New York, NY – July 23, 2024 – The U.S. Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences (IES) has awarded a $1.7 million grant to Dr. Catherine Kramarczuk Voulgarides, an Assistant Professor in the Department of Special Education at the City University of New York (CUNY), Hunter College. The study, titled “A Comparative Exploration of IDEA Racial Equity Policy to Inform Research, Policy, and Practice,” is a four-year mixed methods project funded under the Systems, Policy, and Finance program and the Exploration goal.
Launching in the Summer of 2024, this innovative research project addresses the critical issue of racial disproportionality in special education and exclusionary discipline practices. With a history dating back to Dunn’s seminal 1968 study, this issue remains one of the most persistent and complex challenges in special education. Extensive research over the decades has shown that racialized and minoritized students often face inequitable treatment within special education systems, including overrepresentation in restrictive settings, lower-quality services, and higher rates of disciplinary actions. It will provide a more comprehensive understanding of how current policies relate to the multifaceted factors behind racial disproportionality— filling a research gap by linking empirical findings with policy analysis to create a more equitable educational landscape for historically underserved learners with disabilities.
Study Overview:
The research team will examine the use of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) policy and the effectiveness of efforts to address racial disproportionality in special education across states, school districts, and local school and community contexts. The study was designed in partnership with four State Education Agencies (SEAs) (California, New York, Washington, and Wisconsin). The study leverages an adapted contextual and ecological conceptual framework and an intersectional lens. The research team will analyze the factors contributing to racial disproportionality at multiple levels, including state education agencies (SEA), local education agencies (LEA), and schools. The team will analyze data from these four states and also conduct and analyze nearly 300 interviews with state, district, and school stakeholders, caregivers of students with disabilities, and students with disabilities—with a focus on racialized and minoritized students across locales (urban, rural, town, and suburban). Moreover, with the help of WestEd and the National Center for Systemic Improvement (NCSI), the team will also share findings and insights from the project with practitioners and community members and work with stakeholders to improve policy and practice to advance racial equity in special education.
Key Objectives:
- Examine Structural, Social, and Contextual Factors: Identify how these factors moderate and mediate the presence of racial disproportionality in special education.
- Analyze Policy and Practice Interactions: Investigate how current IDEA policies impact the equitable treatment of racialized and minoritized students and generate hypotheses for improving educational outcomes.
- Inform Future Research and Policy: Provide a roadmap for refining policy mechanisms and integrating effective practices to address racial inequities.
Research Team:
The project team is comprised of interdisciplinary and accomplished scholars who work across the fields of special education, educational leadership, policy and law, and teaching and learning:
- Dr. Catherine Kramarczuk Voulgarides, Assistant Professor of Special Education, City University of New York, Hunter College (PI)
- Dr. Alexandra Aylward, Co-PI, Assistant Professor of Educational Leadership at the University of Nevada, Reno (Co-I)
- Dr. Rebecca A. Cruz, Co-PI, Assistant Professor of Education at Johns Hopkins University (Co-I)
- Dr. Natasha Strassfeld, Co-PI, Assistant Professor of Special Education at the University of Texas at Austin (Co-I)
Dr. Allison Firestone, a mixed methods expert, and Dr. Roey Ahram will also support the project.
About the Institute of Education Sciences:
The Institute of Education Sciences (IES) is the statistics, research, and evaluation arm of the U.S. Department of Education. It is independent and non-partisan. Its mission is to provide scientific evidence on which to ground education practice and policy and to share this information in formats that are useful and accessible to educators, parents, policymakers, researchers, and the public.
About Hunter College of the City University of New York
Hunter College of the City University of New York, a distinguished public university, values learning in the liberal arts and sciences as a cornerstone of individual development and a vital foundation for a more just and inclusive society. Continuing its long tradition of expanding opportunity, Hunter seeks students from all backgrounds to engage in a rigorous educational experience that prepares them to become leaders and innovators in their communities and in the world. Hunter also contributes to intellectual discourse by supporting excellent scholarship and creative activity by its accomplished faculty.
For more information about this study, please contact Dr. Catherine Voulgarides at cv1360@hunter.cuny.edu
