We outline a multidimensional ecological systems policy framework to better understand how the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and patterns of racial disproportionality in special education relate. The framework engages with ideology, power, privilege, and context across the multiple layers of the policy-implementation process…

Educational agencies with inequities in special education or exclusionary discipline are required to review local policies, practices, and procedures as potential drivers of disproportionality. Indeed, disparities manifest in both locally and through broad, historical narratives; solutions must thus address both local context and histories of…

We review the scope and sources of ethnic and racial disparities in education with a focus on the the implications of psychological theory and research for understanding and redressing these disparities. We identify 3 sources of ethnic and racial disparities including (a) social class differences, (b) differential treatment based on ethnic and…

Racial inequities, such as systematic disparities in school discipline and achievement outcomes, are a perennial characteristic of public education in the United States. Although attention to interracial chasms such as the Black-White achievement gap is common, limited efforts are devoted to understanding how and why colorism motivates imbalances…

Influenced by Third World Liberation social movements in the United States and abroad, this article applies a serve-the-people concept to service-learning in education. Rooted in pedagogies more traditionally associated with ethnic studies and community organizing, and informed by sociocultural and critical frameworks in education, this article…

In this article that reviews this special issue, we identify 5 ironies and limitations of educational leadership for social justice: (a) the meaning of inclusive practice, (b) the intersection of identity and difference, (c) the emphasis given to student achievement, (d) the lack of policy and practice coherence, and (e) the separation of…

This article identifies historical and contemporary influences of religion in US public schooling. It provides analytical questions that social justice leaders can use to evaluate the practices embedded in their own schools, including an equity audit.

Author examines the extent to which current practices and policies meet or fail to meet the criteria for equal educational opportunity. (CB)