The initial special education identification process (SPED IDP) determines which students have disabilities and corresponding rights to IDEA supports. However, the disproportionate identification of Black, Indigenous Students of Color (BISOC) as emotionally disturbed necessitates the problematizing of special education structures within the SPED…

Prejudice and bias are described as an embarrassing phenomenon of research work in social sciences. They concern both quantitative and qualitative research. Authors working in both antagonistic paradigms such as positivist, post-positivist and constructivism, interpretivism generally point to the main patterns showing the aspects of bias. They…

Special education is losing its identity--its visibility, distinctiveness, budget, and basic functions are all at risk. Special education functions include (a) sorting, categorizing, and labeling students who need it; (b) making the right comparisons; (c) honoring diversity but changing "particular" differences; (d) managing stigma; (e)…

The availability of user-friendly technological tools is allowing instructional designers and subject matter experts to create innovative online instruction. This article describes the implementation of a multimedia case-based approach that employs narrative to create a fully online course on complex continuing and long-term care for older adults.…

This book examines how the use of the "at-risk" category and label creates problems for students and teachers. Drawing from research across various education sites, the author illustrates how educators recognize the label's potential to redress issues of equity, but warns that it can also stigmatize the students so labeled. Brown…

Frequent discussion in the field of disability research focuses knowledge on rehabilitation for students with disabilities. However, lacking is a focus on student identity development in the face of a highly stigmatizing and stigmatized label. Semi-structured interviews with four freshman males labeled with high incidence disabilities were…

The community college continues to deal with the challenging of educating developmental writers. The challenge becomes more daunting with the failure of many to see this as a social and political endeavor. This article delves into the need to teach developmental writing in a way that empowers writers to see themselves as authors and their lives as…

Young children with and without disabilities who are bilingual or in the process of learning multiple languages have many strengths; however, educational policies and bias related to bilingualism for children from linguistically minoritized groups have typically included deficit-based views. The purpose of this systematic review was to identify…

Young children with and without disabilities who are bilingual or in the process of learning multiple languages have many strengths; however, educational policies and bias related to bilingualism for children from linguistically minoritized groups have typically included deficit-based views. The purpose of this systematic review was to identify…

Shonda L. Goward argues that conflating first-generation and low-income status elides the specific and significant barriers poor students experience. They may share the experience of not being familiar with the university system, but the challenges of food insecurity, jobs, and family responsibilities, along with a lack of a safety net, make it…

As trans studies becomes more deeply institutionalized as a field and trans visibility spikes in popular culture, more students come into women's and gender studies (WGS) classrooms identifying as trans, genderqueer, or nonbinary, and they hope that classrooms will be responsive to their experiences. At minimum, this requires that WGS instructors…

Roughly one in four Americans will experience a mental health issue during his or her lifetime (National Academy of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, 2016). The consequences of mental disorders can be profound: people with mental disorders experience higher rates of disability and mortality. People with depression and schizophrenia have a…

Through a synthesis of 25 years worth of studies concerning the lived experience of children who are gifted and talented within the context of school, a more comprehensive picture can be presented. The intent is to provide information for teachers, parents, administrators, and psychologists to better understand and support advanced development.…

Concerns about the mental health of students have been documented at every level of formal education (cf., Castillo & Schwartz, 2013; Durlak & Wells, 1997; Soet & Sevig, 2006). Addressing the entirety of these concerns is beyond the scope of this forum, thus the author's comments are geared primarily toward higher education; however,…

Special education labeling ignores historical, emotional, spiritual, sociocultural effects of labeling Black and Brown students with disabilities. Utilizing critical disability studies, critical race theory and spiritual paradigm, we interrogate construction and expression of differences of Learning Disability and Speech and Language Impairment.…