María Cioè-Peña is a researcher, writer, and former bilingual special education teacher whose work explores how race, language, and disability shape children’s everyday experiences in schools. She studies how multilingual students with disabilities, and the families who advocate for them, navigate educational systems that are often built around narrow ideas of ability, language, and belonging.
Much of María’s work asks a simple but urgent question: who gets seen, supported, and valued in schools—and who does not? She examines how the categories schools use to “help” and support students, such as English language services or special education, can unintentionally sort children in ways that reinforce inequality. In particular, her research brings attention to Black and Brown Latine students, whose experiences are often overlooked when race and language are treated as separate issues. By listening closely to students’ stories and family perspectives, María shows how school practices can marginalize some children even as they aim to provide support—and how these patterns reflect deeper racial and social hierarchies.
Grounded in raciolinguistic perspectives, critical disability studies, and political economy, María’s scholarship challenges deficit-based narratives and calls for more honest, humane approaches to equity and inclusion. She is also the author of (M)othering Labeled Children: Bilingualism and Disability in the Lives of Latinx Mothers, an award-winning book that centers the voices of mothers navigating schools on behalf of their multilingual children with disabilities. Her writing has been widely recognized for advancing conversations about justice in education, and she regularly engages educators, families, and communities through public scholarship and professional learning.
Much of María’s work asks a simple but urgent question: who gets seen, supported, and valued in schools—and who does not? She examines how the categories schools use to “help” and support students, such as English language services or special education, can unintentionally sort children in ways that reinforce inequality. In particular, her research brings attention to Black and Brown Latine students, whose experiences are often overlooked when race and language are treated as separate issues. By listening closely to students’ stories and family perspectives, María shows how school practices can marginalize some children even as they aim to provide support—and how these patterns reflect deeper racial and social hierarchies.
Grounded in raciolinguistic perspectives, critical disability studies, and political economy, María’s scholarship challenges deficit-based narratives and calls for more honest, humane approaches to equity and inclusion. She is also the author of (M)othering Labeled Children: Bilingualism and Disability in the Lives of Latinx Mothers, an award-winning book that centers the voices of mothers navigating schools on behalf of their multilingual children with disabilities. Her writing has been widely recognized for advancing conversations about justice in education, and she regularly engages educators, families, and communities through public scholarship and professional learning.
Most recent CV linked here: MCP