Date of Degree
2024
Degree Name
Ed.D. (Doctor of Education)
Department
Department of Leadership, Educational Psychology, and Foundations (LEPF)
Director
Puckett, Tiffany
Co-Director
Summers, Kelly
Committee Members
Bultinck, Howard J.
Keywords
Educational equity, Social justice, Intersectionality, Dual language education, Language and special education, Critical Race Theory, Marginalization, English Language Learners, Systemic Structures, Dually identified students
Abstract
ABSTRACT
THE INTERSECTIONALITY OF LANGUAGE AND SPECIAL EDUCATION: AN EXPLORATION OF HOW SYSTEMS SHAPE TEACHERS’ PERCEPTIONS AND HOW PERCEPTIONS SHAPE EDUCATIONAL PRACTICE
Leticia Valadez, Ed.D. Department of Leadership, Educational Psychology, and Foundations
Northern Illinois University, 2024
Dr. Tiffany Puckett, Director
This dissertation examines the relationship between systemic structures and teachers’ perceptions and how those perceptions shape educational practice. It explores those relationships through the educational experiences of language learners with learning disabilities and the perspectives of educators and school leaders in preschool through fifth-grade settings tasked with meeting their complex educational needs. This dissertation is organized into three papers. Paper One synthesizes the literature addressing the educational provisions of students with intersectional social identities and analyzes how systemic structures create barriers for students through the perspective of Critical Race Theory and Intersectionality, the theoretical framework of this study. The theoretical framework provides the historical context needed to understand how systemic structures and educational inequity operate in schools, which explains the behavioral patterns and decision-making that lead to disadvantage and prioritization of needs. This paper also introduces the relationship between teachers’ perceptions and educational practice.
Paper Two analyzes the relationship between structures and perception and how perception shapes educational practice through Critical Race Theory (CRT) tenets. Each CRT tenet is placed in the context of schools to expose the exclusionary mechanisms that adversely impact students with intersecting identities in a compounded manner. Paper Two also outlines the qualitative research design process, including the methodology, data analysis plan, and findings.
Paper Three applies the literature and research findings to a professional learning plan designed to address the findings through recommendations. An equity-focused approach to teaching, leadership, and professional development is recommended to address the systemic structures that disenfranchise students identified as language learners with special education needs. Five research findings provide a guiding framework for developing an equity-based action plan.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.
Publisher
Northern Illinois University
Rights Statement
In Copyright
Rights Statement 2
NIU theses and dissertations are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from Huskie Commons for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without the written permission of the authors, unless otherwise indicated.
Recommended Citation
Valadez, Leticia, "THE INTERSECTIONALITY OF LANGUAGE AND SPECIAL EDUCATION: AN EXPLORATION OF HOW SYSTEMS SHAPE TEACHERS’ PERCEPTIONS AND HOW PERCEPTIONS SHAPE EDUCATIONAL PRACTICE" (2024). Dissertations of Practice. 45.
https://huskiecommons.lib.niu.edu/allgraduate-disspractice/45
Included in
Bilingual, Multilingual, and Multicultural Education Commons, Disability and Equity in Education Commons, Educational Leadership Commons, Elementary Education Commons
