Advancing the educational inclusion of autistic students requires clear thinking and high-quality research. We first examine fundamental underlying issues and how inclusion is framed in research and advocacy. We discuss different meanings assigned to both autism and educational inclusion, noting the implications of each for providing appropriate and effective individualized instruction to autistic students as required by US law. Next, we summarize and evaluate the best available research on teaching autistic students in general education settings. We conclude that progress toward better educational inclusion of autistic students will require addressing substantial research limitations as well as persistent confusion related to the goals and outcomes of educating autistic students in mainstream classroom settings.