Financial resources would also be a factor. The less funding a school has, the less specialists can push in or pull students out for supplemental help. In such cases I would imagine it is considered best to err or the side of moving the students to a 12:1:1 or other special needs classroom, which may violate the LRE clause of the IDEA.

This is definitely a difficult subject, particularly with students who experience emotional disturbances. Where possible and affordable, specialists do help bridge the learning gap for students with special needs. Emotional disturbances are usually unpredictable in both timing and severity. A single student with emotional disturbances can derail the learning of the entire class, and in some cases cause dangerous situations for themselves or others. I don't know what the solution is to that, so I look forward to reading/hearing more about how determinations are made as to whether such students can remain in gen ed or would perhaps benefit more from another environment.

Edited to add: As I was reading Bryant, I thought about my year in a public school. One concern I sometimes had likely stems from the LRE requirement. There were some students who seemed like they would benefit from an obviously needed diagnosis or IEP, or a different classroom environment. But there was pressure to keep them in the general education classroom or to not offer services when that might not be best for the class OR the individual student. There were times where I was absolutely shocked a given student didn't have an IEP and when discussing it with other teachers or TAs they seemed to agree. The red tape of the process meant that a certain amount of time and procedures were needed before the student could be classified or moved. I understand the need for these procedures but it seems a shame for students, teachers, and families to have to wait out conditions that they are fairly confident are not right for that given student.

I also think racial inequalities play a role. From what I read in Bryant's Teaching in Inclusive Classrooms, student of color is often overrepresented in special education, and that's not just about disability, it's about systemic bias. These students may be place in separate settings or denied access to challenging curriculum, which make true inclusion hard to achieve.

My initial guesses on barriers would be the severity of the disability, the resources allotted to each school, the size of classes, and support outside of school. There are probably more, but these are the initial thoughts that come to mind.

I believe there are a variety of factors that can make fully integrating students with disabilities. One can include pace of instruction, especially for subjects with strict, hurried curricula where they have a firm deadline to have students prepared for an examination. Without additional support students may have difficulty matching the pace required for success in the course.

If a student with disabilities has frequent outbursts or disruptions of class then that can serve as a barrier to the other students’ success in the classroom.

Another is resource availability. Some students may be able to exceed in the courses mentioned above if they were given appropriate additional support. Additionally, more adults present in a classroom with students with disabilities can help the primary teacher with classroom management.  However not all districts and schools can afford such support in their budgets to meet the needs of their students.

Going along with if a student has access to resources is the current instability of educational funding in today’s political climate. With the massive reduction in the department of education as well as the withholding of funds already approved by Congress, this puts the success of our exceptional students at jeopardy.  Though some funding has been restored, the unpredictability of “for how long” could dissuade people from entering the space as they don’t want to devote their time and effort to something that can be spontaneously cut. Many (if not most) teachers and aides don’t have the luxury of external financial stability and would put themselves in a tenuous situation if their job were to get suddenly cut as a result of a rug pull of funding that supports their position.

A final barrier could be the teachers themselves. Unfortunately, not all teachers are committed to helping all of their students succeed and may be resistant towards having students with special needs in their classroom. Teacher buy-in is crucial when it comes to their success. If a student is feeling unwelcome and ostracized by their teacher then I believe they will be less willing to try and engage in that teacher’s class. At worst, a bad teacher could put them off wanting to try in school at all.

I think another large barrier that we may face to include students with disabilities in general education classes are those stereotypes. Many kids may feel like they are put in a bubble or that they have this thing looming over their head that may make them feel different than everyone else, and a problem with certain disabilities is they may not be able to express that feeling so they may act out and cause problems in class

The major barrier I’ve seen personally is having enough trained individuals on staff. Many schools struggle to find people who are qualified to help students with disabilities and this makes it difficult on the students and the staff who are taking on too much. The students suffer from the lack of staff because they may not receive all the services they require, their learning goals may not be properly assessed, and they may not be able to fully participate in activities. The staff suffers because they may be taking on more students than is reasonable causing a lot of stress and pressure on that individual. Certain tasks may fall to the wayside or be completely forgotten due to not having the bandwidth to take care of them all. There is a lot of paperwork and extra tasks to do behind the scenes that are not always explicitly seen in a classroom and these are all crucial in allowing a student to receive the proper services and enriching education they deserve.

For instructional barriers, there could be issues with a lack of teacher training. Some general education teachers might not feel prepared to adapt their lessons or use strategies like Universal Design for Learning to meet atypical needs. There could be issues with the pacing of a one-size-fits-all style curriculum, which can leave students with differences or disabilities behind if the lessons aren't differentiated. There could also be limited access to the technology students might need to learn at the same rate or pace as their peers. Text-to-speech, communication devices, and other adapted materials are essential for many students with disabilities. Limited access to these stools would really impact many students.

For resource barriers, I thought that large class sizes could contribute to the issue. Teachers with large classes often have limited time to provide individualized supports. There is also a lack of support staff in general ed classrooms: co-teachers, aides, or specialists are not present to support the student's needs. Finally, funding constraints could be contributing to students with disabilities not being included in the general education classroom. Schools/districts that lack resources might not be able to provide the appropriate accommodations or interventions needed for each special education student.

While I do not have very much experience with special education classrooms, I did volunteer throughout my middle and high school experiences as a peer reader with the special ed students at my schools. This gives me a bit of perspective and experience, but not nearly as much as I need of course. I'm sure there are, unfortunately, many barriers i did not think of- but I am looking forward to learning more.