Background: The field of special education (SPED) has struggled with persistent equity problems in providing meaningful learning opportunities for students of color. These inequities are experienced by students who are navigating the intersection of race and disability, marginalizing and harming them. Critical scholars urge SPED to carefully…

By its very nature, the field of early intervention and early childhood special education (EI/ ECSE) "should" be grounded in social justice, with an ongoing commitment to the pursuit of equity for young children with disabilities and their families. However, it must be reckoned with that this field is steeped in a deficit model of…

Advancing equity and justice in undergraduate biology education requires research to address the experiences of disabled students. Scholars working in disability studies have developed models of disability that inform Discipline-Based Education Research (DBER). To date, DBER literature has been predominantly informed by the medical and social…

The concept of neurodiversity has fuelled a social justice movement advocating for the rights of those whose lives diverge from a socially-constructed default. However, deficit understandings of disability persist in educational settings and neurodivergent people continue to face disadvantage and discrimination in organisations constructed on…

Reentry, also referred to as transition, is a critical component in preparing at-risk youth in juvenile justice facilities for successful postrelease outcomes. However, successfully preparing these youth for reentry into the community and back to traditional K-12 schools is still difficult for many justice facilities. With the continued calls for…

There is a common narrative in the field of transition: students with disabilities continue to experience poorer post-school outcomes compared with their peers without disabilities. After decades of research and practice, scholars and practitioners have impacted countless numbers of students. However, disparate outcomes for diverse youth still…

For education to be a means of social transformation that is equitable for all, including students with disabilities, it is important for educators to understand and infuse student's multiple social identities and culture into educational planning and preparation for life. Intersectionality theory is a way to understand inequities by acknowledging…

While the literature on twice exceptionality is growing, it often focuses on twice exceptionality generally, overlooking within group differences that may create unique experiences for students. As such, there is a need to explicitly detail these differences to push the knowledge base forward. This chapter focuses on the unique needs and…

Research poetry, valuable for its poignancy and creativity in analysing and presenting data, can enhance comprehension of research content, move political policy by drawing on readers' emotional connection to participants, inspire social justice activism, and increase accessibility to disability research. The field of adult education acknowledges…

The purpose of this paper is to define and describe the 'Telos' or purpose of special education. We argue that special education has three main (tripartite) functions: (a) research, (b) a distinct system, and (c) special instruction. The overall Telos of special education is to provide an educational service to better serve students whose…

Positive behaviour support and schoolwide positive behavioural interventions and supports (PBIS) emerged in response to the misuse of behavioural theory and ableism in educational systems. Yet even with these advances, inequitable outcomes based on ability and race persist. The purpose of this article is to describe an equity-centred schoolwide…

Ethnocentric models of disability have resulted in an ontology that rarely embraces the cultural nuances and social structures of specific countries. There have been increasing calls from scholars to expand understandings of disability beyond this hegemonic focus and develop new ways to do culturally specific and respectful inclusive work.…

Social justice has gained momentum over the past decades with a surge of attention since March 2020. Among many seeking social justice, individuals with disabilities often are forgotten or excluded. Students with disabilities consistently scored below students without disabilities, in all age categories, on the 2015 National Assessment of…

Costa Rica has developed a modality for people in vulnerable conditions to remain in the education system called "Educación Abierta," Spanish for "Open Education." This modality is described, and a lack of specific research is identified regarding minors with a disability and deprived of liberty. This article acknowledges the…

Given the role of education in shaping social ideology, there is value in considering how learning spaces affect students' perceptions of inclusivity and social justice. This paper posits that ability as a central focus in education can intersect with marginalization arising from race, gender, class, and indigeneity, towards potential…