The purpose of this dissertation was to review the way a middle school implemented inclusion and how it changed and improved over the first three years of implementation (2005/2006, 2006/2007, 2007/2008). Inclusive practices have continued to increase with each year following the passing of the Education for All Handicapped Children Act (PL 94-142) in 1975. The key component of PL 94-142 in relation to inclusion is that of LRE, where by law, students with disabilities should be educated in the least restrictive setting in which the students can still learn and access the curriculum. If not conducted correctly, special education inclusion can become a significant problem, both for the students being educated and for the instructing teacher.

The research questions in the study stemmed from the attitudes and perceptions of the educators of students with disabilities and the academic performance of students with disabilities who were educated in the inclusion setting compared with students who were educated in the self-contained or resource setting. The research design was a nonexperimental, mix-method approach, with the primary focus on quantitative data. Descriptive, quantitative data were used to show the achievement gaps of students, the professional development offerings, and the attitudes and perceptions of the educators. Student final grades in math and language arts, math and reading FCAT scores, professional development offerings, and general demographic information were obtained. Data from 2007/2008 also included results from the ATIES (Wilczenski, 1993) scale. Qualitative methods were used to describe school demographics, teacher attitudes and perceptions, and the professional development offerings at the studied school.

The implications of the study show that students with disabilities who were educated in the general education setting more closely represent their non-disabled peers academically than the students who were educated in a more restrictive setting. The study also showed that teachers were more willing to include students with disabilities if teachers had experience with the disability or were provided with support. Inclusive practices at this school have shown to be more effective with each increasing year of implementation.