Introducing the Special Issue: Including the Voices of Students With Disabilities in Special Education Research

Abstract

In this introduction to the special issue, we anchor the special issue in a shared definition of student voice research. Following this, we explore the need for student voice research in special education and discuss how research that centers the voices of students with disabilities aligns with the historical foundations of special education. We then introduce the articles that will be included in the special issue and consider how this scholarship could enhance our understanding of students’ K–12 schooling experiences and outcomes related to educational progress, equal opportunity, independent living, full participation, and economic self-sufficiency.

Keywords

research methodology systems change legal/policy issues special education

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Annamma

S. A.

(2014). Disabling juvenile justice: Engaging the stories of incarcerated young women of color with disabilities. Remedial and Special Education, 35(5), 313–324. https://doi.org/10.1177/0741932514526785

Benedict

Lauterbach

Brownell

Park

Koziarski

(2024). The dynamic relationship between students’ talk about their learning and teachers’ reading instruction. Remedial and Special Education, 46(3), 176–190. https://doi.org/10.1177/07419325241240062

Best

Burke

Rossetti

Demissie

Hughes

Ramirez

Kunzier

(2024). Perspectives of transition-aged youth with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities about self-advocacy and civic engagement. Journal of Developmental and Physical Disabilities, 37, 813–832. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10882-024-09985-1

Brasof

Levitan

(Eds.). (2022). Student voice research: Theory, methods, and innovations from the field. Teachers College Press.

Collins

(2024). Contrasting educator and black student perspectives of the special education placement process: A DisCrit counter-narrative analysis. Teacher Education and Special Education, 47(4), 283–301. https://doi.org/10.1177/08884064241255219

Connor

D. J.

(2006). Michael’s story: “I get into so much trouble just by walking:” Narrative knowing and life at the intersections of learning disability, race, and class. Equity & Excellence in Education, 39(2), 154–165. https://doi.org/10.1080/10665680500533942

Cook-Sather

(2006). Sound, presence, and power: “Student voice” in educational research and reform. Curriculum Inquiry, 36(4), 359–390. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-873X.2006.00363.x

Cook-Sather

(2020). Student voice across contexts: Fostering student agency in today’s schools. Theory Into Practice, 59(2), 182–191. https://doi.org/10.1080/00405841.2019.1705091

Couldry

(2010). Why voice matters: Culture and politics after neoliberalism. Sage. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781446269114

10.

Fielding

(2011). Student voice and the possibility of radical democratic education: Re-narrating forgotten histories, developing alternative futures. In Czerniawski

Kidd

(Eds.), The student voice handbook: Bridging the academic/practitioner divide (pp. 3–17). Emerald.

11.

Gillett-Swan

Baroutsis

(2023). Student voice and teacher voice in educational research: A systematic review of 25 years of literature from 1995–2020. Oxford Review of Education, 50(4), 533–551. https://doi.org/10.1080/03054985.2023.2257132

12.

González

T. E.

Hernandez-Saca

D. I.

Artiles

A. J.

(2017). In search of voice: Theory and methods in K-12 student voice research in the US, 1990–2010. Educational Review, 69(4), 451–473. https://doi.org/10.1080/00131911.2016.1231661

13.

González

T. E.

Mueller

Espinoza

A. C.

Ramirez

C. G.

(2026). Enhancing equity in special education through student voice research: A commentary on the special issue. Remedial and Special Education. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/07419325261442763

14.

Holquist

S. E.

Mitra

D. L.

Conner

Wright

N. L.

(2023). What is student voice anyway? The intersection of student voice practices and shared leadership. Educational Administration Quarterly, 59(4), 703–743. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013161X231178023

15.

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

16.

James

(2007). Giving voice to children’s voices: Practices and problems, pitfalls and potentials. American Anthropologist, 109(2), 261–272. https://doi.org/10.1525/aa.2007.109.2.261

17.

Kahne

Bowyer

Marshall

Hodgin

(2022). Is responsiveness to student voice related to academic outcomes? Strengthening the rationale for student voice in school reform. American Journal of Education, 128(3), 389–415. https://doi.org/10.1086/719121

18.

Lauterbach

A. A.

Bettini

Morris Mathews

Rossetti

Hughes

O. E.

(2022). How varied qualitative methodologies can inform and advance the field of special education. In Farmer

T. W.

Talbott

McMaster

Lee

Aceves

(Eds.), Handbook of special education research (Vol. 1, pp. 171–186). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003156857-15

19.

Love

Leko

(2026). Punished: Identity development of black boys in a figured world of exclusion. Remedial and Special Education. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/07419325261442749

20.

Lundy

(2007). ‘Voice’ is not enough: Conceptualising Article 12 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. British Educational Research Journal, 33(6), 927–942. https://doi.org/10.1080/01411920701657033

21.

Machado

Beneke

M. R.

Love

H. R.

(2024). “So that I may hope to honor you:” Centering wholeness, agency, and brilliance in qualitative research with multiply marginalized young children. Educational Researcher, 53(4), 245–251. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189X241237533

22.

Mathews

Milam

A. N.

Bason

Giani

M. V.

(2025). “It’s like she’s researching my brain:” Exploring children’s perspectives on special education teaching quality. Remedial and Special Education. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/07419325251395215

23.

Mitra

D. L.

(2005). Adults advising youth: Leading while getting out of the way. Educational Administration Quarterly, 41(3), 520–553. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013161X04269620

24.

Mitra

D. L.

(2018). Student voice in secondary schools: The possibility for deeper change. Journal of Educational Administration, 56(5), 473–487. https://doi.org/10.1108/JEA-01-2018-0007

25.

Mueller

C. O.

(2021). “I didn’t know people with disabilities could grow up to be adults:” Disability history, curriculum, and identity in special education. Teacher Education and Special Education, 44(3), 189–205. https://doi.org/10.1177/0888406421996069

26.

National Center for Education Statistics. (2024). Students with disabilities. Condition of education. U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences. https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/indicator/cgg

27.

Pollard

Thiessen

Filer

(Eds.). (1997). Children and their curriculum. Falmer Press.

28.

Rosati

Rosetti

Z. S.

Giani

M. V.

(2026). Speaking with, not for: Methods for centering student voice in special education research. Remedial and Special Education. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/07419325251395215

29.

Rossetti

Ashby

Arndt

Chadwick

Kasahara

(2008). “I like others to not try to fix me:” Agency, independence, and autism. Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, 46(5), 364–375. https://doi.org/10.1352/2008.46:364-375

30.

Scott

L. A.

Thoma

C. A.

Gokita

Bruno

Ruiz

A. B.

Brendli

Taylor

J. P.

Vitullo

(2021). I’m trying to make myself happy: Black students with intellectual and developmental disabilities and families on promoting self-determination during transition. Inclusion, 9(3), 170–188. https://doi.org/10.1352/2326-6988-9.3.170

31.

Shogren

K. A.

Gross

J. M.

Forber-Pratt

A. J.

Francis

G. L.

Satter

A. L.

Blue-Banning

Hill

(2015). The perspectives of students with and without disabilities on inclusive schools. Research and Practice for Persons with Severe Disabilities, 40(4), 243–260. https://doi.org/10.1177/1540796915583493

32.

Shogren

K. A.

Wehmeyer

M. L.

Burke

K. M.

(2017). Self-determination. In Shogren

K. A.

Wehmeyer

M. L.

Singh

N. N.

(Eds.), Handbook of positive psychology in intellectual and developmental disabilities: Translating research into practice (pp. 49–64). Springer.

33.

Tefera

(2019). Listening to and learning from the perspectives and experiences of Black and Latinx students with disabilities: Examining the challenges and contradictions of high stakes testing policies. The Urban Review, 51(3), 457–476. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11256-019-00496-4

34.

Toste

J. R.

Raley

S. K.

Gross Toews

Shogren

K. A.

Coelho

(2021). “Eye opening and chaotic:” Resilience and self-determination of secondary students with disabilities amidst the covid-19 pandemic. Journal of Education for Students Placed at Risk, 26(2), 157–183. https://doi.org/10.1080/10824669.2021.1906248

35.

Wehmeyer

M. L.

Palmer

S. B.

Shogren

Williams-Diehm

Soukup

J. H.

(2013). Establishing a causal relationship between intervention to promote self-determination and enhanced student self-determination. The Journal of Special Education, 46(4), 195–210. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022466910392377