The authors of this book join a growing number of voices calling for teachers in diverse, inclusive schools to move beyond facilitating social participation in classroom activities and consider ways to intellectually engage ALL learners. They draw on emerging work linking critical theory with disability issues; work being done in curriculum studies around issues of social justice teaching, authentic instruction, service learning, and critical pedagogy; and the movement in the field of special education away from a deficit-driven model of education to an orientation that values students' strengths and gifts. Access to Academics for ALL Students: Critical Approaches to Inclusive Curriculum, Instruction, and Policy: examines the perceptions teachers hold about students with disabilities, students who are racially and ethnically diverse, students using English as a second language, students labeled "at risk," students placed in both "high" and "low" academic tracks, and students in urban schools; highlights how students who traditionally have been denied access to challenging work and educational opportunities can be supported to participate in academic instruction; and provides ideas for recognizing and challenging inequities, offers a framework for fostering access to academics for students with a range of strengths and needs, and explores pragmatic ways of increasing academic success for all learners. This volume is appropriate for both undergraduate and master's level courses in curriculum and instruction, methods of teaching (special and general education), inclusive education, multicultural education, and cultural foundations of education. It will serve as a resource for elementary and secondary teachers, for school administrators, and for parents.
