Reshaping Educational Systems to Realize the Promise of Inclusive Education

Inclusive educational practices are rooted in a body of research indicating that when students in need of support through special education are meaningfully included in schools, academic and social outcomes improve for all students. To realize this promise of better outcomes, traditional schools with separate classrooms and even schools designated to exclusively serve various learner subgroups (e.g., students identified for special education) will require reorganized systems, structures, and resources.  A school with a fully integrated educational framework is better positioned to meet the needs of all students, including those who live in poverty, who experience high mobility, who benefit from an accelerated curriculum, or who struggle to learn for other reasons. This paper describes an example of a transformational framework and technical assistance provided to a whole interlocking education systems (i.e., state, district, school) to reshape and increase school capacity to implement and sustain an equity-based, inclusive multi-tiered system of support. Statistical analyses that compared academic achievements of students with Individualized Education Programs (IEPs, i.e., disability) in schools reflecting early stages of transformation with that of students with IEPs in schools reflecting advanced transformation. The extent of school transformation to the framework significantly predicted improved outcomes for students with IEPs.