Abstract

This paper discusses and juxtaposes three types of school models within the USA actively attempting to reform their programs for students with special needs through both policy and practices within an educational system that is moving towards increased freedom of reform at the cost of greater accountability measures (i.e., academic testing, school ratings). Additionally, the intention is to explore how practices arising from disjunctions between policy and initiatives might further include or exclude students with disabilities and how this may be further compounded by the intersectionality of race, gender, and class differences. Finally, the lack of research directly including the voices of students that are most marginalised within an education setting is explored to establish the importance and relevance of including the multiple-viewpoints of many students. By including a variety of voices there are greater opportunities to unearth moments of resistance to hegemony as well as any barriers existing. Furthermore, it is the student’s inexperience that allows them greater means for rejecting status quo thinking and considering issues surrounding disability and difference in ways that might otherwise seem impossible or even naive to adults.