Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

DisCrit Contribution to Inclusive Policies and Practices in the United States

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
The Future of Inclusive Education

  • 101 Accesses

Abstract

Drawing on a qualitative case study conducted in Kansas and in Upstate New York, in this chapter Valentina explores possibilities and challenges of reframing inclusive education policies and practices for secondary schools through the DisCrit lens. Valentina analyzes how United States-based teachers and school professionals formulate discourses around race and disability and diversity, more generally, within inclusive school policies. Valentina sheds light on the benefits of applying DisCrit in such policy making and policy implementation processes. In the conclusion, Valentina reflects on how emerging findings from the study can be transformed through DisCrit-informed, intersectional approaches to inclusive education.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 109.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD 139.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

    A list of the participants in this case study can be found in Table A.2, Appendix A.

  2. 2.

    https://www.ci3t.org/about

  3. 3.

    https://courageousconversation.com/

  4. 4.

    For an overview of the model and its implementation by school professionals, visit: https://www.ci3t.org/about

  5. 5.

    The term is used by the teachers in line with the New York State Education Department (NYSED) policies, such as Guidance: Determining English Language Learner/Multilingual Learner (ELL/MLL) Status of and Services for Students with Disabilities (NYSED, 2018a) and The Blueprint for English Language Learner/Multilingual Learner Success (NYSED, 2018b).

  6. 6.

    Information about the school district commitment to the program can be found at: https://www.usd497.org/Page/6517

  7. 7.

    Same to the label “English as a New Language (ENL).” In this chapter ELL and ENL are used interchangeably, following the language used by policies and teachers.

  8. 8.

    Short for paraprofessionals. The paraprofessional is a student’s first resource when they need extra learning support. These professionals also help students understand test questions and homework questions, so that students’ work is on par with their counterparts outside of the special education program at a given school (Giangreco et al., 2010).

  9. 9.

    Forms of exclusions happening in fully inclusive educational contexts.

References

  • Advancement Project, The. (2010). Test, punish, and push out: How Zero Tolerance and high-stakes testing funnel youth into the School to Prison Pipeline. Author.

    Google Scholar 

  • Annamma, S. A. (2018). The pedagogy of pathologization. Dis/abled girls of color in the school-to-prison nexus. Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Annamma, S., & Morrison, D. (2018). DisCrit classroom ecology: Using praxis to dismantle dysfunctional education ecologies. Teaching and Teacher Education, 73, 70–80. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2018.03.008

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Annamma, S. A., Connor, D., & Ferri, B. (2013). Dis/ability critical race studies (DisCrit): Theorizing at the intersections of race and dis/ability. Race Ethnicity and Education, 16(1), 1–31. https://doi.org/10.1080/13613324.2012.730511

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Annamma, S. A., Connor, D., & Ferri, B. (2016). DisCrit: Disability studies and critical race theory in education. Teachers College Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Annamma, S. A., Ferri, B. A., & Connor, D. J. (2022). DisCrit expanded. Reverberations, ruptures, inquiries. Teachers College Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Artiles, A. J. (2011). Toward an interdisciplinary understanding of educational equity and difference: The case of the racial-ization of ability. Educational Researcher, 40, 431–445. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189X11429391

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Artiles, A. (2013). Untangling the racialization of Disabilities. An intersectionality critique across disability models. Du Bois Review, 10(2), 329–347.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Artiles, A. (2023). Untangling the racialization of disability in Europe., ECER Symposium session.

    Google Scholar 

  • Artiles, A. J., Kozleski, E. B., & Waitoller, F. (2011). Inclusive education: Examining equity on five continents. Harvard Education Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bal, A. (2018). Culturally responsive positive behavioral interventions and supports: A process-oriented framework for systemic transformation. Review of Education, Pedagogy, and Cultural Studies, 40(2), 144–174.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bal, A., Afacan, K., & Cakir, H. I. (2018). Culturally responsive school discipline: Implementing Learning Lab at a high school for systemic transformation. American Educational Research Journal, 55(5), 1007–1050.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barrett, S., Eber, L., & Weist, M. (Eds.) (2013). Advancing educational effectiveness: Interconnecting school mental health and school-wide positive behavior support. https://www.pbis.org/common/cms/files/CurrentTopics/FinalMonograph.pdf

  • Beyond Diversity. (2009). Beyond diversity. The foundation of our equity work. Lawrence Public Schools (Author).

    Google Scholar 

  • Broderick, A., & Lalvani, P. (2017). Dysconscious ableism: Toward a liberatory praxis in teacher education. International Journal of Inclusive Education, 21(9), 894–905.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Broderick, A., & Leonardo, Z. (2016). What a good boy: The deployment and distribution of ‘goodness’ as ideological property in schools. In S. Annamma, D. Connor, & B. Ferri (Eds.), DisCrit: Disability studies and Critical Race Theory in education. Teachers College Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Carr, E. G., Horner, R. H., Turnbull, A. P., Marquis, J. G., McLaughlin, D. M., McAtee, M. L., Smith, C. E., Ryan, K. A., Ruef, M. B., Doolabh, A., & Braddock, D. (1999). Positive behavior support for people with developmental disabilities: A research synthesis. American Association on Mental Retardation.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cioè-Peña, M. (2022). TrUDL, A path to full inclusion: The intersectional possibilities of translanguaging and universal design for learning. TESOL J, 56, 799–812. https://doi.org/10.1002/tesq.3074

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Connor, D. J. (2008). Not so strange bedfellows: The promise of disability studies and Critical Race Theory. In S. L. Gabel & S. Danforth (Eds.), Disability and the politics of education: An internal reader (pp. 451–476). Peter Lang.

    Google Scholar 

  • Courageous Conversations. (2023). Courageous conversation about race. https://courageousconversation.com/

  • Crenshaw, K., Ocen, P., & Nanda, J. (2015). Black girls matter: Pushed out, overpoliced, and underprotected. Center for Intersectionality and Social Policies Studies.

    Google Scholar 

  • D’Alessio, S., Grima-Farrell, C., & Cologon, K. (2018). Inclusive Education in Italy and in Australia. In M. Best, T. Corcoran, & R. Slee (Ed.), Who’s in? Who’s out? What to do about inclusive education? (pp. 15–33). Brill.

    Google Scholar 

  • Erevelles, N. (2014). Cripping Jim Craw: Disability, dis-location, and the school-to-prison pipeline. In L. Ben-Moshe, C. Chapman, & A. C. Carey (Eds.), Disability incarcerated. Palgrave Macmillan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Erevelles, N. (2019). ‘Scenes of subjection’ in public education: Thinking intersectionally as if disability matters. Educational Studies, 55(6), 592–605.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Erevelles, N., & Minear, A. (2010). Unspeakable offenses: Untangling race and disability in discourses of intersectionality. Journal of Literary & Cultural Disability Studies, 4(2), 127–145. https://www.muse.jhu.edu/article/390395

  • Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). (2015). Every Student Succeeds Act. https://www.congress.gov/114/plaws/publ95/PLAW-114publ95.pdf

  • Fairclough, N. (2010). Critical discourse analysis. The critical study of language (2nd ed.). Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ferri, B. A., & Ashby, C. E. (2017). U.S. inclusion in the age of neoliberal reforms. In F. Dovigo (Ed.), Special educational needs and inclusive practices (pp. 21–31). Sense.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ferri, B. A., & Connor, D. J. (2005). Tools of exclusion: Race, disability, and (re)segregated education. Teachers College Record, 107(3), 453–474.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Freeman, R., Miller, D., & Newcomer, L. (2015). Integration of academic and behavioral MTSS at the district level using implementation science. Learning Disabilities—A Contemporary Journal, 13(1), 59–72.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fuchs, L. S., Fuchs, D., & Compton, D. L. (2012). Smart RTI: A next-generation approach to multilevel protection. Exceptional Children, 78, 236–279.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Giangreco, M. F., Suter, J. C., & Doyle, M. B. (2010). Paraprofessionals in inclusive schools: A review of recent research. Journal of Educational and Psychological Consultation, 20(1), 41–57. https://doi.org/10.1080/10474410903535356

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Guba, E., & Lincoln, Y. (2005). Paradigmatic controversies, contradictions, and emerging confluences. In N. Denzin & Y. Lincoln (Eds.), The Sage handbook of qualitative research (3rd ed., pp. 191–216). Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Harris, K., Lane, K. L., Driscoll, S., Graham, S., Wilson, K., Sandmel, K., Brindle, M., & Schatschneider, C. (2012). Tier one teacher-implemented self-regulated strategy development for students with and without behavior challenges: A randomized controlled trial. The Elementary School Journal, 113, 160–191.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • ​​Harry, B., & Klingner, J. (2014). Why are so many minority students in special education? Understanding race & disability in schools. (2nd ed.). : Teachers College Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hawken, L. S., Bundock, K., Kladis, K., O’Keeffe, B., & Barrett, C. A. (2014). Systematic review of the check-in, check-out intervention for students at risk for emotional and behavioral disorders. Education and Treatment of Children, 37(4), 635–658.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Horner, R. H., & Sugai, G. (2015). School-wide PBIS: An example of applied behavior analysis implemented at a scale of social importance. Behavior Analysis Practice, 8, 80–85. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40617-015-0045-4

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hunt, P. F. (2011). Salamanca Statement and IDEA 2004: Possibilities of practice for inclusive education. International Journal of Inclusive Education, 15(4), 461–476. https://doi.org/10.1080/13603110903131713

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Iqtadar, S., Hernández-Saca, D. I., Ellison, B. S., & Cowley, D. (2021). Global conversations: Recovery and detection of global south multiply-marginalized bodies. Race Ethnicity & Education, 24(5), 719–773.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kennedy, C. H., Long, T., Jolivettel, K., Cox, J., Tang, J., & Thompson, T. (2001). Facilitating general education participation for students with behavior problems by linking positive behavior supports and person-centered planning. Journal of Emotional and Behavioral Disorders, 9(3), 161–171.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kliewer, C., Biklen, D., & Kasa-Hendrickson, C. (2006). Who may be literate? Disability and resistance to the cultural denial of competence. American Educational Research Journal, 43, 163–192.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ladson-Billings, G. (2008). A letter to our next president. Journal of Teacher Education, 59(3), 235–239.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ladson-Billings, G., & Tate, W. F. (1995). Toward a critical race theory of education. Teachers College Record, 97(1), 47e68.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lane, K. L., Oakes, W. P., & Menzies, H. M. (2014). Comprehensive, integrated, three-tiered models of prevention: Why does my school—And district—Need an integrated approach to meet students’ academic, behavioral, and social needs? Preventing School Failure, 58(3), 121–128. https://doi.org/10.1080/1045988X.2014.893977

  • Lane, K. L., Menzies, H. M., Oakes, W. P., & Kalberg, J. R. (2019). Developing a schoolwide framework to prevent and manage learning and behavior problems. Guilford Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lane, K. L., Oakes, W. P., Allen, G. E., & et al. (2020). Improving Educators’ Knowledge, Confidence, and Usefulness of a Comprehensive, Integrated, Three-Tiered (Ci3T) Model of Prevention: Outcomes of Professional Learning. Educ. Treat. Child, 43, 279–293. https://doi.org/10.1007/s43494-020-00021-3

  • Losen, D. J., & Orfield, G. (Eds.). (2002). Racial inequality in special education. Harvard Education Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Migliarini, M. (2018). ‘Colour-evasiveness’ and racism without race: The disablement of asylum-seeking children at the edge of fortress Europe. Race Ethnicity and Education, 21(4), 438–457. https://doi.org/10.1080/13613324.2017.1417252

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Migliarini, V., & Annamma, S. (2019a). Applying Disability Critical Race Theory (DISCRIT) in the practice of teacher education in the United States. In Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Education. https://oxfordre.com/education/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780190264093.001.0001/acrefore-9780190264093-e-783

  • Migliarini, V., & Annamma, S. A. (2019b). Classroom and behavior management: (Re)conceptualization through disability critical race theory. In R. Papa (Ed.), Handbook on promoting social justice in education. Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-74078-2_95-1

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Migliarini, V., & Stinson, S. (2021). Inclusive education in the (new) era of anti-immigration policy: Enacting equity for disabled English language learners. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 34(1), 72–88. https://doi.org/10.1080/09518398.2020.1735563

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Migliarini, V., Stinson, C., & D’Alessio, S. (2019). ‘SENitizing’ migrant children in inclusive settings: Exploring the impact of the Salamanca Statement thinking in Italy and the United States. International Journal of Inclusive Education, 23(7–8), 754–767. https://doi.org/10.1080/13603116.2019.1622804

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Miles, S., & Singal, N. (2010). The education for all and inclusive education debate: Conflict, contradiction or opportunity? International Journal of Inclusive Education, 14(1), 1–15.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mohanty, C. T. (2003). Feminism without borders: Decolonizing theory, practicing solidarity. Duke University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • New York State Department of Education. (2015). Subpart 154-2: Services for English Language Learners for Programs Operated in the 2015–2016 School Year and Thereafter [Policy Document]. http://www.nysed.gov/common/nysed/files/programs/bilingual-ed/terms-154-2-effective-2015-16-and-after.pdf

  • New York State Department of Education. (2018a). Guidance: Determining English Language Learner/Multilingual Learner (ELL/MLL) status of and services for students with disabilities. http://www.nysed.gov/common/nysed/files/154-3-guidance_final_2_16_18.pd-a.pdf

  • New York State Department of Education. (2018b). The blueprint for English Language Learner/Multilingual Learner Success [Policy Guidance Document]. http://www.nysed.gov/common/nysed/files/nys-blueprintfor-ell-success.pdf

  • Noguera, P., & Wing, J. Y. (2006). Unfinished business: Closing the racial achievement gap in our schools. Jossey-Bass.

    Google Scholar 

  • Padilla, A. (2022). LatDisCrit: Exploring Latinx Global South DisCrit reverberations as spaces toward emancipatory learning and radical solidarity. In S. A. Annamma, B. A. Ferri, & D. J. Connor (Eds.), DisCrit expanded: Reverberations, ruptures, inquiries (pp. 147–162). Teachers College Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Paris, D. (2012). Culturally sustaining pedagogy a needed change in stance, terminology, and practice. Educational Researcher, 41(3), 93–97.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Roscigno, R. (2019). Neuro Queerness as fugitive practice: Reading against the grain of applied behavioral analysis scholarship. Educational Studies, 55(4), 405–419. https://doi.org/10.1080/00131946.2019.1629929

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Safran, S. P., & Oswald, K. (2003). Positive behavior supports: Can schools reshape disciplinary practices? Exceptional Children, 69(3), 361–373. https://doi.org/10.1177/001440290306900307

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sarkar, T., Mueller, C., & Forber-Pratt, A. (2022). Does DisCrit travel? The global South and excess theoretical baggage fees. In S. A. Annamma, B. Ferri, & D. Connor (Eds.), DisCrit expanded: Reverberations, ruptures, inquiries. Teachers College Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Singleton, G. E. (2020). Courageous conversations about race. A field guide to achieve equity in school and beyond. Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Siuty, M., Beneke, M., & Handy, T. (2023). Exposing the white ability industrial savior complex in and through qualitative research in urban teacher education. AERA Annual Meeting Symposium Challenging Dysconscious Ableism and Dreaming Beyond Pathology in Teacher Education, Chicago.

    Google Scholar 

  • Skrtic, T. M. (1987). An organizational analysis of special education reform. University Press of Kansas.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stinson, C., Migliarini, V., & Miller A. (under review). ‘We persist in this cycle’: A critical disability raciolinguistic analysis of behavioral policy and practice for EB/LADs.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sugai, G., Sprague, J. R., Horner, R. H., & Walker, H. (2000). Preventing school violence: The use of office discipline referrals to assess and monitor school-wide discipline interventions. Journal of Emotional and Behavioral Disorders, 8(2), 94–101.

    Google Scholar 

  • Turnbull, A., Edmondson, H., Griggs, P., Wickham, D., Sailor, W., Freeman, R., Guess, G., Lassen, S., Mccart, A., Park, J., Riffel, L., Turnbull, R., & Warren, J. (2002). A blueprint for schoolwide positive behavior support. Exceptional Children, 68, 377–402.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Umbreit, J., Ferro, J., Liaupsin, C., & Lane, K. (2007). Functional behavioral assessment and function-based intervention: An effective, practical approach. Prentice-Hall.

    Google Scholar 

  • UNESCO. (1994). The Salamanca Statement and Framework for action on special needs education. UNESCO.

    Google Scholar 

  • U.S. Department of Education. (2016). Non-regulatory guidance: English Learners and Title III of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), as amended by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). Retrieved from https://www2.ed.gov/policy/elsec/leg/essa/essatitleiiiguidenglishlearners92016.pdf

  • Winn, M. (2011). Girl time: Literacy, justice, and the school-to-prison pipeline. Teachers College Press.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Education, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK

    Valentina Migliarini

Authors
  1. Valentina Migliarini
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Valentina Migliarini .

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2023 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Migliarini, V. (2023). DisCrit Contribution to Inclusive Policies and Practices in the United States. In: The Future of Inclusive Education. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-49242-6_4

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-49242-6_4

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-031-49241-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-031-49242-6

  • eBook Packages: EducationEducation (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation