Ed.S. and Ed.D. Teaching and Learning: Disability and Equity in Education

About the Ed.S. and Ed.D. Teaching and Learning: Disability and Equity in Education

Would you like to impact social and academic equity for people with disabilities in PK-12 schools, higher education, community, or public policy?

The Ed.S. and Ed.D. in Teaching and Learning: Disability and Equity in Education is meant for individuals committed to affecting institutional and social change in understanding, representing, and designing for and with people with disabilities. Our students desire to work towards creating the conditions for meaningful participation in education and society through a disability-rights perspective and collaborative engagement with people with disabilities and their families.

This unique, social-model program prepares students to impact policy and practice through research, scholarship, pedagogy, and activism centered on the critical analysis of the social construction and material conditions of disability. Interdisciplinary coursework involves building the analytic, academic, and practical skills needed to understand and dismantle oppressive systems and create more inclusive and generative educational and social systems. This includes an intersectional understanding of disability identity and an explicit commitment to disability justice.  

With an Ed.S. or Ed.D. Teaching and Learning: Disability and Equity in Education you'll know:

• How to understand and identify historical, political, social, cultural, and philosophical values, beliefs, and processes that have shaped the disability education field
• How to become activists for equity in schools, communities, and practice
• How to affect social change through research and teaching
• How to combine theory and practice to create a viable learning community

Graduates of the program assume or deepen their roles in PK-12, higher education, community, and/or policy positions. They often become advocates and consultants for disability justice.

*This program is offered in a virtual format.

Student Spotlight

Jennifer Hull, (Ed.D. '19) Adjunct Instructor, National Louis University Volunteer, Lake County Emergency Management Agency

"Because of my research and the DEE curricula, I began to question where I saw populations excluded within my community. As a result, I started volunteering for an international disaster emergency management center where I applied an advocacy and disability studies lens to address gaps within disaster services and policies to ensure the inclusion of elders and people with disabilities throughout the disaster response cycle.”