BEYOND PLACEMENT: BUILDING A CULTURE OF INCLUSION IN AMERICAN EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION SYSTEMS

Abstract

Nearly six decades after Congress codified the educational rights of children with disabilities, the United States still falls short of its own ideals. As recently as 2022, 42% of preschoolers with disabilities were served outside inclusive early-learning settings, and national trends across the last four decades show only modest movement. The purpose of this study is to explain and address this persistent under-representation by situating the problem within the mixed-delivery landscape of U.S. early learning and recent federal policy shifts. Anchored in Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory and an iceberg model of culture, the work positions inclusion as both structural and cultural as it moves from context, to reflection, to action. Section 1 frames the problem of practice and guiding research questions in relation to program structures that shape opportunities for inclusion. Section 2 details an Artificial Intelligence (AI)-integratedreview method, considers the implications and limits of today’s digital research landscape, and synthesizes the literature across three themes—1) historical and policy forces, 2) ecosystems as drivers of practice, and 3) cultivating a sustainable culture of inclusion—to identify root causes. Section 3 presents the Inclusion Awareness Program (IAP) and a bias-habit-breaking training module aligned with the Early Childhood Technical Assistance Center (ECTA) Indicator S12. Section 4 outlines the evaluation approach emphasizing how individual growth is reinforced and sustained by system-level conditions. The findings present a replicable, systems-aware professional learning model that links culture change to measurable improvements in inclusive practice.