Ep 10 Dr. Adai Tefera: Exploring the Layers of Inequity: Race, Disability, and Education

In this episode of Inquiry Oasis, Dr. Adai Tefera, an associate professor of special education at the University of Arizona's College of Education delves into her pivotal research on racial disparities in special education, examining the complex interplay of race, disability, language, and other social factors. We take a look at Dr. Tefera’s article she co-authored in the American Educational Research Journal - The Aftermath of Disproportionality Citations: Situating Disability-Race Intersections in Historical, Spatial, and Sociocultural Contexts, and explore the historical, socio-cultural, and spatial contexts shaping educational policies and their impact on students with disabilities. Dr. Tefera's insights illuminate the urgent need for transformative changes in educational equity and policy-making.

Topics Discussed:

• Navigating Intersections: Race and Disability in Education
• A Deeper Look: Disproportionality in Special Education
• Methodological Insights: Uncovering Systemic Inequities
• Breaking New Ground: Key Findings from Dr. Tefera's Research
• The Construct of Defectcraft: Rethinking Disability and Race
• Unveiling Histories: The Impact of Past Policies on Present Practices
• Shaping Futures: Implications for Education in Diverse Communities

Resources:

• Disability and Difference in Global Contexts: Enabling a Transformative Body Politic – by Nirmala Ervelles
• Toward an Interdisciplinary Understanding of Educational Equity and Difference: The Case of the Racialization of Ability - By Alfredo Artiles

Transcript

Jeffrey Anthony: 0:01

Welcome to the Inquiry Oasis, the University of Arizona College of Education's podcast. Here, in the heart of the Sonoran Desert. We bring you conversations with our esteemed faculty members and staff, whose research impacts lives from southern Arizona to the far reaches of the globe. We explore the transformative power of education in this border town, where diverse cultures and ideas converge, weaving a tapestry of innovation with compassion. So join us as we journey through the sands of curiosity, unearthing insights that enrich and inspire. Sit back and relax as we invite you to dive into the Inquiry Oasis. Thank you for tuning into the Inquiry Oasis. I'm your host. Jeffrey Anthony, and we're to welcome Dr. Adai Tefera, an associate professor of special education here at the College of Education. Dr. interdisciplinary scholarship delves into the dynamics of educational policies, particularly as they intersect with race, disability, language, and other pivotal social categories. Her recent explorations Illuminate how historical socio-cultural and spatial context. Influence educators and leaders' responses to citations for disproportionality in the identification, placement, and discipline of students with disabilities. Today, our conversation centers around an article for which Dr. Tefera is the which is featured in the American Educational Research Journal titled The Aftermath of Disproportionality Citations Situating Disability Race Intersections in Historical, Spatial, and Sociocultural Contexts. This article interrogates the complex landscape of racial disparities in special education, particularly focusing on an unnamed suburban school district with a history disproportionate disciplinary actions against black students. So without further ado, let's embark on this journey of exploration and discovery with Dr. Tefera here in the Inquiry Oasis. Dr. Tefera, it's a pleasure to chat with you today.

Dr. Adai Tefera: 2:04

Thank you so much, Jeffrey. It's really great to be here.

Jeffrey Anthony: 2:07

We're so happy that you are here. And so before we dive into the discussion on the article that I mentioned at the top, uh, can you share a bit about your journey and what's driven you to this field?

Dr. Adai Tefera: 2:16

Yeah. so thank you for that question. so much of the work that I do, today and the way that I do it in terms of research is really informed and inspired by my own experiences, going to school and growing up in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and also being the daughter of Ethiopian immigrants, with a sister who experienced special education. And growing up in New Mexico. is it was, and is a place of rich culture and history and diversity. And so I was really fortunate to attend schools, with mostly Latino, indigenous and white students, not a lot of black students, but a lot of diversity, both racial diversity and linguistic diversity. And, and I learned so much. I learned so much just, about, about the culture of the students and their families, and I have really fond experiences in terms of my schooling in New Mexico. At the same time, there were very clear memories that I have of sort of observing, differences in the ways that students received their learning and educational opportunities. So, witnessing my own parents experiences advocating for my sister, to receive, a challenging and adequate curriculum. And at the time, in the eighties and in the nineties, there was this push in special education for sort of life skills, right? So the emphasis wasn't on reading and writing and math. but on things like, recycling aluminum cans and also, picking up trash around campus like these were the kinds of activities my sister, engaged in school. And so my parents knew very clearly that she could do more. And so I have clear memories of the frustration and the challenges. And particularly as parents who are not from the U. S., who are immigrants and who, are black immigrants in particular. And many times the frustration was about, not feeling respected or understood or heard. that was really important to me and also my own experiences in seeing the ways that students of color were often placed in, In general education classrooms and not in quote unquote gifted classrooms in the same ways as wealthier and white students were. And so I remember those moments. and years later, I studied political science and public policy and was really interested in, thinking about public policy as a lever to, enhance educational opportunities for students who have been historically marginalized, including students of color with disabilities. So I studied public policy and I studied urban schooling. And, with this idea of really thinking about and understanding the ways that education policy can improve the lives of students of color with disabilities.

Jeffrey Anthony: 5:05

What an interesting story. I wanted to jump in to your article, The Aftermath of Disproportionality Citations, Situating Disability, Race, Intersections, and Historical, Spatial, and Sociocultural Contexts. It illuminates the complex landscape of racial disparities in special education. The study meticulously focuses on an unnamed suburban school district with a history of disproportionate disciplinary actions against Black students and their placement in special education. Through comprehensive methodologies in the paper, in interviews with over 30 educators and students, participant observations, and document analysis such as staff handbooks and news media, You've created a rich tapestry of insights. Could you elucidate on the key findings from this study and explain the broader ramifications of these disparities in the pursuit of educational equity?

Dr. Adai Tefera: 5:51

Yeah, sure. So first I do want to acknowledge that I wrote this article with colleagues. So Alfredo Artiles, Catherine Voulgardies, Alexander Aylward, and Sarah Alvarado. It was a large team effort and they were also Co-PIs on the project and it was funded by the William T. Grant Foundation. The article points to three main findings and I think What would be helpful is setting the context for those findings. We were interested in the suburban school district that had repeated citations from the state for racial disproportionality in terms of discipline and identifying students of color with disabilities, disproportionate number. We worked in this and collaborated with this school district, which was an outer ring suburb that neighbored an urban community. And the urban community was predominantly, a black community with public schools that had around 80 to 90 percent black students. the suburban district that we were in which it neighbored was predominantly white around 75 percent white and the rest students of color, most of which were black students and the history of that space was also really important because, before sort of the Civil Rights Movement, and post the Civil Rights Movement, there was a lot of white flight from the urban community into the suburban community. and so that's how these racial divisions came about. And so our first finding really speaks to this role of history, specifically the role of racial tensions around race and integration between the urban community and what we call Lakeview. We called this urban community Lakeview, which we found were actually very much alive in the present, right? that history was really integral in terms of how leaders and educators were responding to making sense of their racial disparities in special education. So one of the things that we learned, for example, that many of the leaders spoke about was this time of around 20 years ago, 25 years ago now. where the principal, well, the superintendent of the school district tried to integrate the elementary school. So in this school district that we were in, there were two elementary schools and one middle school and one high school, and the elementary schools were located in very different areas. So the one elementary school was closer to the urban community and had mostly students of color and multilingual students, and the other was predominantly white and wealthier. And so the superintendent at the time tried to create, K 1,2, school and then another 3,4,5 school with this idea of if you create the schools based on grade, then it would foster racial integration. but what happened was there was a lot of resistance, from the white families who wanted to maintain the school that they had and were really against this, form of integration. And so they pushed that superintendent out. So what was very clear among the leaders that we interviewed was that moment, taught them that you have to be very careful about how you engage in equitable kind of practices, right? That you can't push too hard or do too much. And so that story helped us to understand that that history and that historical context was informing what they were doing and how they were doing it. so that role of history as an important context to understanding responses to disproportionality was really important. the second finding was really around, how. Space was important and geography was important in terms of responses to disproportionality. So the relationship again between the urban community and the suburban community informed a lot of deficit perspectives, right? So many of the teachers that we talked to, referred to the students and their families in very deficit ways. So one teacher just I will never probably forget talked about this idea of quote unquote"urban creep" that we have disproportionality because we have a lot of black students and families moving into our community, where they, don't understand the norms of our community, they're not prepared academically and they sort of engage in disruptive behavior. Right. So the response was not about what am I doing as a teacher? How might we change our practices on what kinds of structures are in place that may not be supporting a diverse kind of student body? And instead, it was really about focusing on these deficit perspectives. And then finally, our third finding was, around this idea of kind of compliance with the law or special education policy. And so what we found was that the school district was complying with individuals with disabilities education act mandate saying that they needed to use part of their funding to address these disparities, but they did it in ways that were really ineffective and inadequate, right? So they would hire a special ed teacher to be in the in school suspension room, right? That's really not doing anything to disrupt or change practice. They would have a computer program for the students to learn about like social, emotional learning, right? That might be something that's helpful, but is it really gonna change these citation patterns? one of the key ways that they talked about responding was around this culturally responsive training and, you know, the research demonstrates the promise of and the importance of thinking about and understanding and engaging in culturally responsive strategies. The challenge was that this was only for around 20 teachers and leaders in a district of around 300, and, and part of that was because teachers were resistant to being forced to be a part of that training. And so that resistance led to just fewer people being a part of it. And the idea was like, Oh, that, for many of the teachers that were in the prominently like white elementary school or wealthier elementary school, didn't think it was quote unquote, their problem. And so what we learned from that finding was that they were adhering to what the policy was requiring as a way to, disrupt or address their racial disparities, but those practices really weren't fundamentally changing beliefs or structures or practices and meaningful ways. So those were our three main findings.

Jeffrey Anthony: 12:04

I want to move on to, uh, this idea that you present in the paper, which is called defectcraft, which is one word, and you describe it as a sociocultural process that both protects and marginalize individuals with disabilities. It's evident that this lens offers a nuanced way of understanding how racial disparities are constructed and perpetuated, especially in the realms of disability and education. Can you elaborate on why adopting the defectcraft, lens is crucial for unpacking these disparities? And moreover, how does it challenge conventional narratives surrounding racialized learners and their intersectional identities, especially in the context of spatial and cultural historical factors?

Dr. Adai Tefera: 12:44

So one of the things that we wanted to do was move beyond simply asking does disproportionality exist or not, and instead really think about what we call a situated nature of disproportionality. So really understanding how the context that a school is in shapes responses to and understandings about disproportionality. And my co author and co P. I Alfredo Artiles has written about this concept of defect craft. Thank As a way of making visible on and critically examining the ways that racial disparities and special education emerge. So this includes examining the role of history and of space as important contextual dynamics to inform the ways disproportionality exists. Defectcraft also speaks to the ways intersectionality, intersectional identities, related to race and disability are often not considered, when thinking and understanding and examining racial disparities in special education. and then finally, it. It makes visible the ways that othering processes and practices through things like deficit perspectives, become apparent in the study of disproportionality and racial disparities, in special education. So in effect, I think what we are. So what we're trying to do is to draw on these different aspects to understand, some of the complexity and the, and make visible and make clear some of the complexities around, how and why disparities in special education emerge.

Jeffrey Anthony: 14:15

I'm hearing here, I'm going to riff a little bit, is that a context is really important. I think one thing that we've, kind of rely on. I'm making a broad generalization here, though, is like we want to try to find universal rules or are universalized kind of moral ways that we should interact with each other. But I've noticed from your paper is that, that necessarily isn't helpful. What's helpful is looking at the context, which includes the history, uh, the actual makeup of the school, the surrounding communities. And that's, just as important as the findings that you may come up with. so now this is one of my favorite questions, which is, so during the course of your research, has there been any discoveries or outcomes that have taken you by surprise?

Dr. Adai Tefera: 14:52

I mean, I think this speaks to what you just shared. I have always been interested in history and understanding the role of history and the stories that people tell, to shape our current understandings, right? Like, I think oftentimes it's easy, especially in education, to focus on, like, what are the policies we need now to improve learning or improve outcomes? But we tend to have an ahistorical perspective when it comes to these things, right? Like, how many policies do we see recycled and trying to do the same sorts of things as have been done in the past without really learning from those challenges. So I don't know that I would say, there was a discovery per se, but I would say that it helped me. More clearly, understand the importance of history. And so even if you don't have a research question or you're not specifically interested in the history of the space, I think it's critical to still be informed to still understand how historical dynamics are shaping educational practices.

Jeffrey Anthony: 15:58

Well, thank you for sharing that. It reminds me a bit of John Dewey's conception of, keeping things contextualized. I think it's really important. And your paper really spoke to the, to that power as well. Uh, so I want to bring this back to the institutional context. Why do you believe this research is important to the community here at the university of Arizona?

Dr. Adai Tefera: 16:16

I love the idea of thinking about the community. We conducted this study and engaged in the project in a very different region of the country. But I, I'm from the Southwest and love Tucson and really think about, our context in terms of being a border state, being a state with rich history around multiple languages and cultures. and so I think what this work helps bring to the forefront is, continuing to think about, like you said, context and, how issues around special education and maybe multilingual learners, and students of color and all of these different identities, come into play in schools in our community and how the dynamics around the border and political dynamics and historical dynamics shape those students lives and outcomes as well. So I hope this work helps to, raise new questions, in thinking about the students in our context.

Jeffrey Anthony: 17:17

Thank you for sharing that. So Dr. Taffera, if you envision an ideal future, for K 12 education, especially in the context of addressing and redressing racial disparities in special education and disciplinary actions. What transformative changes would you hope to witness?

Dr. Adai Tefera: 17:33

Yeah, I really love this question. I'm thinking about transformative education, and centering and focusing on youth of color students of color with disabilities in making decisions related to school policies and practices. So we have incredible scholars and folks in our college doing work that centers young people. I think about Julio Camarota. I think about Melanie Bertrand and Taucia Gonzalez. and Taucia Gonzalez has also engaged with young people with disabilities who are also multilingual. as a key part of the schools to change and to advance more equitable and just practices. And so one of the things that I'm looking forward to and collaborating with Dr Bertrand and Dr Gonzalez is dreaming up this project about how based on their expertise related to youth and engaging with youth and participatory methods, and then some of the work I've done around disproportionality and coming together, to work with school districts in our community, and work closely with students to, engage and with leaders and with teachers to, uh, change policies and practices related to disproportionality in terms of discipline and identification.

Jeffrey Anthony: 18:52

Well, as we near the end of our conversation, we'd like to ask our guests to recommend a book or a paper that has been meaningful to them. Could you share one with our audience and explain how this has impacted you?

Dr. Adai Tefera: 19:02

Yeah. so I. would say that, it's hard to choose one, I'm going to say two, because there's so many foundational scholars. But there's one scholar, Nirmala Ervelles, who I read early on as a graduate student. And her book, Disability and Difference in Global Context, Enabling a Transformative Politic, was one of the first, maybe even the first that I read that, discussed intersections of racism and ableism and, um, and intersectionality. So helped me think more critically about like, what does it mean, for students with disabilities to embody multiple intersectional identities? whether they're multilingual students with disabilities or students of color with disabilities. and to think about special education policy and the ways that those policies are or are not meeting the needs of students at multiple intersections. So I would say her work is really pivotal. and then I would say Alfredo Artiles, who was a co author on the paper, but was also really foundational in, In my own thinking, especially around interdisciplinary work. So his article Toward an Interdisciplinary Understanding of Educational Equity and Difference, The Case of the Racialization of Ability, also helps me to think about drawing on theories from multiple disciplines, not just in education. So in sociology and political science and in public policy, to more deeply and in more complex ways, examine these longstanding issues in special education in terms of equity and inequities. so both of those scholars and their work have been really foundational and pivotal to my own work.

Jeffrey Anthony: 20:42

Well, fantastic. Thank you for sharing those resources and those will be in the show notes and Dr. it has truly been an insightful journey today unraveling the multifaceted intricacies of racial disparities in special education. Your dedication to illuminating the intersections of race, disability, and education provides a necessary beacon in the vast landscape of educational equity. We anticipate the continued transformative impact of your research in the broader context of education. And thank you, listeners, for joining us today in the Inquiry Oasis. We hope our conversation with Dr. Tefera has enriched your perspective and deepened your understanding of the complexities surrounding racial disparities in special education and their broader implications. Remember, we're back on the first and third Wednesdays of every month with fresh insights and conversations, so be sure to tune in. Until next time, keep your curiosity alive and remember, knowledge is our oasis.