Dr. Tefera (she/her) is an associate professor of special education. Her interdisciplinary scholarship examines how educational policies aimed at improving equity among students at the intersections of race, disability, language, and other social categories are enacted, interrupted, and resisted by students, families, educators, and leaders. Her recent work explores how historical, sociocultural, and spatial contexts mediate how educators and leaders respond to and understand citations for racial disproportionality in the identification, placement, and discipline of students with disabilities. Her work has been included in journals such as American Educational Research Journal, Review of Research in Education, Sociology of Education, and Teachers College Record. She is also the recipient of the American Educational Research Association, Division G (Social Context of Education) Early Career Award.
