IMPLEMENTING INCLUSION FOR STUDENTS WITH MODERATE AND SEVERE DISABILITIES

High quality teachers have a significant positive impact on student outcomes (Leko, Brownell, Sindelar, & Murphy, 2012).  Much research has confirmed students with complex support needs (CSN) benefit from learning academic content and skills (see e.g., Browder and her colleagues).  While access to general education content appears to be greater in general education settings (Soukup, Wehmeyer, Bashinski, & Bovaird, 2007), these students continue to be educated in the most restrictive settings (Kurth, Morningstar, & Kozeleski, 2014) and general education teachers (GETs) report feeling unprepared to teach students with moderate/severe disabilities. This case study focuses on how six GETs, who were prepared through an OSEP funded master’s degree in special education, navigated implementing inclusion for students with CSN in their general education classrooms.

The conceptual framework that guided this study was implementation science (NIRN, 2015). This was selected so that the factors that that influenced the implementation of students with CSN could be studied in practice. Data from a variety of sources, including interviews, coaching records, mentoring advising team meeting notes, surveys, course records, and other communication (e.g., emails), were collected across the 2.5 years scholars were engaged the program. A series of three phenomenological interviews was collected (Seidman, 2006). Each was focused on understanding scholars’ experiences with students with disabilities and inclusion before entering the program, during the program, and after the program. Interview topics explored included beliefs along with supports and barriers to change.

Through the lens of implementation science and using case study methodology (Stakes, 1995), we address how the six scholars enacted their roles as teachers, leaders, and collaborators to benefit students CSN in inclusive settings.  The findings suggest that entering dispositions, including receptivity to training, entering beliefs, and persistence, influenced implementation in schools of evidence-based practices for students with moderate/severe disabilities in general education classrooms.