A call for radical over reductionist approaches to ‘inclusive’ reform in neoliberal times: an analysis of position statements in the United States

ABSTRACT

The term ‘inclusive education’ has evolved to connote various meanings and recently, neoliberalism has impacted how ‘inclusion’ is understood and enacted. In this paper, we use a disability studies in education framework to compare and contrast radical against incrementalist and reductionist approaches to educational reform related to students with disabilities. In order to accomplish this, we completed a systematic review of 37 position statement documents from education and disability advocacy organisations published in the United States from 2000 to 2019, which is the time period after the No Child Left Behind Act was enacted. We analysed the statements using a priori codes, which include: high-stakes testing, standards-based reform, and accountability. Additionally, we inductively coded the statements for emergent sub-codes and additional themes. Our findings examine how these organisations describe how students with disabilities should fit into neoliberal reform priorities as connected to our theoretical framings. We found that most professional advocacy organisations in the US recommend reductionist approaches to educational reform, and many reframe the very meaning of inclusive education.

KEYWORDS:

• Inclusive reform
• disability studies
• neoliberalism
• policy
• high-stakes testing
• accountability
• curriculum and standards

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Jessica Bacon

Dr. Jessica Bacon is an Assistant Professor in the department of Teaching & Learning at Montclair State University. Jessica co-coordinates the increasing access to college project, which provides college-aged adults with intellectual disabilities an inclusive college experience. Jessica's research is informed by the field of disability studies and she investigates how neoliberal educational policies impact the inclusion of students with disabilities, the role of curriculum in promoting disability rights in schools, and the impact of post-secondary inclusive programming for people with intellectual disability labels.

Erin Pomponio

Erin Pomponio received her Master of Arts in Teaching at Montclair State University, where she gained a focused interest in disability studies. She is currently a doctoral student in mathematics education exploring the intersections of creativity and mathematics and how they might be informed by feminist lenses and embodied learning approaches to teaching and learning. She aims to continue challenging issues of inequity and reform in education through her work, specifically at the early elementary school level.