Rebecca A Cruz, Ph.D. is an assistant professor of education at Johns Hopkins University in the department of Innovative Teaching and Leadership and the Center for Safe and Healthy Schools. Her research interests include examining disproportionality in special education and exclusionary discipline in order to build capacity to address drivers of inequality in student outcomes through policy. Rebecca’s work contributes to redefining the concept of inclusion from a perspective that considers disability, not as an individual trait but as a product of political, social, and historical practices. Rebecca applies a multidisciplinary approach, with projects encompassing Sociology of Education, Education Policy, Longitudinal Data Analysis, and Critical Theory. Prior to beginning her doctoral studies at the University of California, Berkeley, Rebecca taught in middle and high school settings to develop co-teaching and inclusion service delivery models.