Recognizing the prevalence of low literacy achievements of secondary students with disabilities despite numerous mainstream reading interventions' attempts to alleviate the issue, this dissertation considers an alternative path to literacy. To begin, this study theorizes knowledge, literacy, and learning as mutually constituted person-world elements. Seen through such lens, learning literacy is a social process of identification and practice that connects academic knowledge to students' lives. Emerging from these ideas is a conceptual framework called "dialogical pedagogy" that consists of (a) include everyone, (b) relational agency, and (c) critical literacy. Including everyone increases the potential for learning through the wealth of knowledge that classroom diversity brings to a community of learners. Relational agency recognizes that students make greater academic gains by building and refinin ideas collaboratively rather than individually. Critical literacy is a form of liberatory praxis that uses the critique of text to identify oppression and promote social justice. The study documented the year-long process of creating dialogical pedagogy whole class discussions in two 9th grade social studies inclusive general education classrooms in New York City. The study used ethnographic methods with elements of participatory action research and teacher research. Data collection included audio recording of class discussions, discussion reflections, and lesson planning, writing fieldnotes, and interviews. Findings revealed how class discussions (a) formed an inclusive classroom community, (b) built a grammar of discussions (c) taught skilled reading, and (d) used texts to examine social inequities. The dissertation concludes with implications for special education regarding literacy, inclusion, and teacher practices. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2222/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]