In this special issue, we asked contributing authors to identify complex and intersectional equity concerns in special education and to tie those concerns to leadership and to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Our goal was to create teaching cases that could empower aspiring and current leaders with the knowledge and skills necessary to support and promote social change and justice for students with disabilities at their intersections. Each case situates the enactment of the IDEA within a local context, allowing readers to understand how the interaction between leadership, IDEA, and intersectional equity concerns relate. Throughout the special issue, we encourage readers to move beyond compliance with IDEA, to engage with intersectional and expansive equity approaches, and to address both ableism and racism.
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6.
DeMatthewsD. E. (2021). Undoing systems of exclusion: Exploring inclusive leadership and systems thinking in two inclusive elementary schools. Journal of Educational Administration, 59(1), 5–21.
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DeMatthewsD. E.BillingsleyB.McLeskeyJ.Cowart MossS. (2023). Inclusive principal leadership: Moving toward inclusive and high-achieving schools for students with disabilities (Document no. IC-8b). Collaboration for Effective Educator Development, Accountability, and Reform Center, University of Florida.
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9.
FrickW. C.FairclothS. C.LittleK. S. (2013). Responding to the collective and individual “best interests of students” revisiting the tension between administrative practice and ethical imperatives in special education leadership. Educational Administration Quarterly, 49(2), 207–242.
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IrbyD. J.DrameE.CloughC.CroomM. (2019). “Sometimes things get worse before they get better”: A counter-narrative of White suburban school leadership for racial equity. Leadership and Policy in Schools, 18(2), 195–209.
13.
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16.
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17.
O’LaughlinL.LindleJ. C. (2015). Principals as political agents in the implementation of IDEA’s least restrictive environment mandate. Educational Policy, 29(1), 140–161.
18.
PazeyB. L.ColeH. A. (2013). The role of special education training in the development of socially just leaders: Building an equity consciousness in educational leadership programs. Educational Administration Quarterly, 49(2), 243–271.
19.
SchaafM.WilliamsonR.NovakJ. (2015). Are midwestern school administrators prepared to provide leadership in special education?Mid-Western Educational Researcher, 27(2), 6.
20.
SullivanA.ProctorS. (2016). The shield or the sword? Revising the debate on racial disproportionality in special education and implications for school psychologists. School Psychology Forum: Research in Practice, 10(3), 278–288.
21.
SunA. Q.XinJ. F. (2019). School principals’ opinions about special education services. Preventing School Failure, 64(2), 106–115.
22.
ThoriusK. A. K.TanP. (2015). Expanding analysis of educational debt: Considering intersections of race and ability. In ConnorD.FerriB.AnnammaS. A. (Eds.), DisCrit: Critical conversations across race, class, & dis/ability (pp. 87–97). Teachers College Press.
23.
VoulgaridesC. K. (2018). Does compliance matter in special education? IDEA and the hidden inequities of practice. Teachers College Press.
24.
VoulgaridesC. K. (2023). Special education racial inequity and the educational debt. Urban Education. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/00420859231153407
25.
VoulgaridesC. K.EtscheidtS.Hernández-SacaD. (2022). Racial and dis/ability equity-oriented educational leadership preparation. Journal of Special Education Preparation, 2(3), 20–30.
26.
WeltonA. D.DiemS. (Eds.). (2021). Strengthening anti-racist educational leaders: Advocating for racial equity in turbulent times. Bloomsbury Publishing.
