Students with intellectual developmental disability (IDD) may have impairments in conceptual, social, and daily life areas that will require support when these students are included in mainstream settings. In order to examine the facilitators and impediments involved in inclusion of students with IDD in regular schools in Israel, we interviewed…

Students with learning disabilities navigating both special education and mainstream classrooms face unique challenges. This qualitative study explored the experiences of five third-grade students in a Northern Israel elementary school through semi-structured Hebrew interviews. Using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis, three themes emerged:…

This study explores the perspectives of Arab-Bedouin teachers in Israel regarding the inclusion of students with disabilities in mainstream classrooms. Based on in-depth qualitative interviews with 15 teachers working in schools that integrate students with special needs, the research reveals both the opportunities and challenges inherent in…

Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are often placed in inclusive mainstream education (ME) or exclusive special education (SE) settings. While ME settings usually offer less-intensive and structured intervention programs than SE settings, they offer more exposure to typically developing peers. A total of 121 children (2-5 years old) with…

Numerous studies have emphasized the relationship between success of policies of inclusion and acceptance and accommodation of students with intellectual disabilities in mainstream settings and teachers' positive attitudes toward them. Using semi-structured interviews and interpretive and constructivist strategies, the present study qualitatively…

Mainstreaming and inclusion of students with special educational needs in regular education, challenge traditional concepts and common practices. Traditionally, special education has been a parallel yet separate educational system. Even though there is almost universal agreement on the goals of inclusion and mainstreaming, special education…

Purpose: This article presents a conceptual synthesis of the international literature on inclusive education while expanding upon, and incorporating, the articles in this special issue. The authors present their 3P model (philosophy, policy and praxis) and relate each paper in this special issue to different aspects of their model.…

This qualitative study espouses an interdisciplinary theoretical and methodological framework to explore how mainstream experienced teachers (METs) and student teachers (STs) position themselves vis-à-vis inclusive education (IE). The theoretical framework emphasises that global changes in education require the placement of IE in the forefront of…

This article sought to add the voice of the preservice teachers to the discourse by presenting their perceptions regarding the appropriateness of their training for teaching in inclusive-education frameworks. Preservice teachers completing their first (N 18) or third year (N 18) in the various types of teacher-training programs (early childhood,…

The purpose of the study was to investigate the attitudes of parents of normal hearing (NH) children towards the inclusion of deaf and hard of hearing (DHH) children in the educational setting of their child. In particular, it examined the effect of parental socio economic status (SES) and exposure to inclusion (whether their child was in a class…

We describe a survey of children with ASD aged 4-10 years. The main dependent variables were out-of-pocket expenditures for health services and hours of therapy. Multivariable logistic regression models were used in order to find independent predictors for service utilization. Parents of 178 of the children (87%) agreed to participate. The average…

Using Critical Discourse Analysis, this study aims to elicit and expose the perceptions and attitudes of different policy makers in leadership positions at the Ministry of Education in Israel with regard to inclusion. The first stage of the research consisted of individual in-depth semi-structured interviews (N = 8). In the second stage the…

The objective of this exploratory study was to examine the curricular practices of teachers in Israel as a result of the mandate to include children with special educational needs. It is based on the understanding that curriculum is at the core of education. As inclusive education has become more prevalent, the curriculum perspective has gained…

The current study addresses the disparity between the awareness of teachers in special education frameworks regarding the important role of books as a mediating tool and their reticence to use this tool. Twenty three interviews were conducted in two stages: before and after using the book "Shelley the Hyperactive Turtle" in the…

Sixty-three visually impaired pupils from 40 different schools in Israel and their form teachers filled in questionnaires assessing quality of life. In addition, a total of 200 teachers were asked to fill in questionnaires on school climate and attitudes towards inclusion. Findings indicated that positive climate and positive attitudes correlated…