Principals’ Efforts to Create and Foster an Inclusive School Culture: Pragmatic Approaches in Fast-Growth School Environments

School leaders are central to addressing educational inequality by fostering inclusion and belonging within their school communities. In fast-growth educational environments where enrollment surges and demographic shifts outpace resource capacity, school leaders face complex challenges in developing inclusive structures and cultures for students with disabilities. In this qualitative case study, the authors examined how 18 principals across PreK-12 grade levels in three rapidly expanding Texas districts conceptualized and enacted inclusive leadership. Thematic analysis of semi-structured interviews and focus groups revealed that while principals believed all students are capable of learning, they defined inclusion philosophically but implemented pragmatically limited notions of inclusion shaped by their districts’ organizational structures and continuum of services approaches to special education. Findings illustrate that fast-growth contexts amplify tensions between compliance and care, as school leaders balance external accountability and resource constraints with efforts to cultivate school cultures grounded in empathy, relationships, safety, and belonging. The study presents a complicated picture of how principals navigate pragmatic constraints while pursuing inclusive practices for students receiving special education services. Inclusive educational leadership in fast-growth school environments is more likely to occur when leaders reframe inclusion not as placement, but as a shared commitment to recognizing every student’s capability within a responsive community.