IDI Research Network Seminar: Excluded by Choice: Urban Students with Disabilities in the Education Marketplace

​In this seminar Dr Waitoller addresses the themes of his recent book, ‘Excluded by Choice’.  Through powerful narratives of parents of Black and Latinx students with disabilities, this book provides a unique look at the relationship between disability, race, urban space, and market-driven educational policies. Offering significant insights into complex forms of educational exclusion, the text illustrates the actual challenges and paradoxes of school choice faced by today's parents. Included are explanations for the kinds of injustices students with disabilities face every day, as well as resources that can be helpful for engaging in collective action aimed at improving educational services for all children.

 
Dr. Waitoller is an Associate Professor at the Department of Special Education at the University of Illinois at Chicago. His research focuses on urban inclusive education. In particular, his work examines and addressees policies and practices that generates or reproduces inequities for students of colour with disabilities. Dr. Waitoller is also interested in examining how these inequities are affected by the production of space in urban economies and the role of teacher learning and school/university partnerships in developing capacity for inclusive education.