The U.S. Department of Education, under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, underscores every child's right to integrate, receive support, and fully participate in school life. The problem is that significant disparities exist in reading growth scores between students with disabilities taught in special-education resource settings and those served in inclusive classes in the United States. The purpose of this quantitative quasi-experimental study was to examine if differences existed when gauging the reading assessment and growth scores of students taught in an inclusion setting compared to those taught in a resource setting. Based on Vygotsky's zone of proximal development (ZPD), this study examined variations in reading among third to fifth-grade students with learning disabilities in both scenarios utilizing grade-level reading curricula. The hypotheses indicated possible statistically significant disparities between these contexts by comparing third- through fifth-grade reading achievement and reading growth utilizing grade-level curricula and Acadience Oral Reading Fluency (ORF) scores. Centering on variances in reading development using Acadience ORF scores, an analysis was conducted on data from 308 elementary students served in special education within a rural Georgia school district. Employing inferential statistics encompassing a two-sample t-test, a comparison of reading development was undertaken to shed light on the effectiveness of diverse settings in aiding the academic advancement of students with specific learning disabilities. The study's findings suggested a statistically significant difference in third- through fifth-grade reading achievement scores for students with specific learning disabilities in inclusion and resource settings. In contrast, no significant difference was observed in reading growth in the groups. Effect sizes, indicating moderate influence and impact, were influenced by the uneven distribution of participants in the study. [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.]