Counternarratives of English learners with disabilities

One of the affordances of the Every Student Succeeds Act (Every Student Succeeds Act. Pub. L. No. 114-95. 161 Stat. 1177(ESSA), 2015) was that it mandated U.S. districts and schools to take a closer look at the academic performance of English learner students with disabilities (ELSWDs), who constitute 14.3% of all English learners (ELs; National Center for Education Statistics, 2020). ESSA allows education stakeholders to understand how ELSWDs are faring academically -- a requisite step toward enhancing these students' educational opportunities. Yet, across research -- inclusive of my own -- and reporting on ELSWDs, these students' voices have been markedly absent (see Kangas, 2014, 2017b). To understand the academic achievement and experiences of ELSWDs, however, empirical inquiry must turn to the students themselves. What are the educational experiences of ELSWDs? How do they make sense of their own academic achievement and opportunities? What do they see as their capabilities and strengths? This study seeks to answer these questions, which have yet to be investigated, despite the fact that ELSWDs are critical stakeholders in their own education. Through an ethnographic case study at two middle schools, this study foregrounds the lived experiences of ELSWDs, demonstrating how their perceptions of themselves and their schooling countered the broader narratives produced by educators and in scholarship.