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We examined the opinions of experts in the field of moderate to severe disabilities on useful practices for inclusive education across nine categories of practices: Promoting inclusive values in the school; collaboration between general and special educators; collaboration between educators and related service providers; family involvement; choosing and planning what to teach; scheduling, coordinating, and delivering inclusive services within the school; assessing and reporting student progress on an ongoing basis; instructional strategies; and supporting students with challenging behavior. An examination of emergent themes within each category yielded a rich description of the depth and breadth of practices that are perceived by these experts as useful in promoting and sustaining successful school inclusion. Importantly, many of the identified practices require some level of educational service restructuring, including redefining the roles and functions of special education teachers, related services personnel, and classroom teachers. We also found that our sample of experts relied on sources of information other than empirical research in the development of their stores of wisdom on useful practices. Although preliminary in nature, our study contributes to the growing body of literature on inclusive education. It describes a range of practices perceived by a sample of experts to be associated with successful school inclusion. It also identifies a number of important themes that can inform future research in this area.

This 7 year case study describes a young woman with moderate to severe disabilities and her use of literacy (i.e., reading, writing, listening, and speaking) during various stages of her educational career. Her use of literacy is described (a) when she was 15-years-old, after having received special education and related services in self-contained special education classes for 10 years and (b) during the proceeding 7 years, after the location in which she received services was changed to general education settings with nondisabled classmates, first in middle school, then high school, and finally in college. This change in location of services resulted in changes both in her instructional content and in the manner in which instruction and assessment occurred. Concomitantly, observable changes occurred in her social and learning behaviors. Significant changes resulted in the student's reading, writing, listening, and speaking across settings, people, content, and activities. In addition, the student's prior inappropriate social behaviors and refusals to participate in learning activities were replaced with appropriate behaviors in both instructional and social situations. Finally, the implications of the findings from this case study are discussed and recommendations are made for providing effective educational programs for students with moderate to severe disabilities, including literacy development.

The reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act and the No Child Left Behind Act requires that students with extensive support needs have access to, participate in, and make progress on the general curriculum along with their grade-level general education peers. This article suggests that the terms used in this legislation have been interpreted differently across educational personnel, parents, advocates, and researchers, and that these differing interpretations have resulted in confusion and controversy related to services for this set of students. The purpose of this article was to initiate a discussion about the role of context when conceptualizing access to the general curriculum for students with extensive support needs related to communication, physical, and intellectual disabilities. It begins by discussing the federal mandate and regulations related to access to the general curriculum. It then presents differing interpretations of the concept of access to the general curriculum for students with extensive support needs, components that comprise access, and the impact of those interpretations on services. Next, it suggests an approach to conceptualizing educational services to guide policy makers, educators, and researchers as they develop, implement, and study effective practices that facilitate access to the general curriculum for students with extensive support needs. The article concludes with the suggestion that researchers, administrators, policy makers, and stakeholders must develop and hold a common understanding of the construct access to the general curriculum that is based on findings of the extant research; and that for all students, including students with extensive support needs, general education contexts are critical to accessing the general curriculum.

This case study describes the journey of one school district as it focused for 5 years on affecting district-wide systemic change related to inclusive education for all students with disabilities, including those with severe disabilities. Information is provided about the district's efforts across 5 years, and data are provided across those 5 and 2 years of follow-up. Data indicate that the systemic change efforts at multiple levels (i.e., district, school, education team) and across constituencies (e.g., parents, district and school administrators, instructional and support personnel) have resulted in changes in placement for students with disabilities, emphasizing both placement in their neighborhood schools or schools of choice and access to general education settings. In addition, these changes occurred in a climate of high-stakes assessment, with the state department of education initiating a practice of publicly grading both schools and districts based on the performance of students on state assessments. Although the district is still engaged in change efforts, the study describes lessons learned and provides recommendations for other school districts attempting such change efforts. The data reflected in this analysis, however, convince the district that change is occurring, that change is spreading across the district, and that change is sustainable in spite of changes in district leadership and key personnel.

A lack of empirical information exists regarding the skills and experiences necessary for teachers with specialized expertise in severe disabilities. The purpose of this study was to provide information (a) on the configuration of nationally recognized masters programs designed to prepare teachers with expertise specifically in severe disabilities and (b) on areas of expertise considered essential for teachers to work with teams and meet the needs of students with severe disabilities. The results are discussed according to the population of students, content courses, field experiences, credit hours, and resulting certifications. In addition, we discuss areas of expertise in the area of severe disabilities. We also examine whether participants perceived items within each area of expertise to be required of at least one team member with expertise in severe disabilities and whether these items are addressed in their programs. We present conclusions and recommendations for guiding teacher education programs in the area of severe disabilities as faculty evaluate and/or reform their programs.

This study investigated the perceptions of parents of 13 children with moderate or severe disabilities in relation to their child's education in inclusive general education settings. Parents were all Caucasian and were from seven different school districts in western New York State. Their children ranged in age from 5 to 20 years, with nine having experienced educational services in self-contained settings prior to being included in typical classrooms. Audio-taped interviews of parents lasting from 60 to 90 minutes were transcribed and analyzed following qualitative research methodology. Findings indicated that, regardless of the age of their child, parents of all 13 children reported very positive perceptions. Parents whose children had been educated previously in self-contained classes reported many academic, behavioral, and social outcomes that they felt would not have happened without the transition to age-appropriate general education classes. The findings add to the growing literature on inclusion and support the trend to provide educational services for students with moderate or severe disabilities in general education settings.

"What key issues and challenges affect the lives of people with severe disabilities today -- and what should tomorrow's professionals do to address them? Aligned with the core values and agenda of TASH, this visionary text prepares professionals to strengthen supports and services for people with disabilities across the lifespan. Readers will fully examine more than a dozen critical topics in the lives of people with severe disabilities; explore necessary reforms to policy and practice; and set clear goals and priorities for improving early intervention, education, health care, behavior supports, and social services. Whether used as a textbook or a professional reference, this innovative volume will help usher in a new era of services that support full inclusion and quality of life for people with severe disabilities."--Provided by publisher.

Students with significant disabilities continue to be among the most segregated in schools. In this article, we argue that the principles of least restrictive environment and involvement and progress in the general curriculum have been interpreted in ways that perpetuate segregation, rather than increasing students' access to meaningful curriculum in inclusive educational contexts. We examine this issue from three broad perspectives: federal policy related to least restrictive environment, interpretations of policies related to involvement and progress in the general curriculum, and the implementation of policies related to assessment of grade-level standards. We discuss implications of each of these issues for providing and increasing involvement and progress in general education contexts and content.