THE ROLE OF LANGUAGE PRODUCTION AND TEACHER EPISTEMOLOGY IN DISPROPORTIONALITY

Research continues to demonstrate that students from minoritized backgrounds are disproportionality represented in special education. This study investigated the issue of minoritized disproportionality of Latinx students receiving special education services for specific learning disability in a local school district. This issue was explored through the context of teachers’ epistemology and their perspectives of developmentally appropriate practices for student learning. A teacher’s epistemology directly influences their instructional design, expectations, and outcomes for student learning. Drawing on the theory of social disability, this study examined teachers’ epistemology as it relates to the ideological and institutional norms that create access or lack thereof for student learning. The method for this study was a qualitative grounded theory design oriented to understand organizational phenomena and perceptions that inform belief systems. To understand the belief system across the preschool through Grade 3 continuum, this research utilized two settings: a Head Start preschool and an elementary school. General findings suggest a relationship between beliefs regarding how students learn, notions of student performance, and cultural contributions to perceptions of disabilities. This study concludes with implications and suggestions for school leaders to advance social justice for minoritized students.