Rachel Elizabeth Traxler (she/her) is a former disability service provider, current teacher educator, researcher, and furniture-flipper, at New York University. She received her master’s in interdisciplinary studies and her bachelor’s in history/anthropology from Texas Tech University, where she also minored in American Sign Language.
Her research and teaching focus on how dominant ideologies that communicate ableism, racism, and English language dominance impact students’ experiences in schools. Recently, Rachel has sought to understand transition across the lifespan, inquiring into barriers and facilitators of success for disabled youth and their teachers. Rachel’s research informs her understanding of teaching and learning for disabled youth, families, and educational stakeholders, informed by multiple perspectives, including those drawn from special education and disability studies in education. Her work has appeared in Race, Ethnicity, and Education, Journal of Diversity in Higher Education, Career Development and Transition for Exceptional Children, TEACHING Exceptional Children, and Language Teaching Research.
Rachel was awarded the President's Award of Excellence at Texas Tech University in 2017, the NYU Graduate Student Organization Star Award in 2019, and the Department Award for Service and Teaching at NYU Steinhardt in 2023.
Selected Publications
Padia, L., & Traxler, R.E. (in press). “We don’t kiss in school”: Policing warmth, disciplining physicality, and examining consent of Latinx students in U.S. special education classrooms. In D. Hernandez & C. Figueroa (Ed.), Dis/ability in the Americas. Pelgrave Macmillan.
Padia, L., & Traxler, R.E. (2020). (Special) Education is Political; (Special) Education is social justice. Journal of Critical Thought and Praxis.
Traxler, R.E. A love note to NYC. (2020). Contingencies: A Journal of Global Pedagogy.[RT1]
Traxler, R.E. & Nakatsukasa, K. (2020). The teaching of L2/Ln sign language vocabulary. In R. Rosen (Ed.), Routledge Handbook of Sign Language Pedagogy. United Kingdom: Routledge.
Trainor, A.A., Newman, L., Garcia, E., Woodley, H.H., Traxler, R.E., Deschene, D.N. (2018). Postsecondary education-focused transition planning experiences of English language learners with disabilities. Career Development and Transition for Exceptional Individuals, 42, 43-55.
Traxler, R.E. & Nakatsukasa, K. (2018). The effectiveness of voice-on and voice-off instruction on ASL vocabulary acquisition. Language Teaching Research.