Disability and Equity in Education Commons^™

Selling Graduation: Higher Education And The Loaning Of Liberation, Annie Pocklington, Elizabeth J. Flanagan, Christopher Bodenheimer Knaus

Essays in Education

While the costs to attend college continue to rise exponentially, a bachelor’s degree is held up as required for economic stability within the U.S. and across the globe. With drastic disparities in earning potentials after graduation reduced by racism, sexism, classism, heterosexism, ableism, and related structural disparities, the value of a degree continues to be questioned, especially for historically marginalized communities. As the loan industrial complex continues to profit off of students, President Biden has offered $10,000 in student loan relief for some borrowers, though this action has been blocked by federal courts and is currently on hold. Whether Biden’s …

Cultural Humility And Cultural Brokering In Professional Training: Insights From People Of Color (Poc) And Persons With Disabilities (Pwd), Victoria Filingeri, Heather M. Mendez, Alisa Ssu Yu Lin, Gyasi Burks-Abbott, Amy Szarkowski, Jason Fogler

Developmental Disabilities Network Journal

This conceptual paper reflects the collaborative work of LEND trainees and faculty exploring the need to shift from “cultural competencies” to “cultural humility” in training programs. The authors draw on their lived experiences as members of racially/ethnically marginalized groups, members of the disability community, and advocates for equity in accessibility. Collectively, the authors highlight some of the challenges and opportunities in supporting diverse trainees in professional- and discipline-specific training programs. and in the provision of services the trainees provide to care-recipients across a variety of fields. This paper includes a series of case vignettes in order to: examine individual authors’ …

An Interactive Training Model To Promote Cultural Humility For Early Childhood Professionals, Anjali G. Ferguson, Chimdindu Ohayagha, Jackie Robinson Brock

Developmental Disabilities Network Journal

The disability population in the United States has grown, with an estimated 2.6 million households having at least one child with a disability in 2019 (Young, 2019). Racially minoritized children disproportionately represent disability categories with Black and Indigenous children being overdiagnosed with emotional disturbance disabilities (Oswald & Coutinho, 2001). Further, minoritized children often experience greater rates of complex trauma (Horowitz, Weine, & Jekel, 1995) and this exposure significantly impacts minoritized children’s mental health (Flannery, Wester, & Singer, 2004). Included in these social determinants of health are the impacts of racism and racial trauma. Racism has been associated with mental health …

Exploring Barriers To Diversity, Equity, And Inclusion In Communication Sciences And Disorders Students, Elizabeth Cleveland, Maysoon Biller, Natalie Benafield, Abigail Moss, Mackenzie Jordan, Mary Yang

Developmental Disabilities Network Journal

Introduction: This study investigated university students’ views of barriers and aids toward success in a communication sciences and disorders (CSD) program. The goal of this 11-question survey was to determine if there was a difference in types of barriers or aids between Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) students and White students.

Method: The Communication Sciences and Disorders - Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Survey participants were 62 speech-language pathology and audiology undergraduate and graduate students from a variety of backgrounds. Analyses identified students’ views toward barriers and aids to success in the university program as well as their …

The Promising Practice Of Cultural Brokering Support With Culturally Diverse Families Of Children With Developmental Disabilities: Perspectives From Families, Yali Pang, Dana V. Yarbrough

Developmental Disabilities Network Journal

Background and Purpose: The Parent to Parent model of support has been found to be effective with supporting families of children with DD in navigating complex systems, gaining emotional support, building positive resilience, sharing ideas and learning problem solving skills. Parent to Parent ties can be particularly strong when cultural capital is involved. This study presents a cultural brokering initiative embedded in the evidence-informed Parent to Parent support model that could be a promising practice to support culturally diverse families of children with DD.

Methods: This study used a mixed methods approach to examine the practice and outcomes of a …

Differential Access Of Young Children Of Immigrants To Special Education In Massachusetts, Cady Landa

Developmental Disabilities Network Journal

Accessing services for children with special needs is complex and challenging for even U.S.-born parents. Is it even more difficult for immigrant parents, and what are the consequences for their children? This article reports on a mixed methods approach to examining the access of immigrants’ children to special education and inclusive placement. A multivariate analysis of Massachusetts education data finds that children of immigrants are significantly less likely than children of U.S.-born parents to participate in special education. It also finds that among children who do participate in special education, children of immigrants are more likely to be in substantially …

Paths To Equity: Parents In Partnership With Ucedds Fostering Black Family Advocacy For Children On The Autism Spectrum, Elizabeth H. Morgan, Benita D. Shaw, Ida Winters, Chiffon King, Jazmin Burns, Aubyn Stahmer, Gail Chodron

Developmental Disabilities Network Journal

Racism and ableism have doubly affected Black families of children with developmental disabilities in their interactions with disability systems of supports and services (e.g., early intervention, mental health, education, medical systems). On average, Black autistic children are diagnosed three years later and are up to three times more likely to be misdiagnosed than their non-Hispanic White peers. Qualitative research provides evidence that systemic oppression, often attributed to intersectionality, can cause circumstances where Black disabled youth are doubly marginalized by policy and practice that perpetuates inequality. School discipline policies that criminalize Black students and inadequate medical assessments that improperly support Black …

Acknowledgments And A Note From The Editor, Matt Wappett

Developmental Disabilities Network Journal

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Flipping The Script As A Black Mother Living In My Community: A Self-Advocate's Perspective From Baltimore, Jessica Salmond

Developmental Disabilities Network Journal

No abstract provided.

Loving My Skin: A Self-Advocate’S Perspective From Dayton, Ohio, Shari Cooper

Developmental Disabilities Network Journal

No abstract provided.

Instructional Designers' Perceptions Of The Practice Of Instructional Design In A Post-Pandemic Workplace, Donna Petherbridge, Michelle Bartlett, Jessica White, Diane Chapman

Educational Leadership & Workforce Development Faculty Publications

This article explores instructional designers’ perceptions of changes to instructional design practice in a post-pandemic workplace. A thematic analysis of interviews conducted with 33 instructional designers revealed that instructional designers believe that the profession is profoundly altered post-pandemic. Findings around post-pandemic instructional design practice include adopting agile instructional design practices, increasing collaborations with others within a context of empathy, recognizing the importance of accessibility, and increasing reliance on technology to deliver both instruction and training within the context of an expanded portfolio of how instruction will be delivered in the future.

Opportunities For Transformation: Equity, Diversity, And Inclusion Across The Developmental Disabilities Network, Lydia Ocasio-Stoutenburg, Jacy Farkas

Developmental Disabilities Network Journal

No abstract provided.

The Merit Of Inclusion: A Policy Review Examining The Convergence Of Special Education And Inclusions Policies With Compensatory Medicaid Policies In The Wake Of The Covid-19 Pandemic, Corbyn Baggett

Capstone Experience

On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) formally recognized the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak as a global pandemic. This global issue compelled governments to announce careful virus containing policies in order to prevent further spread and control of the disease. Although it has been proven that measures like social isolation could aid in scaling the spread of illness, the resulting extended school closures that occurred in response to an increased number of COVID-19 outbreaks posed significant challenges for all students, but especially those students with special needs. The unpredictable nature of COVID-19 at the outset of the pandemic …

Science, Technology, Engineering, And Mathematics (Stem) Project-Based Learning (Pbl) Education: A New Mexico Case Study For Equity And Inclusion, Kimberly A. Scheerer

Teacher Education, Educational Leadership & Policy ETDs

This research addresses how student participation in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) project-based learning (PBL) education activities encourages underrepresented minority student achievement in STEM career field trajectories. Seven New Mexico high school counselors and 12 STEM organization personnel were interviewed during this study. Their responses represent the nuanced professional voices where New Mexico public education intersects with STEM student interest and cultural influence.

For students, STEM PBL can foster deep integration across educational disciplines and enhance STEM career trajectory interest and readiness. STEM education converged with PBL methodologies has the ability to leverage community support while broadening student networks. …

A Qualitative Look Into Repair Practices, Jumana Labib

Undergraduate Student Research Internships Conference

This research poster is based on a working research paper which moves beyond the traditional scope of repair and examines the Right to Repair movement from a smaller, more personal lens by detailing the 6 categorical impediments as dubbed by Dr. Alissa Centivany (design, law, economic/business strategy, material asymmetry, informational asymmetry, and social impediments) have continuously inhibited repair and affected repair practices, which has consequently had larger implications (environmental, economic, social, etc.) on ourselves, our objects, and our world. The poster builds upon my research from last year (see "The Right to Repair: (Re)building a better future"), this time pulling …

School Related Criminal Acts, Interpersonal Problems, And Classroom Behaviors As A Function Of The Proportion Of Black Students And Black Teachers, Leanne Zaire

Clinical Psychology Dissertations

This study’s purpose was to investigate school-level behavioral outcomes in relation to the proportion of Black teachers and students in U.S. schools. Negative school outcome and academic achievement gaps are well-documented. However, many of these studies utilized small, localized populations; my research used national data and focused on the problem behaviors in school. Drawing from Critical Race Theory, I hypothesized that a greater proportion of Black teachers would reduce school student problems and negative behaviors (e.g., student verbal abuse of teachers, widespread disorder in classrooms). After receiving a restricted-use license, I utilized data from 25,818 schools from the National Teacher …

Assessing Professionals Working With Latinx Families With Special Needs In Monterey County, Jose Francisco Hernandez Rivera

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

Special Kids Connect (SKC) is a nonprofit organization serving children with disabilities and their families in Monterey County. This capstone project concentrated on the professionals working with children as part of SKC’s Early Start Intervention Program. The project’s objective was to discover local agencies' professional development training needs that serve Latinx families with disabled children between 2 to 8 years. Seventy-five child-care providers, early intervention service professionals, regional center staff, and school district personnel responded to the survey. They indicated an overall 60 % needed an understanding of systems related to IEPs, Early Start Services, Developmental Screenings, Social-Emotional Screenings, Regional …

The Covid-19 Pandemic And The Implementation Of The Americans With Disabilities Act Amendments Act In Higher Education: Discretionary Practices Of Disability Services Professionals, Crystal Denise Hill

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The COVID-19 pandemic abruptly transformed the landscape of higher education. The urgent nature of procedural changes in academic and administrative higher education services did not exempt leadership, faculty, or staff from their legally mandated responsibility to provide equal access to the educational environment for students with disabilities as outlined within title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act Amendments Act (ADAAA). The purpose of this study was to explore the strategies used by disability services professionals to implement the ADAAAA during the COVID-19 pandemic. Sources and preferred formats of policy guidance were explored. The priorities of department, division, and institution-level …

Improving Gifted And Talented Education In Arkansas: Identification, Academic Benefits, And Local Norms, Bich Thi Ngoc Tran

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In the United States, education policies differ from state to state. Local research, therefore, is important to inform educators, policymakers, and researchers on the ground. This dissertation leverages ten years of administrative data to study three questions about gifted and talented (G/T) identification and education in Arkansas: does the current system identify the right students? Are gifted and talented programs beneficial for students? And, how can we improve diversity in gifted and talented education? Leveraging logistic regression, mixed-effects models, and descriptive statistics, I sought to provide answers to these three questions. First, are academically ready students from low-income families being …

Experiential Learning Through Participatory Action Research In An Interdisciplinary Leadership Training Program, Jessica L. Franks, Stephanie D. Baumann, Marvin So, Angela M. Miles, Jorge M. Verlenden, Teal Benevides, Mark Crenshaw, Stephen Truscott, Daniel Crimmins

Developmental Disabilities Network Journal

Background: Experience in multidisciplinary collaboration among healthcare providers, leaders in public health, and educators is essential to effectively address the diverse needs of children with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) and their families.

Purpose: We describe three participatory action research (PAR) projects from an interdisciplinary training program, which used experiential learning to enhance leadership competencies and promote inclusive services. Trainees report their leadership growth as providers and advocates for children with I/DD using experiential learning through PAR.

Approach: Trainees discuss their engagement with organizations serving children with I/DD and ways that experiential learning supported leadership skill development, …

Facultas Marginem: Assessing Disability Data And Public Aau Universities’ Affirmative Action Plans For Systemic Barriers Facing Faculty With Disabilities, Joseph Carlton Barry

Theses and Dissertations--Education Sciences

This dissertation contributes to education equity scholarship produced by academics seeking to develop understandings of disability, Persons with Disabilities (PWD), and how both are situated amongst faculty in institutions of higher education. As such, this dissertation centers on a study of public US universities belonging to the Association of American Universities (AAU). This study looks for institutional level associations between respective rates by which college and university faculty with disabilities (FWD) are employed, certain aspects of disability policy drawn from each institution’s 2020 Affirmative Action Plans (AAP), and various other instances of empirical disability data (EDD).

While this study contributes …

Bringing Swipe Out Hunger To Vcu: Identifying Best Practices And Analyzing Administrative Policies For Future Reform, Jackie Stephens, Anjali Ta

Undergraduate Research Posters

At first glance, a college campus might look like a place of equal opportunity– communal dorms, shared dining halls, and similar course loads. However, arriving on campus is not where the college access conversation ends if students’ basic needs are not met. Food insecure students are at elevated risk of poor academic performance and delayed degree completion, with first-generation students being particularly vulnerable. Swipe Out Hunger is an organization that partners with colleges to reduce food insecurity among students by allowing those with extra dining hall meal swipes to donate them to food insecure peers. If implemented at VCU, Swipe …

Cultivating Family Empowerment In Schools: The Experiences Of Marginalized Families In Special Education, Rachel-Marie F. Sinco

Honors Theses

The provision of special education services to special needs students is largely upheld by federal and state policies and regulations, such as the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEA) which ensures that children with disabilities have the opportunity to access a free appropriate public education (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, 2004). However, marginalized families of low-income and linguistically diverse backgrounds continue to face barriers and challenges to effectively participate in their child’s education and secure the necessary and appropriate services for their child. Family Empowerment Centers on Disability (FECs) in California provide a policy solution to assist families navigate …

The Program To Reduce Implicit Bias In Carroll Hospital Center Using The Implicit Association Test, Katherine E. Traynor

Capstone Showcase

Natural brain processes make all individuals susceptible to unconscious bias; however, stressful, fearful, or anger-evoking situations as well as the negative influence of media and social surroundings increase the risk of holding obstructive bias, and there is a greater risk of being negatively impacted by this phenomenon when belonging to a minority population (Rose & Flores, 2020). As a result, high rates of infant mortality (10.2 deaths per 1,000 live births for the Non-Hispanic Black population compared to 4.1 in the White population) and cardiovascular related diseases (190.0 cases per 1,000 in the Non-Hispanic Black population compared to 161.3 in …

Above-Average Student Loan Debt For Students With Disabilities Attending Postsecondary Institutions, Kim Bullington, Kaycee L. Bills, David J. Thomas, William L. Nuckols

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Faculty Publications

Black students with disabilities face more hurdles to academic success and completion than do their non-Black non-disabled peers. With an increased reliance on student loans to finance higher education, this double-at-risk population is even more vulnerable than either Black or disabled students individually. This study examines whether there is an additional debt burden to this intersectional population. The Baccalaureate and Beyond public dataset was used to explore student debt for students who graduated in 2017. This analysis found that Black students with disabilities graduated with significantly higher debt burdens than either non-disabled Black students or students with disabilities from other …

Debating Disability Disclosure In Legal Education, Jasmine E. Harris

All Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Testing The Efficacy Of Leadership For Empowerment And Abuse Prevention (Leap), A Healthy Relationship Training Intervention For People With Intellectual Disability, Parthenia Dinora, Seb Prohn, Elizabeth P. Cramer, Molly Dellinger-Wray, Caitlin Mayton, Allison D'Aguiliar

Developmental Disabilities Network Journal

Leadership for Empowerment and Abuse Prevention (LEAP) is an abuse prevention intervention for people with intellectual disability. The purpose of this research was to evaluate the intervention’s efficacy. Findings indicated no significant differences in scenario identification questions depicting acceptable or concerning situations. However, statistically significant improvements were noted in participants’ depth of understanding, including their ability to correctly describe why a scenario was abusive or exploitative and what to do next when confronted with unhealthy situations. Limitations and implications for practice are discussed.

College Students’ Knowledge Of And Openness To Students With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Louis W. Turchetta, Valerie Ryan

Developmental Disabilities Network Journal

College students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) face challenges due to limited understanding of this condition. This study investigates college students' awareness of and openness to peers with ASD using an educational intervention. Data were analyzed via a pre–post survey design with two groups.

Factorial analysis of variance showed no significant differences between groups. However, a Wilcoxon signed-rank test revealed significant differences in the treatment group’s ranks on the openness scale and knowledge scale between pre- and post-intervention surveys. Findings yielded small (openness) and large effect sizes (knowledge) as expected. Brief educational interventions in required courses can thus potentially enhance …

Community Conversations: Finding Solutions To Increase Employment For Individuals With Intellectual And Developmental Disabilities, James Sinclair, Kyle Reardon, Katherine W. Bromley, Christen Knowles, Dana Cohen Lissman, Megan Kunze

Developmental Disabilities Network Journal

This study describes the implementation and findings of a pilot community conversations event in the state of Oregon to identify innovative solutions to under- and unemployment experienced by individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). The event was facilitated in partnership with the University of Oregon UCEDD, local Arc chapter, and other relevant community stakeholders. A total of 36 diverse individuals (e.g., school personnel, business owners, individuals with IDD, and caregivers of individuals with IDD) participated in a two-hour community conversations event about how to improve employment opportunities for those experiencing IDD. Participants engaged in discussions about solutions to employment …

Daily Life Experiences Of Families Of People With Disabilities During Covid-19 Pandemic, Evan E. Dean, Karrie A. Shogren, Courtney Sanchez, Sean Swindler

Developmental Disabilities Network Journal

Background. For people with IDD and their families, COVID-19 has introduced additional challenges including significant disruptions to daily life and increased risk in accessing services and supports. Understanding how families are adapting and navigating through the crisis is critical both to inform ongoing supports as the pandemic continues and beyond as there will likely be ongoing changes in service and support delivery both directly and indirectly related to COVID-19. The purpose of this study was to survey families in one Midwest state in the U.S. to document experiences during COVID-19 with a focus on understanding how families are navigating current …