Meeting the Challenge of Conducting Community-Based Instruction in Rural Settings

Community-based instruction for students with moderate to severe disabilities facilitates generalization for learning to real world settings, yet balancing CBI with the students' need to spend time in inclusive classroom settings can be a challenge. Dealing with the constraints of offering CBI in rural settings can add an additional challenge. This article describes how rural special education teachers confronted these challenges in conducting CBI with students across five age groups: (a) preschool, (b) elementary, (c) middle school, (d) secondary school, and (e) transition to adulthood. In addition, guidelines are provided for rural special education teachers who are striving to meet the same challenges.