This study investigated the opinions of general education teachers working in public elementary schools in Turkey regarding the inclusion of students with disabilities into their classrooms and their willingness also to include students with more severe learning disabilities. One hundred and ninety-four general education teachers completed the…

The data in this paper represent the experiences and perspectives of parents and teachers who worked as communities of practice, designing support plans for the inclusion of three students with intellectual disabilities in general education classrooms. Their reflections, obtained through interviews and questionnaires, show how they constructed…

"Inclusion" is not a mechanism for relocating educationally disadvantaged youngsters in mainstream rather than in special schools. Rather, inclusion implies a whole school approach to social relations and production of meaning reached through processes of negotiation between parents, teachers and children. Such an approach places equal value upon…

The authors share the results of an ongoing study of the changing roles that paraeducators may face when they work in inclusive classrooms. The results of the study may fill an identified research gap regarding what para-educators in inclusive classrooms actually do (given that only 7 studies published between 1999-2006). The results of the pilot…

Since the election of the Labour government in 1997, England has seen policy changes leading to increased rights for students with special educational needs (SEN), including those with behavioural, emotional and social difficulties (BESD), to be educated in mainstream schools. The present paper reports on the findings of a small-scale study…

This qualitative study examined aspects of the inclusive program in an elementary school in a rural section of the upper Midwest of the United States. This article describes a university and elementary school research partnership to study collaboration among the general education teachers and the special education staff (teachers and assistants)…

The degree to which special educators serve in a meaningful collaborative capacity in inclusive classrooms has come under scrutiny, and hence, the quality of collaboration training afforded requires examination.This article describes the results of a survey conducted with 53 undergraduate pre-service special education training programs…

This paper is based on the concept of inclusion as a process of recognising and minimising the barriers to learning and participation of all children, with teachers as the key players in implementing inclusion in practice. There are two key questions: (1) How do teachers rank different groups of marginalised children? (2) How do teachers see their…

As more students with disabilities are included in general education classrooms, many obstacles must be overcome before parents, teachers, students, and administrators deem inclusion effective. This article identifies seven "sins", which are barriers to inclusive practices in secondary schools: Negative teacher perspectives; lack of knowledge…

All across the country, individuals are being recognized for successfully promoting inclusion in schools. These persons have helped make it more possible for students who have disabilities to participate in meaningful ways with their peers in a wide range of activities. Although the quality of inclusion does indeed depend on many factors related…

This qualitative study examines the perspectives of special education/resource teachers in Winnipeg on current transition services to prepare high school students with disabilities for adulthood. The data were collected by individual in-depth interviews with 6 teachers responsible for coordinating transition services. The main themes emerging from…

Government guidance in the United Kingdom encourages groups of schools to take collective responsibility for supporting and making provision for excluded pupils and those at risk of exclusion. Managed moves are one way that some schools and authorities are enacting such guidance. This article presents the results of an evaluation of one such…

Increasing numbers of young children with disabilities are receiving services in inclusive settings such as Head Start. It is important to note that positive outcomes for young children with disabilities are due in large part to practitioners' understanding and implementation of both recommended practices in both early care and education and early…

This article is based on interviews with 67 primary school teachers and principals in Iceland about changes in the work of teachers during the last part of the twentieth century. The focus is on what teachers and principals understand as the most important change, how it affects teachers' work lives, and how they talk about change. The changes…

Although inclusion is recommended as "best practice," there is little implementation research from the parent's viewpoint. This article presents the experiences of one mother actively involved in making inclusion work for her child. Tracey's story focuses on the importance of developing parent-professional partnerships to secure a…