The Inclusion Illusion: Multilingual Families and Special Education Policy

• In Event: Voices of Disruption: (Co)Constructing Educational Possibilities Through Intersectional Collaborative Frameworks of Resistance and Imaginings

Abstract

Students identified as English learners have been and continue to be one of the fastest growing populations of K-12 students in U.S. schools (NCES, 2023). With nearly 94% of these students being racially identified other than white and representing approximately 10% of school-aged learners across the nation, English learners contribute a wealth of knowledge, cultural, linguistic, and life experiences to school communities. Despite this, these students, hereafter referred to as emergent bilingual or emergent multilingual learners to emphasize the richness of their linguistic repertoires multidimensional identities, are subjected to disproportionate educational outcomes compared to their white, English-“proficient” peers (Alemán et al., 2015; Sullivan, 2011; USED 2020). Additionally, the National Center on Educational Statistics (NCES) reports that nearly one in five emergent bilingual learners is also identified as a student with a disability (NCES, 2023).

Identifying and supporting the unique cultural, linguistic, and learning profiles of students is both a legal and moral obligation (Cioé-Peña, 2017; Kangas, 2017). However, despite decades of federal, state, and local education initiatives, failure to simultaneously provide effective, inclusive special education services responsive to students’ academic needs and cultural and linguistic identities continues to persist (Klingner et al., 2005; USED 2015). Furthermore, the prioritization of English-dominant academic programs and (dis)ability-related services create an intersectional gap in which students’ multidimensional social identities collide and result in incomplete or inadequate education services (Cioé-Peña, 2017; Crenshaw, 2013). As a result, this study explores the ways in which the students and families (who bring education policy to life) experience and perceive the inclusion and representation of their cultural and linguistic identities in special education policy.

In this study, DisCrit (Annamma et al., 2013) provides a framework to explore the phenomenon that occurs when individuals experience multiple forms of oppression as a result of socially constructed disability and racial identities, including the racialization of linguistic identities (Flores, 2016; Gillborn, 2015). Through a conceptual lens referred to as confianza or trust and respect, the lived experiences of families are explored through intimate conversations or pláticas (Fierros & Bernal, 2016; hooks, 2001; Laura, 2016). Centering the context of their individual testimonio (Pérez-Huber, 2009), six Spanish-speaking families of K-12 students eligible for English language development (ELD) and special education services reflect upon the inclusion and representation of their cultural and linguistic identities by exploring their understandings of language and (dis)ability entitlements, hopes for the future, and recommendations for administrators, educators, and policy specialists.

Author

• Sara Niño, University of Massachusetts - Boston