Placement decisions for students with severe disabilities have often been based less on the students’ unique learning needs but more on beliefs and presumptions about student learning, entrenched school district policies that restrict program delivery options, and other variables unrelated to student needs. In light of the benefits associated with inclusive practices for students with severe disabilities, this article examines the foregoing factors to better understand how they affect placement decisions and to identify barriers to implementing at a national level more inclusive placements. The article also addresses systems change solutions, and several new federally funded initiatives that could contribute to authentic changes in placement practices.

Research has begun to identify the breadth and complexity of contextual variables that impact the opportunities, services, and supports students with complex support needs receive across different classroom placements. Indeed, as research has suggested, placement in and of itself may determine the schooling experiences of these students in ways that can enhance or constrain the outcomes of the educational process. This study examined an array of contextual variables in relation to four types of placement in which students with complex support needs might be placed for educational services by their Individualized Education Program teams. Placements were defined in terms of percent of the school day students had access to age-level general education classes, ranging between no access (separate school) to 80% or higher (“inclusive”). The investigation used surveys completed by a national sample of special and general educators and administrators. Completed surveys were obtained for 117 students with complex support needs across all four types of placement. The findings revealed potential relationships between a number of contextual variables and placement, suggesting that: (a) student opportunities and experiences vary systematically in relation to the amount of access they have to general education classrooms and (b) the application of the Least Restrictive Environment process, with its tacit endorsement of segregated settings and specialized programs, may in fact negatively impact the education of many of these students. Implications of these findings and future research needs are discussed.

Parents and teachers have identified the social inclusion of students with complex support needs as one of the most important components of school participation. Previous research has found that the opportunities for, and importance of, social contacts for students with complex support needs vary by educational placement. The purpose of this study was to evaluate a national sample of 92 elementary-aged students with complex support needs to determine whether placement predicts the number and importance of social contacts. We used multilevel regression analysis to measure the extent to which placement predicts the number of social contacts and teachers’ ratings of importance. Students in inclusive placements had almost 50% more social contacts than students in a segregated school. Furthermore, teachers’ perceptions of the social significance of the contacts experienced by students with complex support needs were notably higher in inclusive settings. Given these findings, we suggest implications for practice and future research.

Students with complex support needs frequently experience restrictive educational placements such as self-contained and separate school classrooms. Given the need to support students with complex support needs to experience positive outcomes and make progress in the general education curriculum, there is a need to investigate the characteristics of the classroom contexts in which they are learning. The purpose of this study was to use ecobehavioral assessment observation methods to investigate how student behaviors, educator behaviors, and classroom ecology vary across general education, resource, self-contained, and separate school classrooms. We observed 116 students with complex support needs across the United States, and results indicated that contextual features of resource, self-contained, and separate school classrooms do not offer superior levels of instruction or supports for students with complex support needs as compared with general education classrooms. We were more likely to observe no one interacting with the focus student, no instruction, and the presence of distractions in self-contained and separate school classrooms compared with general education classrooms. Implications for policy, research, and practice are presented.

Education teams continue to place students with extensive support needs (ESN) in segregated settings despite nearly 50 years of research culminating in the conclusion that students with ESN have better outcomes when educated in general education contexts. This article uses Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory to explain how social systems influence the beliefs, attitudes, and decisions made by education team members about the educational placement of students with ESN. This article describes: (a) Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory to explain how each social system influences decisions made about the educational placement of students with ESN; (b) the history of educational segregation of students with disabilities; (c) macrosystems of education team members and how they perpetuate segregated placement decisions of students with ESN; and (d) actions to disrupt the education system and segregated placement decisions.