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Department of
Child Studies

Jane Y. Jeong

Jane Jeong

Jane Y. Jeong

Assistant Professor

Jane Y. Jeong is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Child Studies at Santa Clara University. Her research examines how dis/ability law, policy, and institutional practices shape the experiences of children, youth, and families navigating dis/ability service systems. Using qualitative and interdisciplinary approaches, she studies how legal rights are interpreted, negotiated, and enacted in everyday contexts, with particular attention to (im)migrant families, Asian American communities, and children and youth with intellectual and developmental dis/abilities. Her scholarship explores questions of educational equity, family advocacy, language brokering, and the governance of dis/ability across schools and other public institutions.

Jeong earned her Ph.D. in Special Education from The University of Texas at Austin, where she specialized in dis/ability policy and special education systems. Her dissertation was supported by the American Bar Foundation and AccessLex Institute through the Doctoral Fellowship in Legal and Higher Education. She was also a Just Education Policy Fellow, an NYU Faculty First-Look Scholar with the Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development, and a Texas Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and Related Disabilities (LEND) Fellow.

Prior to pursuing her doctorate, Jeong worked as a special education teacher in Southern California, working with students and families from culturally and linguistically diverse communities across K-6 settings. She also served as a non-attorney Individualized Education Program (IEP) advocate, supporting families as they navigated special education processes and dis/ability-related services. These professional experiences continue to inform her research on institutional decision-making, family advocacy, and educational justice.

Outside of her research, Jeong enjoys exploring local coffee shops and new restaurants and finding inspiration in mid-century modern design.

Selected Publications:

Jeong, J. Y . (2026). Sibling brokerage: Recasting sibling roles as systemic labor across disability service systems. Journal of Applied Research in Intellectual Disabilities, 39(3), e70252.

Jeong, J. Y . (2026). Made to mediate: Asian American sibling brokering and institutional co-optation in special education. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 39(1), 2714244.