DISABILITY AND EDUCATION

NCES (2024) reports that there were 7.5 million students, aged between 3 to 21 years, receiving special education services under the Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) in the academic year 2022-23 (para. 1). Trends suggest that the number of students with disabilities will continue to increase each year and alongside this so will the number of disabled students participating in general education spaces (NCES, 2024, Table 3, para. 5). Throughout this dissertation, I explore disability in the general English Education classroom. ELA teachers and parent/guardians of disabled students within a Northwest region of the United States were invited to participate in the research study and complete an anonymous survey. After situating the study in relevant literature and describing the theoretical frameworks and methods I draw on, I share the themes that emerged across the open-ended survey responses and discuss the multiple choice and Likert scale questions answered by the participants using descriptive statistical analysis. In consideration of the findings, I offer future implications for both practicing teachers and pre-service teachers, while offering supporting materials for the inclusion of Disability Studies Pedagogy as well as share resources for including representations of disability and teaching about disability within the ELA curriculum using Young Adult Literature to facilitate learning opportunities for students.