The Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) advocates for the full participation of all children and youth with disabilities and/or identified as gifted and talented in educational programming that promotes positive academic, social emotional, and adaptive/independent living outcomes and sets the stage for lifelong success. This position statement…

The movement toward collaborative models of preservice early childhood preparation, those that attempt to "blend" preparation for both early childhood education (ECE) and early intervention/early childhood special education (EI/ECSE), is entering its fourth decade. This position paper presents a historical analysis of the blended…

The role of parents in placement decisions is not mentioned in the foundational paper written by Agran et al. This essay explores the various ways parents are absent in the bureaucracy and in the everyday life of schools and communities. Some of the principles of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act are thought to be at the heart of the…

Agran and colleagues have not only summarized the research on inclusive education, but they have also summed up the frustrations of many of us who have been working with families, teachers, and administrators to facilitate the inclusion of children and young adults with severe disabilities over many years. My response takes some of their most…

We acknowledge that some students with severe disabilities are not being taught in general education. We do not agree that inclusion in general education is inherently better, nor do we think it is always appropriate, and we provide some reasons that a full continuum of alternative placements is not only legally mandated but appropriate. We are…

This article briefly responds to the following question: Why aren't more students with severe disabilities being placed in general education classrooms? I offer five reasons why more students with severe disabilities are not included, because: (a) ableism persists, (b) schools continue to misapply the least restrictive environment provisions of…

The purpose of this article is to respond to the perspectives of Agran and colleagues concerning barriers to general education placement for students with significant support needs from an "on the ground" lens of participation in mediations and due process hearings, as well as conversations with parental inclusion advocates throughout…

In this brief response to Agran et al., I provide data on the extent to which students with the most significant cognitive disabilities (i.e., those students participating in alternate assessments on alternate achievement standards) are separated educationally from their peers without disabilities. I further discuss additional factors that may be…

In "Inclusive Leisure Services" (4th ed.), John Dattilo discusses the importance of including all people in leisure services, offering an educational model for learning about considerations and strategies to promote inclusive leisure services. He begins each chapter with an orientation activity including questions to stimulate reflection…

Critical literacy has been on the map of literacy pedagogy internationally since the time of Freire, and more commonplace in the United States in the last few decades. However, in this column the authors argue that the common practices of critical literacy are insufficient for critical engagement with texts. The tools of critical literacy are…