CFP: Looking Back at 50 Years of IDEA and Envisioning Possible Futures

2024-06-21

EPAA/AAPE Call for Papers 

Looking Back at 50 Years of IDEA and Envisioning Possible Futures 

Guest Editors: 

Adai A. Tefera, University of Arizona

Melissa J. Cuba, University of Maine

Education Policy Analysis Archives/Archivos Analíticos de Políticas Educativas/Arquivos Analíticos de Políticas Educativas (EPAA/AAPE; ISSN 1068-2341) announces a call for papers for a special issue, Looking Back at 50 Years of IDEA and Envisioning Possible Futures.

The year 2025 marks a consequential milestone in education law and policy with the 50th anniversary of the landmark passage of the Education for All Handicapped Children Act (now the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act [IDEA], 2004). Notably, IDEA has resulted in more inclusive classrooms and access to essential educational services for infants, toddlers, and K-12 students with disabilities in the United States (U.S. Department of Education, 2024). Despite key advancements and legal and policy victories, the promise of IDEA for many students with disabilities, including Black, Indigenous, and other Students of Color, have yet to be realized. Indeed, a paradox persists concerning key advancements for students with disabilities as a result of IDEA and the ways the policy fails to disrupt longstanding inequities (Artiles et al., 2016; Erevelles, 2016; Ferri & Connor, 2005; Gillborn, 2016).

Despite these inequities, a growing body of scholarship acknowledges the necessity of broadening our approaches to eliminating inequalities and pursuing wellbeing and justice in education (Ginwright, 2022; Tuck & Yang, 2018).  This includes re-envisioning IDEA by centering more humanizing practices and processes. Central to this re-envisioning is prioritizing the wellbeing of nondominant families, communities, and youth in research, policy, and practice (Annamma et al., 2013; Bal et al., 2018; Ishimaru & Bang, 2022).

In this special issue, we call for papers focused not only on the challenges and shortcomings of IDEA, but also the possibilities in advancing equity and justice for students with disabilities across disability intersections (e.g., multilingual learners, LGBTQIA+ students), ages (birth to 22), and categories (e.g., students with complex support needs). Key questions/topics might include:

  • How can IDEA disrupt normative power dynamics by co-constructing knowledge between youth, families/caregivers, and educators?
  • How might reframing IDEA through a social, cultural, or humanistic disability model promote an asset-based understanding of students with disabilities?
  • How can disability intersections (e.g., LGBTQIA+, multilingual learners) be centered in IDEA to ensure students’ access to inclusive environments?
  • How can improving the provision of dual services and intersection of key education policies (e.g., Title III and IDEA) advance language civil rights of multilingual learners with disabilities?
  • How might enhancing cultural practices and pedagogies in general and special education preparation equip educators and other school professionals (e.g., administrators, service providers, paraprofessionals) to work with students with disabilities and their families at the intersection of multiple differences?

Abstracts will be accepted in English, and invited manuscripts will complete a double-blind peer review process. 

Submission Information:

Interested contributors are invited to submit an 1000-word structured abstract on the topic of IDEA that contains the following components: purpose, theoretical framework, methodology, preliminary findings, and implications.. Structured abstracts aligned with the special issue’s theme are due for review by September 15, 2024. Abstracts are to be submitted electronically through the EPAA website, in the section Looking Back at 50 Years of IDEA, following the Journal’s submission guidelines.

Anticipated Timeline:

  • 1,000-word abstract due – September 15, 2024
  • Proposals selected – October 2024
  • Manuscript development – October 2024 – February 2025
  • Peer Review – February 2025 – April 2025
  • Finalize manuscripts – July 2025
  • Anticipated publication of special issue – September 2025

Questions concerning this call for papers should be directed to the guest editors, Adai A. Tefera (adaitefera@arizona.edu) and Melissa J. Cuba (melissa.cuba@maine.edu)

References:

Annamma, S. A., Connor, D., & Ferri, B. (2013). Dis/ability critical race studies (DisCrit): Theorizing at the intersections of race and dis/ability. Race Ethnicity and Education, 16(1), 1-31. https://doi.org/10.1080/13613324.2012.730511

Artiles, A. J., Dorn, S., & Bal, A. (2016). Objects of protection, enduring nodes of difference: Disability intersections with “other” differences, 1916 to 2016. Review of Research in Education,    40(1), 777-820. https://doi.org/10.3102/0091732X16680606

Bal, A., Afacan, K., & Cakir, H. I. (2018). Culturally responsive school discipline: Implementing learning lab at a high school for systemic transformation. American Educational Research Journal, 55(5), 1007-1050. https://doi.org/10.3102/0091732X16680606

Erevelles, N. (2016). The right to exclude: Locating Section 504 in the disproportionality debate. In World Yearbook of Education 2017 (pp. 120-136). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315517377-8

Ferri, B. A., & Connor, D. J. (2005). In the shadow of Brown: Special education and overrepresentation of students of color. Remedial and Special Education, 26(2), 93-100.                https://doi.org/10.1177/07419325050260020401

Gillborn, D. (2016). Softly, softly: Genetics, intelligence and the hidden racism of the new geneism.Journal of Education Policy, 31(4), 365-388. https://doi.org/10.1080/02680939.2016.1139189

Ginwright, S. A. (2022). The four pivots: Reimagining justice, reimagining ourselves. North Atlantic Books.

Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, 20 U.S.C. § 1400 (2004)

Ishimaru, A., & Bang, M. (2022). Designing with families for just futures. Journal of Family Diversity in Education, 4(2), 130-140. https://doi.org/10.53956/jfde.2022.171

Tuck, E., & Yang, K.W. (2018). Toward what justice? Describing diverse dreams of justice in education. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781351240932

U.S. Department of Education. (2024). A history of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. https://sites.ed.gov/idea/IDEA-History