High-Stakes Schooling & Disability Advocacy

High-Stakes Schooling & Disability Advocacy with Alexandra Freidus

What happens when the structures that support our most vulnerable children suddenly collapse? In this powerful conversation, Alexandra Freidus discusses her chapter "High-Stakes Schooling: Risk, Protection, and the Education of Disabled Children in a Pandemic" from the book How to Be Disabled in a Pandemic. Drawing from both research and personal experience, Alex offers a deeply moving and analytically rich look at how the early months of COVID-19 revealed—and amplified—systemic inequalities for disabled students. We explore how parents, especially mothers, became "vigilante advocates" navigating bureaucratic roadblocks, the emotional toll of constant advocacy, and the ways families and educators can push for more inclusive, supportive schools today. A must-listen for anyone passionate about education, equity, or caregiving in times of crisis.

To read "How to Be Disabled in a Pandedmic” online, please click here.

About Alexandra Freidus

Alexandra Freidus is an assistant professor of educational leadership at the University of Connecticut. Her ethnographic research explores how school and community actors conceptualize racial inequality, influence educational policy, and shape the conditions for teaching and learning. Her book Unequal Lessons: School Diversity and Educational Inequality in New York City (coming in August 2025 from NYU Press) examines what children learn from diversity, analyzing both the costs and benefits of school integration.