About
María Cioè-Peña is an assistant professor in Educational Linguistics at Penn GSE. As a neurodiverse, bilingual/biliterate researcher, she examines the intersections of disability, language, school-parent partnerships and education policy. María focuses specifically on Latinx bilingual children with dis/abilities, their families and their ability to access multilingual inclusion within public schools. She is also the author of the award-winning book, (M)othering Labeled Children: Bilingualism and Disability in the Lives of Latinx Mothers, published by Multilingual Matters.
Current Work
Dr. Cioe-Peña's work focuses on the school-based classification of Latinx children with disabilities, specifically "English Language Learner" and "Student with Disability." She is interested in how those labels reflect systemic oppression and how they impact family dynamics. Currently, Dr. Cioè-Peña looks at how school classification practices stemming from special education and English Learner policies influence identity development for racialized students.
Research Area Keyword(s)
bilingual special education, Latinx families, public education, raciolinguistics, DisCrit