Issues raised in the name of inclusion: Perspectives of educators, parents, and students

Forty-five focus group discussions involving 335 general and special educators, administrators, support staff, parents, and students from a midwestern urban community were held to discuss the education initiative referred to as inclusive education. This study was conducted to develop a district-wide profile of the issues raised when considering systems change to more inclusive educational practices for students with special education labels. Specifically, information was sought about the preliminary issues and concerns that might need to be addressed in future inclusion efforts. Participants represented a diverse array of constituents and individuals with the vast majority having little to no knowledge of or experience with including special education students in general education. Findings, therefore, largely represent opinions about inclusion given little knowledge or experience. Results indicated that for the past decade, there has been an increase in the percentage of students with disabilities who attend regular schools, but that special education services remain largely separate from general education within those schools. Perceived facilitators of inclusion centered around the attitudes and skills of service providers in schools and the allocation of collaboration time for general and special educators. Perceived barriers included rigid general education curricular expectations, insufficient resources for staffing and materials, lack of collaboration time, and negative attitudes with particular concern that ''regular'' students would lose out. The appropriateness of inclusion was questioned for students with the most severe disabilities (e.g., severe behavior challenges, health and medical needs). Although much of the information obtained was similar across constituencies, there were a number of differences-especially between the adult groups and the student groups.