Interrogating Inclusion: A Culturally Sustaining UDL Framework to Address Ableism and Racism in Mathematics Education

• In Event: Culturally Sustaining Pedagogies in Mathematics Education: Constructing a New Vision for Research and Classroom Practices

Abstract

Objectives or Purposes
This paper presents an integrated education and research framework that examines the material intersections of ableism and racism in educational design. Grounded in a three-year community-based design research initiative, the framework centers the leadership, cultural assets, and knowledge of disabled emergent bilingual students, their families, and educators as foundational to transforming mathematics intervention practices.

Theoretical Framework
This work begins with the understanding that disability is not an individual deficit but a fluid, sociopolitical identity shaped by intersecting systems of oppression (Sins Invalid, 2019; Annamma et al., 2013). We draw on three frameworks – DisCrit (Disability Critical Race Theory; Annamma, Connor, & Ferri, 2013), culturally sustaining pedagogy (Paris & Alim, 2017), and Universal Design for Learning (CAST, 2018)— all three are theoretical and methodological frameworks, yet seldom are integrated in educational research. We bring these frameworks together into conversation to advance a culturally sustaining Universal Design for Learning (UDL) approach.

Methods, Techniques, or Modes of Inquiry
We draw on insights from a three-year collaborative community design research (Bang & Vossoughi, 2016) that involved educators, community partners, and families of disabled emergent bilingual students as co-designers and co-researchers in reimagining mathematics intervention and professional learning. Data include over 60 interviews and focus groups with caregivers, 10 educators across general, bilingual, and special education, and five community partners. Multimodal artifacts include 10 student-created storymaps that document spatial and social experiences across mathematics intervention spaces, including intervention spaces, main instruction classroom, and additional support programs, professional development materials, and school policy documents. Observational field notes and social network data capture changes in collaboration and power dynamics over time.

Results and/or Substantiated Conclusions
Findings show that existing inclusion practices often neglect the cultural and experiential knowledge of disabled youth and their families. Participants identified barriers to collaboration, including language inaccessibility, disability stigma, and fragmented professional development structures. In response, the study developed a culturally sustaining UDL framework with three interrelated components: (1) multiplicity, which honors diverse ways of knowing and communicating; (2) belonging and community, which values relational trust-building as essential to learning; and (3) justice by design, which aligns instructional and structural change efforts with the needs and leadership of those most marginalized. These components will be illustrated through case examples showing shifts in mathematics classroom discourse, teacher collaboration, and family-school engagement that attend to these interrelated components.

Scientific or Scholarly Significance
The proposed framework contributes to mathematics education research by bridging conversations around race and disability through an integrated, justice-oriented framework. It extends UDL from a framework focused on individual access to one rooted in collective agency and transformation. By centering the perspective and experiences of disabled Students of Color and their families to inform educational and research design, the framework challenges prevailing notions of expertise and inclusion, offering concrete strategies for redesigning mathematics education that is culturally sustaining, relationally grounded, and structurally transformative.

Authors

• Cathery Yeh, University of Texas at Austin

• Lauren Rigby, University of Texas at Austin

• Aristotle Ou, University of Texas at Austin