Preparing Teachers to Educate Students with Severe Disabilities in Inclusive Settings despite Contextual Constraints

Inclusive education has been advocated for students with severe disabilities based on the least restrictive environment mandate of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act Amendments of 1997, but remains an obscure practice. Some professional groups assert that preparing teachers to provide inclusive education is the sole responsibility of school districts. Teacher educators in colleges and universities must also assume this responsibility, even when the surrounding communities do not provide exemplars or even support this innovation. This article describes a course intended to prepare special education graduate students to educate students with severe disabilities in inclusive settings. Course methods are guided by the Concerns Based Adoption Model (Hord, Rutherford, Huling-Austin, & Hall, 1987) with emphasis on course participants applying course content in public school settings. Anecdotal data and a pre-/postcourse evaluation using the Stages of Concern Questionnaire (Hall, George, & Rutherford, 1986) suggest that the course effectively contributes to preparing teachers for inclusive education for students with severe disabilities and reduces teacher concerns related to managing this innovation.