Rural views on community and the inclusion of students with disabilities: “They’re Community Members”

Abstract This study addressed the use of inclusive educational practices in two districts nominated by scholars of inclusive education across the USA. The two districts that eventually agreed to be studied were located in rural places. This article analyzes and interprets study data to address the local features related to inclusive educational practice in these places in order to derive insights that might benefit districts elsewhere, including in both rural and more urbanized locales. The key conclusion highlights the importance of community in securing and sustaining local support—such a connection builds a mutually constitutive relationship that propagates understanding of and support for inclusive practices. This study expands on our earlier work, which revealed several promising strategies that districts might use when adopting inclusive practices, including maintaining an identity of inclusivity and using community‐grounded and systemic approaches. It seems that sustainable inclusive practice benefits from, or perhaps requires, community understanding and support. Smaller and more rural schools (and, in North America, school districts) come to this difficult work, in general, with some advantages.