This paper presents selected findings from a three-year research investigation of general and special education reform initiatives implemented in five local school districts across the United States (including a large urban, predominately minority system; two suburban districts; a small independent city district; a large county-wide system; two rural school districts; and an independent town.) Case studies were conducted in each of the districts to document and describe educational reforms in the following areas: standards, assessment, accountability, teacher policy, finance, and governance. Of particular interest were the interactions between special and general education reforms and their impact on classroom practices. Results indicate that: (1) special educators were almost uniformly focused on how to create more inclusive classrooms and these efforts were generally separate from the overall reform agenda; (2) state level initiatives to reduce numbers of students eligible for special education led to changes in special education programs and services in two of the districts; (3) there was little discussion on how general and special education collaboration related to larger issues of inclusion of students with disabilities in curriculum and assessment; (4) there was great variation among special education directors in their level of knowledge of standards, assessment, and other district reform initiatives; and (5) special education's endorsement of or opposition to a specific initiative appeared to have little influence on the direction that a reform might take. (Contains 21 references.) (CR)