It is with great pleasure that we announce the launch of the new TASH practitioner journal, Inclusive Practices! We assume the role of co-editors on this venture with excitement and anticipation. Inclusive Practices is a practitioner-focused journal, in which cutting edge research is presented in a user-friendly way for people working to promote the inclusion of people with extensive support needs in schools, homes, communities and work places. We see this journal as an exciting opportunity to bridge the research-to-practice gap, and give people tools and ideas to implement immediately. As an online journal, we anticipate this to be an accessible, one-stop-place to get the most current information and strategies useful to TASH stakeholders. Inclusive Practices will publish three types of articles:
- Feature articles, in which research-based ideas are presented in a user-friendly, ready-to-implement format
- Perspective Pages, in which TASH stakeholders share their ideas and thoughts about current topics
- Leading Edge articles, which will highlight new developments in areas such as policy and innovation.
The TASH journal, Research and Practice for Persons with Severe Disabilities (RPSD), will maintain its position as a rigorous research journal, and our goal is that the research published in journals such as RPSD are translated in Inclusive Practices.
The idea for this journal originated many years ago, and we are grateful for the work of countless TASH staff, committee members, and board members for persisting in the effort to make this journal a reality. We are especially grateful for the TASH Research and Publications Committee who assisted us in developing the journal aims and scope, and trusted us to be the inaugural editors of this new journal. We also extend our gratitude to the TASH Board who supported our efforts to launch this journal, and celebrated the many steps along the way. And above all, we are grateful for the TASH Executive Director Ruthie-Marie Beckwith, who championed this journal and moved mountains to make it a reality.
As co-editors of this new venture, we aim to establish Inclusive Practices as a leading practitioner journal in the field of severe disabilities during our term as co-editors. To accomplish this, we aim to select articles of the highest quality for publication. A reputable team has been assembled for our editorial board, and we believe their work will help us ensure the quality of all articles. We also aim to make the journal highly visible, by promoting it through various means including social media, print, and other outlets to ensure the best ideas are brought to the journal for publication. Finally, the journal will be grounded in the TASH values of equity, opportunity, and inclusion; in so doing, we aim to establish the social justice agenda of the journal.
As we begin our 3-year term as co-editors, we invite readers to contact us directly with questions, comments, and suggestions, and I extend an open invitation to anyone wishing to serve as a guest reviewer to email us at tashinclusivepractices@gmail.com.
Sincerely,
Andrea Ruppar and Jennifer Kurth
Co-Editors-in-Chief, Inclusive Practices
About the Co-Editors-in-Chief
Jennifer Kurth is an Associate Professor of Special Education at the University of Kansas. Her academic interests include methods implementing inclusive education, including methods of embedding critical instruction within the context and routines of general education as well as methods of providing appropriate supports and services for individual learners. Dr. Kurth’s research also examines how teachers, students, and family’s interactions support and constrain learning and socialization in general education classrooms. She also studies how teacher candidates develop their dispositions and skills in inclusive practices. Dr. Kurth’s research interests in inclusive education also include examining outcomes of inclusion in terms of skill development and quality of life indicators for students with disabilities.
Andrea Ruppar is a Professor in the Department of Rehabilitation Psychology and Special Education at the University of Wisconsin — Madison. Dr. Ruppar’s scholarship focuses on building the capacity of schools and teachers to provide meaningful, evidence-based, inclusive education for students with the most significant disabilities – including multiple disabilities, intellectual disability, and autism. She earned her Ph. D. from the University of Illinois in 2011 and completed a post-doctoral traineeship at the University of Florida. In her recent work, she has examined: 1) adolescents’ access to literacy and communication; 2) the role of teachers in promoting access and involvement in the general curriculum within inclusive contexts; and 3) the development and evaluation of expertise among teachers of students with the most significant disabilities. A former K-12 special educator, Dr. Ruppar is particularly interested in the influence of the social context of teachers’ workplaces on decision-making. She is the past recipient of the Council for Exceptional Children Student Research Award in the area of qualitative methodology, the American Educational Research Association Special Education SIG Student Research Award, and the Council for Exceptional Children Teacher Education Division Early Career Publication Award.