Can solidarity driven co-design principles disrupt racialized administrative burdens and contribute to more equitable experiences for these families? With this grant, Tefera will conduct a two-phased qualitative study with Portland Public Schools, Maine’s school district with the highest percentage of multilingual learners. In Phase 1, Tefera’s team will interview immigrant and migrant multilingual families to examine how intersectional identity categories shape their experiences navigating special education for their children. The research team will also interview leaders, educators, and advocates who work with multilingual learners with disabilities to examine administrative and racialized burdens embedded within special education policies and practices. In Phase 2, a sample of families, educators, and leaders from Phase 1 will participate in a series of solidarity-driven co-design circles to collaboratively analyze findings from Phase 1 and co-generate recommendations for advancing more equitable policies and practices.
How do special education policies and practices contribute to patterns of administrative burden faced by immigrant and migrant multilingual families and their children with disabilities?
