D ifferences hold great opportunities for learning. Differences offer a free, abundant, and renewable resource. I would like to see our compulsion for eliminating differences replaced by an equally compelling focus on making use of these differences to improve schools. (Barth, 1990, pp. 514-515) American public schools are serving a more heterogeneous population than ever before. Thirtyfive percent of children in the U.S. are members of minority groups. Twenty percent of this country's children live in poverty, and the same proportion of children live in households headed by an immigrant (Olson, 2000). Despite the increasing diversity in our schools, the challenge of meeting the needs of diverse groups of students in public schools is not new. Riehl (2000) high-lights over a century of such efforts in a recent analysis of the principal's role in creating schools that are responsive to diverse students. Described by Grubb (1995) as "the old problem of new students," it is clear that issues associated with diversity are familiar challenges for school administrators.Currently composing over 10% of the school population (U.S. Department of Education, 1999), students with disabilities and those considered "at risk" represent one source of the increasing diversity in today's classrooms.

This article summarizes the results of a survey of teachers in Pennsylvania who have educational responsibility for one or more students who use assistive technology in the classroom. The majority of these students had some type of physical disability and used an augmentative communication device. The teachers who responded to this survey were highly educated and experienced in the use of computers and assistive technology. Issues surrounding the complexity of the equipment were among the greatest barriers to the use of assistive technology reported by these teachers. When asked to rate both the importance and availability of specific technology supports, training and maintenance issues were rated most highly. Teachers consistently rated supports as being more important than they were readily available.

The Consortium on Inclusive Schooling Practices (CISP) was a 5-year federally-funded project focused on building the capacity of state and local systems to deliver inclusive educational services. A policy framework was developed to guide its training and technical assistance efforts across multiple states and districts. The framework incorporates standards-based reform within an inclusive schooling perspective. This article describes the six components of this policy framework and the various ways in which it was applied. Based on its utility in this context, the authors suggest ways in which this tool can be used by practitioners and policymakers at the district and school level.

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