Access and equity

Students with disabilities

Students with disabilities are students who meet the criteria under one of the following categories: autism, deafness, deaf-blindness, emotional disturbance, hearing impairment, intellectual disability, multiple disabilities, orthopedic impairment, other health impairment, specific learning disability, speech or language impairment, traumatic brain injury, and visual impairment, including blindness. For detailed descriptions about these disabilities, visit the National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities website: nichcy.org/disability/categories.

Appropriate instructional guidance is provided at every grade level of Amplify Science to address the needs of students with disabilities in lesson and assessment tasks. For example, teachers are encouraged to strategically choose partners in order to create positive and supportive student partnerships as a crucial first step in developing a classroom culture in which students feel confident and comfortable sharing their thinking. Prompts, such as “I notice/observe…,” “I wonder…,” and “I think this is important because…,” support students who are less comfortable with speaking in class or who need support with focusing their ideas. Numerous graphic organizers, such as anticipation guides and note-takers, guide student thinking; help them to focus on critical science content knowledge; and support them to visually interpret relationships between concepts, ideas, and facts, all of which enhances their meaning-making and ability to express themselves effectively. Similarly, before a writing activity, teachers are encouraged to provide students with adequate time to discuss and compose their ideas in pairs or small groups, rather than alone, so that they can first talk with others about how they will phrase them in writing.

In addition to these pedagogical strategies, the Amplify Science team is committed to exposing students to diverse scientists and engineers, including those with disabilities, in the texts and media of the curriculum. For example, the program features Rory Cooper, an engineer who designs wheelchairs and is a wheelchair user. This gives teachers opportunities to introduce students to diverse role models in top positions in science and engineering fields.