Exploring District Wide Scaling and Implementation of Inclusive Practices for Learners with Extensive Support Needs: An Instrumental Case Study

Abstract

Since the passage of the Education for All Handicapped Children Act (EAHCA) in 1975 and the Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA) in 1990, there have been many public debates regarding inclusive education and the ways in which this equity initiative continues to be met with resistance (Connor & Ferri, 2007). Academic researchers have demonstrated the effectiveness of inclusion and positive outcomes for all students, however students with disabilities continue to be physically segregated from their peers without disabilities (Agran et al., 2020). This is especially true for learners with extensive support needs (ESN) who continue to be segregated based on conditional approaches to inclusive education (Morningstar et al., 2014). This instrumental, qualitative case study (Stake, 1995) explored how one small rural school district is leveraging their district commitment to equity to engage in district wide inclusive education reform. Leveraging critical inclusion and a disability studies in education lens, the findings of the study indicate strong evidence to support current literature indicating that: (1) practices that support students with ESN often support the whole school community, (2) structures that provide consistent opportunities for collaboration with interdisciplinary teams support educator agency, (3) collaboratively created statements and tools can create unity through clarity, (4) innovative leaders are necessary for transformative change, and (5) inclusionary schools in siloed systems can thrive and can lead toward district level scale and sustainability.