Where Should Students Receive Special Education Services?
A better question is waiting to be asked.
When Public Law 94-142 passed in 1975, everything changed. Students with disabilities were finally guaranteed access to an appropriate public education in the least restrictive environment. It was my fifth year as a 7th grade English teacher, and I remember staring at my roster and wondering how I could teach them.
Fast-forward 50 years and somehow… we’re still wrestling with the same questions.
Sure the landscape has evolved:
Students who were once excluded are now educated in public schools.
OSEP influences state policy, funding streams, technical assistance, and IDEA Indicators.
We’re using brain research, methods on executive skills, and instructional design that didn’t even exist when I started.
Classrooms are increasingly built around belonging, productive struggle, and psychological safety.
AI makes differentiation more accessible than ever before.
And yet… the big controversy endures:
Where should students receive their special education services?
Recent peer reviewed articles (Fuchs, Gilmour & Wanzek, 2025; Jackson, Ryndak & Billingsley, 2000; Taylor & Sailor, 2024) discuss this question and all reach the same, frustrating conclusion: the evidence is inconclusive.
Some students thrive in general education settings. Some regress.
Some students thrive in pull-out instruction. Some regress.
Because learning isn’t a laboratory experiment. Students, teachers, and contexts vary wildly.
Honestly? I think we’re still circling the wrong question.
Before we debate where a student should learn, we need to ask something deeper:
What’s the purpose of public education?
Surely, it’s more than improving test scores. If our goal is to prepare the next generation to be productive, capable citizens, then students need far more than basic academics. They’ll need to:
Collaboratively problem-solve.
Navigate constant information.
Contribute to communities that value difference.
Build self-regulation.
Become lifelong learners.
All students will grow into adults who must be prepared to function in a world we can only imagine with rapidly changing technology, conflicting perspectives, and other humans of widely different descriptions.
That means before we can ask where students with disabilities should be educated, we must ask what they need.
At Joyful Inclusion, we flip the script. Setting is the last decision - never the first.
We address these questions - in this order - to lead to meaningful progress:
What are this student’s strengths and needs across academic, executive skills, social/emotional, and behavioral domains? What is the driving need for this year?
Where will the student encounter struggle points in the typical classroom routines and the general education curriculum?
What ambitious goals are the IEP Team setting with input from the family and student? What will success look like? What’s the baseline? How will mastery be assessed?
What is the specially designed instruction (SDI) for this student’s driving need, based on an evidence-based practice?
What options exist for providing that SDI? Who will provide it (co-teachers? paras?)? In what space (general education classroom? pull-out?)? What preparations or resources are needed?
What opportunities will the student have for peer connection, friendships, and belonging? How will typical peers benefit from learning alongside this student?
If we want effective special education systems we must change the question.
The real issue isn’t where students with disabilities should learn. It’s how intentionally we design instruction based on what each student needs to thrive.
When schools approach services this way, the “placement debate” quiets.
Students make meaningful progress.
Teachers feel more confident.
Families feel heard.
And inclusion stops being a hope and starts being a lived experience.
Let’s build schools that start with, “What does this student need?”
If you’re ready to move your district, school, or team toward a more thoughtful, student-centered model of inclusive planning, let’s talk.
Join the Joyful Inclusion Community or book a consultation to explore how we can help your educators design systems that finally focus on the right question - the one that unlocks real growth for every learner.
Your students deserve more than a placement.
They deserve a plan.
If you liked this blog, check out Transactional vs Transformational Change!
