1992) .  \nAside from the duties briefly noted above, one of the major challenges principals encounter is guaranteeing that special education (SPED) programs are an active and welcomed part of the school community (DiPaola, Tschannen-Moran, & Walther-Thomas, 2004) . Moreover the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB, 2002) has increased principals’ responsibilities to ensure the academic success for all students (Abedi, 2004; Berry, 2004; Linn, 2003; Rose, 2004) especially students with disabilities (Jones, Zirkel, & Barrack, 2008) . Similarly the reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEIA, 2004) reinforced the requirements of NCLB (Zirkel, 2007) . To ensure IDEIA mandates are implemented with the spirit in which they are intended, principals need to be informed and committed to increasing the academic and social outcomes for all students with disabilities (Rafoth & Foriska, 2006) .  \nTo illustrate the importance of the principal’s ability to successfully create and foster a school climate (Devos & Bouckenooghe, 2009; Halawah, 2005) this article will present a case study that focuses on one family’s interaction with two different elementary school principals with very diverse perspectives of SPED and students with disabilities, specifically a child with autism. Each case scenario illustrates issues related to a principal’s ability or inability to:  \n• Establish an effective and positive school climate that promotes access to the general education curriculum (Jones et al., 2008; Thurlow, 2005) .  \n• Communicate a clear understanding of the responsibilities to students with disabilities according to NCLB (2002) and IDEIA (2004) mandates.  \n• Play an active role in Individual Education Program (IEP) meetings and promote success and access for all students.  \n• Support the needs of families of children with disabilities.  \nIn addition, this article will provide web-based resources from the field of SPED--specifically autism--that support the need for principals to use effective leadership and communication skills to meet the needs of SPED programs, educators, students, and parents.  \n2 Theoharis & Fitzpatrick—Max’s Family Experience  \nPrincipals and SPED  \nNCLB (2002) ushered in a new era of standards and accountability. Although NCLB has been reauthorized, the implications of the act are rooted in holding schools and school districts accountable for their students’ educational outcomes (Abedi, 2004) and compels them to achieve adequate yearly progress (AYP) on behalf of all of their students (Abedi, 2004; Berry, 2004; Fitzpatrick & Knowlton, 2007; Linn, 2003; Rose, 2004) . From this perspective, it is clear that principals are responsible for ensuring their educators are using scientifically based practices to make meaningful improvements in their students educational outcomes (Calhoon & Fuchs, 2003; Fleischner & Manheimer, 1997; Shavelson, Phillips, Towne, & Feuer, 2003; Turnbull, Turnbull, Erwin, & Soodak, 2006), including students with autism (Drasgow, Lowrey, & Yell, 2005) .  \nLeadership is a major compone","cbCaivj9TZYkEKB3","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaivj9TZYkEKB3","pdf",166836,13,"English","# Introduction\n## Principals and SPED\n## Case Study Overview\n## Web-Based Resources for SPED","[{\"question\":\"Why is developing a positive school culture described as challenging for today’s principals?\",\"answer\":\"The text explains that principals face unprecedented responsibilities, including longer working hours, leading larger schools, supervising more staff, and creating productive environments for students and employees.\"},{\"question\":\"How do NCLB and IDEIA increase principals’ responsibilities for students with disabilities?\",\"answer\":\"NCLB and its accountability requirements push principals to ensure academic success for all students, especially those with disabilities. IDEIA reauthorization reinforces NCLB requirements and underscores implementation aligned with intended goals.\"},{\"question\":\"What role does principal leadership and communication play at the building level?\",\"answer\":\"The document states that strong leadership and communication skills positively impact classroom and school conditions, help inform staff about mission and progress, and support understanding and comfort across the building.\"}]","Max’s Family Experience - Web-Resources for Working with Special Education Students and their Families | PDF",1792089219,33]