Using Technology to Provide Access to STEM for Students With Disabilities

Teresa is a new special education teacher who is co-teaching in a middle school science classroom with Gladys, a veteran science teacher. Although generally, co-taught classrooms are supposed to have a mix of students, nearly all of their students have individualized education programs (IEPs) and are reading below grade level. Overall, the students struggle with concepts and processes in science. Often, the students seemed to engage in activities but do poorly on their assessments. To better support their students, Teresa met with Gladys to discuss their collaboration and how to best support each of the students in meeting the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) for the next unit. They decide to build on the positive engagement in the activities and work to incorporate new technologies to support increased accessibility and flexibility in how they assess science.