DEE - Disability and Equity in Education

This course explores principles and practices of activism across a variety of contexts. The primary focus is on personal, social, institutional and legislative changes necessary to promote inclusive democratic education. The roles and procedures of advocacy, consciousness raising, activism, service learning, emancipatory research, and critical pedagogy are addressed. Psychological, social, and educational processes involved in constructing and maintaining marginal "others" are analyzed and deconstructed in order to imagine and conceptualize futures that are not tied to the dictates of the past. Insights gained and strategies used in prominent social movements, including the disability rights movement, will be investigated. Prerequisite(s): Admission to a doctoral program in NCE, post-masters status, or consent of instructor. 3 semester hours

This course critically explores the historical, philosophical, and scientific foundations of educational and psychological assessment to understand their roles in the social construction of ability and disability and the maintenance of social hierarchies. Historical and contemporary theories and practices of assessment will be considered from positions of race, ethnicity, social class, gender, and disability. Assessment and accountability practices embedded in policy will be scrutinized for their impact on particular social groups and institutional cultures. Theories and practices of assessment that promote assumptions of competence, independence, and a respect for the integrity of human diversity will be evaluated to understand fundamental principles. Pre-requisite(s): Admission to NCE Doctoral Program in Teaching and Learning or permission of the instructor. Co-requisite(s): None. 3 semester hours

Participants in this course will critically examine multiple histories of disability and education. Historical research methods and methodologies will be explored to understand connections between assumptions, values, beliefs, epistemologies, and ethics evident in history and in historical representations. Course participants will engage in historical research to explore histories, social and political contexts, and material practices that inform contemporary practices and policies. Using primary and secondary sources, they will inquire into intertwining histories of disability and education to gain insights, evidence, and rationales to inform more intentional and emancipatory futures. Pre-requisite(s): Admission to NCE Doctoral Program in Teaching and Learning or permission of the instructor. Co-requisite(s): None. 3 semester hours

This course in Applied Disability Studies examines educational consulting practices that enact principles of an inclusive disability rights perspective. Candidates learn how to meaningfully represent school-age students and adult self-advocates in their consulting work with other team constituents to impact success, belonging, and status. Authentic examples will be shared to promote person-centered thinking, presumptions of competency and methods of institutional change. Planning processes will be taught and applied to progressively promote meaningful futures for people that achieve agency and quality of life. Candidates will develop a plan for consulting to achieve effectiveness in working with schools, community, employment, government, and advocacy agencies to promote full citizenship or people with disabilities. Pre-requisite(s): Admission to the NCE Doctoral Program or the consent of the instructor. Co-requisite(s): None. 3 semester hours

This doctoral seminar addresses current and relevant topics related to disability, equity, and education. Participants research, interpret and analyze the social, political, and educational dimensions of disability as it relates to experience, practice, and policy. Topics are researched from multiple standpoints, epistemologies, and theoretical positions providing participants with complex renderings and interpretations. Implications for praxis are formulated. Pre-requisite(s): Admission to NCE Doctoral Program in Teaching and Learning or permission of the instructor. Co-requisite(s): None. 1-12 semester hours

This seminar introduces the interdisciplinary field of disability studies. Foundations, tenets, traditions, and approaches to disability epistemology, ontology, theory, and research are considered with a focus on the history and practice of their application to education. Developments and movements in the field both as a whole and in relation to education are examined, including conceptual models, inclusion, intersectionality, culture, civil rights, disability justice, self-advocacy, language choice, expertise, and representation. Contemporary regional and global issues, problems, and debates are explored as they relate to P-21 education, with each candidate selecting a topic of interest for deeper research. Pre-requisite(s): Admission to NCE Doctoral Program in Teaching and Learning or permission of the instructor. Co-requisite(s): None. 3 semester hours