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Since the passage of Public Law 94-142, federal law has prioritized the education of students with disabilities with their non-disabled peers in the context of the general education classroom. This chapter examines the progress, and often lack thereof, with regard to educating students with extensive and pervasive support needs in inclusive settings. We examine current trends in placement, factors that contribute to those placement practices, and what IDEA says about the education of students with extensive and pervasive support needs. We examine what the research suggests happens in substantially segregated settings and then, in contrast, examine impacts and outcomes for students with extensive and pervasive support needs who are educated in inclusive settings. We also examine trends resulting from changing paradigms of disability that provide new opportunities for re-invigorating efforts to educate students with extensive and pervasive support needs in inclusive classrooms.

This chapter provides “viewpoints” on the education of learners with extensive and pervasive support needs. That is, students who require the most support to learn, often categorized as having intellectual disability, multiple disabilities, autism spectrum disorder, or related disabilities. The lenses through which we provide these viewpoints are historical and future-oriented; we begin with historic perspectives on the education of students with extensive and pervasive support needs, and then provide 21st century viewpoints for these learners. We interpret the notion of viewpoints in two ways: first, consistent with a viewpoint as indicating an examination of objects (in this case, practices and interventions) from a distance so as to be able to compare and judge; and, second, viewpoint as indicating our perspective on said interventions and practice.

In spite of the best efforts of educational policy analysts, local, state and federal legislation, researchers, and practitioners, the results of public schooling in the U.S. remains unsatisfactory on a variety of counts. This remains true particularly in our largest and most complex school systems. The limited impact of much school reform has led to a more systemic approach to educational reform. A systems perspective examines the whole organization and the interrelationships between its component parts. The systems approach to change, renewal and innovation is helpful not only as we think about the national picture but as we confront the everyday challenges of our work. The systemic change framework provides an approach to thinking about the work of practitioners, schools, and school districts to help reformers and change agents think about the benefits and counterbalances to innovations and improvements they propose.

We are all a part of the structures and struggles of a wider society, the impact of which is also felt at the classroom level which creates its own society. Classrooms are guided by the invaluable contribution of teachers who play a key role in imbibing inclusivity, compassion, and social justice in the classroom atmosphere. The teachers ensure that the classrooms are spaces in which every learner feels wanted and included. An inclusive classroom has huge positive impact on learner where every child, regardless of their background, benefits from the learning process. Inclusiveness is far from being mere rhetoric and achieving an equitable opportunity for all is a challenge. Tools, frameworks, and standardized procedures have been formulated with an effort to minimize learning barriers and create a genuine inclusive environment. Sustainable Development Goal 4 on education advocates inclusive and equitable quality education and lifelong learning opportunities for all in every part of the world by 2030. It emphasizes inclusion and equity as the foundations for quality education and learning. This chapter explores the meaning of inclusiveness and multiculturalism in a classroom context and further explores strategies that have been adopted toward formulating an all-inclusive classroom. In this volume, authors have written about inclusion and equity in and through education systems and programs. Through case studies and narratives, they have described steps undertaken in different parts of the world to prevent and address all forms of exclusion and marginalization, disparity, and inequality in educational access. The chapters will serve as a resource for educationists and practitioners and contribute toward inclusive education.