Your Students, My Students, Our Students: Rethinking Equitable and Inclusive Classrooms

The Gap This Book Fills

Traditional special education models often segregate students with disabilities, reinforcing a “your students vs. my students” mindset that limits true inclusion. Your Students, My Students, Our Students directly confronts this systemic failure, offering a practical blueprint for rethinking how schools serve every learner within the general education classroom.

This book addresses the hard truths of current special education practice — from over-reliance on pull-out services to low expectations for students with disabilities — and provides five essential disruptions to the status quo. It is a call to action for educators ready to move beyond compliance toward genuine equity.

What Is Your Students, My Students, Our Students: Rethinking Equitable and Inclusive Classrooms? A Complete Overview

Your Students, My Students, Our Students: Rethinking Equitable and Inclusive Classrooms is a 2019 publication from ASCD, co-authored by Lee Ann Jung, Nancy Frey, Douglas Fisher, and Julie Kroener. The book challenges educators to shift from a mindset of “your students” (special education) and “my students” (general education) to “our students” — a shared responsibility for all learners.

At its core, the book outlines five critical disruptions: redefining the role of special education, rethinking student placement, redesigning instruction and assessment, reimagining the school community, and reframing leadership and collaboration. Each disruption is grounded in research and illustrated with real-school examples, making the content immediately applicable for K–12 educators, administrators, and support staff.

Is This Book Right for You?

This book is essential for any educator committed to creating truly inclusive classrooms. It is particularly valuable for:

• General education teachers seeking practical strategies to support diverse learners in their classrooms
• Special education teachers looking to redefine their role from case manager to collaborative instructional partner
• School administrators aiming to implement systemic changes that promote equity and inclusion
• Instructional coaches and professional development leaders who guide school-wide shifts in practice
• Teacher preparation programs that want to equip future educators with inclusive mindsets and skills
• School board members and policy makers interested in evidence-based approaches to special education reform
• Parents and advocates seeking to understand how schools can better serve all students

Whether you work in a well-resourced suburban school or an underfunded urban district, the principles in this book are designed to be adapted to your unique context.

Inside: What You Will Master

This book delivers actionable insights that can transform your practice. Here are seven key takeaways:

• The five essential disruptions that challenge the current special education paradigm and lead to more equitable outcomes
• How to redefine the role of special educators from gatekeepers of services to co-teachers and collaborative partners
• Strategies for meaningful student placement that prioritize inclusion over segregation, even for students with significant needs
• Methods for designing universally accessible instruction that benefits all learners, not just those with identified disabilities
• Approaches to inclusive assessment that measure growth and proficiency without excluding students from grade-level content
• How to build a school culture of shared responsibility where every adult owns the success of every student
• Leadership practices that sustain inclusive reform across a school or district over time

Each chapter ends with reflection questions and action steps, making this a practical guide for both individual and team study.

How It Compares

Unlike other books on inclusion that offer theory without application, Your Students, My Students, Our Students provides a clear, actionable framework backed by decades of combined expertise from its four authors. While books like Inclusion Strategies That Work or The Inclusive Classroom offer useful strategies, they often stop short of addressing the systemic mindset shifts required for lasting change.

This book stands out because it names the hard truths — such as the fact that many schools maintain segregated settings out of convenience, not necessity — and provides a roadmap for disruption that respects both student needs and teacher realities. The five-disruption model is both comprehensive and manageable, allowing schools to implement changes incrementally while keeping the end goal of full inclusion in sight.

Additionally, the authors’ combined expertise in special education, general education, and school leadership ensures that the book speaks to all stakeholders, not just one segment of the school community. It bridges the gap between theory and practice more effectively than any competing title currently on the market.

Author & Publisher Credentials

Lee Ann Jung is a professor at San Diego State University and a leading voice in inclusive education, with over two decades of research and consulting experience. Nancy Frey and Douglas Fisher are professors at San Diego State University and co-authors of numerous best-selling books on teaching and learning, including The Distance Learning Playbook. Julie Kroener brings practitioner expertise as a school administrator and special education leader.

Published by ASCD, a trusted nonprofit association dedicated to educational excellence, this book carries the weight of an organization with a 75-year history of providing evidence-based resources to educators worldwide. ASCD’s rigorous editorial process ensures that the content is both research-grounded and classroom-ready.

Final Assessment

For educators and administrators serious about making inclusion work, this book is not just worth it — it is essential. The five-disruption framework provides a clear path forward in a field where many resources offer vague inspiration without practical direction. The inclusion of reflection questions and action steps makes it suitable for both individual reading and professional learning communities.

While no single book can solve the complex challenges of special education reform, Your Students, My Students, Our Students offers a coherent, actionable starting point that respects the realities of today’s schools while pushing for meaningful change. It earns a strong recommendation for any educator committed to equity.

Download Your Students, My Students, Our Students: Rethinking Equitable and Inclusive Classrooms Now

If you are ready to move beyond traditional special education models and embrace a truly inclusive approach where every student is our student, this book is your guide. Whether you are a classroom teacher seeking practical strategies, an administrator planning systemic change, or a teacher educator preparing the next generation of inclusive practitioners, the insights in this book will equip you to make a lasting difference.

Order your copy today and join the growing movement of educators rethinking what equitable and inclusive classrooms can be. Published by ASCD in 2019, this is the current edition that reflects the latest thinking in inclusive education.