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ERIC Number: EJ1466468
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2025-Apr
Pages: 24
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0014-4029
EISSN: EISSN-2163-5560
Available Date: 0000-00-00
An Open Letter to the Field: Contemplating Special Education's Collaborative Role in Developing Inclusive Education
David J. Connor1; Scot Danforth2; Deborah Gallagher3
Exceptional Children, v91 n3 p236-259 2025
The inclusion of students with disabilities with special education services into general education classes has been an integral part of education for over 3 decades. It is a worldwide movement that continues to grow. Yet, some Special Education researchers remain highly critical, even cynical, of inclusion, despite decades of research that have refined school and classroom-based practices so that the majority of students with disabilities, with few exceptions, can achieve inclusion. In this paper we emphasize the importance of maintaining an optimistic focus on inclusive education by (1) foregrounding the thinking of activists within the Disability Rights Movement and more recent disability collectives that undergird theories of disability justice and inclusion; (2) centering intersectional experiences of disability; (3) clarifying the intentions of inclusion and dispelling some lingering myths; and (4) describing ways that inclusive classrooms can best serve students with mild to complex and multiple support needs. We conclude with a request to our field to reflect upon and consider Special Education's evolving role in ongoing collaborative development of inclusive education.
SAGE Publications. 2455 Teller Road, Thousand Oaks, CA 91320. Tel: 800-818-7243; Tel: 805-499-9774; Fax: 800-583-2665; e-mail: journals@sagepub.com; Web site: https://sagepub.com
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: 1Professor Emeritus, Hunter College, City University of New York, New York, USA; 2Chapman University, Orange, CA, USA; 3Professor Emeritus, University of Northern Iowa, Cedar Falls, IA, USA