Abstract
Inclusive education for students with disabilities has been a contentious topic in public education for many years. The Disability Rights Movement and the desires of community stakeholders have been the driving forces behind efforts to provide education to students with disabilities in public schools. Government regulations establish the foundations that public schools must follow when determining how to educate students with disabilities but lack specificity of practice. When identifying and developing structures for a continuum of services that support special education programming in public schools, special education directors must balance these influences while ensuring that they meet the individual needs of all students with disabilities. This qualitative study aims to understand the roles of external and internal influences in the decision-making process of special education directors as they identify and develop structures for a continuum of services that support special education programming in public schools.