Promoting Systemic, Statewide Inclusion From the Bottom Up

Abstract

Educators have been challenged to meet the needs of students with disabilities in the least restrictive environment. Although this mandate has existed for 30 years, local educators report difficulties with program planning; graduation and grading of students with disabilities; recruitment and retention of qualified teachers; ensuring access of all students to the general education curriculum; training in collaborative planning and teaching; and placing students in the least restrictive setting. These challenges inhibit educators' ability to include students with disabilities in general education and are largely the by-product of district and state policy. This article describes a bottom-up, context-specific change model that focused on providing professional development at each level (local to state) of the system and fostering communication across the levels. This strategy produced lasting change in 2 states in policy and local implementation of policy and serves as a model for teachers and principals seeking to promote inclusion.