This paper examines the general context in which special education policies have been implemented in Western societies in order to try to understand the recent changes. It summarises the different meanings attached to the notion of equality, which are central to the question of special education and recent reforms, and finally it attempts to understand the ways in which special education provisions have been implemented into two different contexts, namely France and French speaking schools in Ontario (Canada). The paper draws on policy analysis conducted in France and in Ontario and from two recent research projects conducted in four different elementary and secondary French language schools in Ontario over the last 2 years, through an ethnographic approach involving different methodological tools, such as observation, interviewing and document analysis.