Introduction
These are the voices of public high school students with disabilities, reflecting on their experiences in high school science:
“In science, it is so hard, and people are more willing to just let you not do things. It is easier for them to just say, ‘Well, if this is hard for you, just don’t do it.’ I got a lot of that in high school: ‘If this is hard for you, just don’t do it.’”
Or this: “They tell you how to do it. I won’t remember what you said 30 seconds later. How do you know that I understand what you just said? It is really easy for me to lose track of what you are doing. I have a real short-term memory.”
But one teacher offered help: “Mr. __ said, ‘Well, if this is hard for you, we can fix it and make it easier so that you can do it.’ To have him say, ‘If this is hard for you, we can fix that. We can make it different’… that is just great. It was good to know that somebody cared enough to do that and take time to do that” (Spenciner, Cohen, & Lightbody, 2001).
These students’ experiences are not unique. And their numbers
are large. The National Center for Education Statistics data indicates
that, for the 2001–2002 school year, roughly 6 percent of the school-age
population in the United States was served under the Individuals with
Disabilities Act (IDEA) with a “specific learning disabilities” diagnosis.
Under IDEA, public schools must provide students with disabilities
a “free and appropriate public education in the least restrictive
environment.” Therefore, most students with learning disabilities
are mainstreamed into “inclusive” classrooms—classrooms
in which they are expected to learn the general education curriculum.
But for students with learning disabilities (LD), the regular education classroom, without some kind of support, may not feel like the appropriate placement. “Many secondary students with LD placed in the general education environment exhibit characteristics that impede their learning in such settings. For example, these students commonly exhibit difficulties with reading comprehension, organizing, retaining and linking information to prior knowledge.” (Anderson-Inman, Knox-Quinn & Horney, 1996 (as cited in Maccini, Gagnon, & Hughes, 2002, p. 247).
For high school students with learning disabilities, a science curriculum that is heavily dependent on lecture and textbook reading, which many high school science curricula are, presents barriers to students’ ability to learn science. Supports for these students are in a period of rapid development, stimulated by a growing appreciation for multiple learning styles, the development of technology tools that can make the general education curriculum more accessible, and the notion that underlies Universal Design for Learning (see description below), that curriculum can be designed (not just retro-fitted) to accommodate different paths to learning.
This resource features some of the supports that have been developed by educators to—as the teacher quoted above—“make it different” for students with learning disabilities.
A word about who and what are included in this resource and why. In our search for relevant programs and practices to include, we focused primarily on those that are current and relate specifically to secondary science and learning disabilities. We excluded work that addressed primarily elementary-aged students, domains other than science, disabilities other than learning disabilities, and publication dates prior to 2000, unless it was clearly foundational work for our narrow focus. There is much good work in these other areas, and we encourage users of this resource to explore the Related Links and Additional Resources section for access to related work.
This is not an exhaustive resource. If there are programs and practices that we have overlooked, we invite you to suggest them to Marian Grogan at mgrogan@edc.org.
Some key terms that appear in the following pages:
Assistive Technology
Source: Federal Register
Assistive technology device. Assistive technology device means
any item, piece of equipment, or product system, whether acquired commercially
off the shelf, modified, or customized, that is used to increase, maintain,
or improve the functional capabilities of a child with a disability.
The term does not include a medical device that is surgically implanted,
or the replacement of that device. (Authority: 20 U.S.C. 1401(1))
Learning Disability
Source: Federal Register
Specific learning disability means a disorder in one or more of the
basic psychological processes involved in understanding or in using language,
spoken or written, that may manifest itself in the imperfect ability to listen,
think, speak, read, write, spell, or to do mathematical calculations, including
conditions such as perceptual disabilities, brain injury, minimal brain dysfunction,
dyslexia, and developmental aphasia.
Universal Design for Learning
Source: Center for Applied Special Technology (CAST) Web site
The central practical premise of UDL is that a curriculum should include
alternatives to make it accessible and appropriate for individuals with
different backgrounds, learning styles, abilities, and disabilities in
widely varied learning contexts. The “universal’ in universal
design does not imply one optimal solution for everyone. Rather, it reflects
an awareness of the unique nature of each learner and the need to accommodate
differences, creating learning experiences that suit the learner and
maximize his or her ability to progress.
References
Anderson-Inman, Knox-Quinn & Horney, 1996 (as cited in Maccini, Gagnon, & Hughes. (2002, Fall). Technology based practices for secondary students with learning disabilities. Learning Disabilities Quarterly, 25, p. 247.)
CAST Web site: http://4.17.143.133/udl/index.cfm?i=7
Federal Register Web site. http://www.gpoaccess.gov/fr/index.html. Retrieved June 21, 2006.
Spenciner, L., Cohen, L., & Lightbody, N. (2001). Neglected voices: Students with disabilities in science classrooms. Paper presented to AERA, Seattle, WA.
Most of the Web resources collected on these pages are not affiliated with or sponsored by Education Development Center, Inc. (EDC). EDC is merely providing those Web resources for informational purposes. EDC cannot guarantee that those Web resources are active or that the content is accurate. As with all Web-based information, links change from time to time. To our knowledge, all links were functional as of July 2006. Please notify Kerry Ouellet at kouellet@edc.org if you experience any problems.
