The topic we are addressing in this session is improving teaching and learning. We are talking about improving teaching and learning. I assume our focus is on improving teaching and learning for those students who are resistant to instruction and for whom we need to intensify our instructional efforts. These students are present in all of our classrooms. There are three things that are necessary in order to improve teaching and learning. We must know:

• Where we are going (goals)

• How best to achieve the goals (effective strategies and tactics)

• Whether we have achieved the goals (accountability)

The presentations at this conference have highlighted the level of professional commitment, concern and compassion with which researchers and teachers have attempted to address the task of improving educational services for students with special educational needs. The focus of this conference upon the theme “Excellence In A New century”; is appropriate and it is organisations such as AASE that will have to take up the advocacy role in trying to ensure that this objective is realised. Major impediments to attaining this objective are present in existing legislation, teacher training programs and educational service delivery systems. I believe that the removal of these impediments and the creation of an “excellent”; educational system will take much time and effort but this should not deter AASE from proceeding towards its stated objective.

A quasi‐experimental matched pre‐test, post‐test control group design was used to investigate the impact of individual student focussed teacher inservice on the progress of students with disabilities enrolled in mainstream kindergarten classes. Twelve student pairs in one district of the NSW Department of Education and Training were matched on pre‐test scores collected at the end of the term prior to kindergarten entry. The kindergarten teachers of each student pair were assigned to a training and non‐training group. Teachers in the training group were involved in a 2 day inservice training program which focussed on the assessed needs of the students with disabilities in their classes. Teachers in both groups were surveyed to gauge their perceptions of the support they received in the identified students’ transitions to school and of their efforts to include the students. The students were reassessed at the end of kindergarten. Although the students as a whole made gains in all areas assessed, there were no statistically significant differences in the post‐test scores of the students in the classes of the teachers in the training versus the non‐training group. The implications of these findings and the results of the teacher survey are discussed.

Quality of life is now well developed in the disability literature yet there are few studies that relate to children. In this paper the implications of quality of life models for the field of inclusion are discussed. Quality of life is seen as an attribute of well being and the principles relevant to this are outlined. Inclusion is not seen simply as an educational process, for the authors argue that educational inclusion can only be effective when it is set within proactive community and family behaviour which is also inclusive. Together these concepts give rise to broad educational criteria and it is the discussion of these which forms the central focus of this paper. Implications for family and community as well as the education system including professional education are also discussed.