We reviewed the literature on culturally responsive instruction published in Multiple Voices for Ethnically Diverse Learners over 10 years to examine how “culture” and “culturally responsive” were defined and for what purpose. Generally, we found that culturally responsive pedagogy was constructed in alignment with three ontological stances tightly woven into the historical fabric of special education (a) culture as static and monolithic (b) normalization/assimilation (c) disability culture silence. We assert the literature on culturally responsive instruction for students with disabilities needs to better account for culture as dynamic, heterogeneous, and intersectional; we provide an interdisciplinary framework for doing so in future research.

We explore whether the use of assistive technology allows teachers and children to negotiate shared understandings for learning science and language. We understand our afterschool sessions as critical encounters. Artifacts used in the encounters enabled transcending of the tensions and became drivers for learning. In the studied 13 encounters, science conceptual development was privileged over other learning, such as language or multimodality. Those encounters including children who were positioned as less able to learn in the school deemed the highest number of artifacts. We suggest that the promotion of meaningful learning experiences for children with a variety of educational needs, particularly those deemed as less able, calls for the use of technological tools allowing for multimodal negotiation of shared understandings.

Students with disabilities and culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) students typically struggle more with writing than their nondisabled and English-proficient peers. Although the reasons are different, these students often face similar difficulties in writing. Self-regulated strategy development (SRSD) is an evidence-based practice for students with disabilities. In this study, SRSD was adapted to address postsecondary writing demands and to add culturally responsive and language development elements, resulting in culturally responsive and evidence-based approach to excellence (CREATE) in writing. A mixed methods design was used to investigate the effect of CREATE on 10 college students with disabilities, including five CLD, during a 2-week workshop. The outcomes indicated increases in writing quality and fluency, as well as participants' perceptions of their writing.