Individual Education Plan Considerations for Online Learning: Accommodations (original) (raw)
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The emerging research base for online learning and students with disabilities.
Rice, M., & Dykman, B. (2018). The emerging research base for online learning and students with disabilities. In R. Ferdig and K. Kennedy (Eds.) Handbook of research on K-12 online and blended learning (pp. 189-206). Pittsburgh, PA: ETC Press. Students served under federal civil rights laws (i.e., IDEA, Section 504) are entitled to enroll in the full range of online learning environments and receive mandated services. Attending to these students’ needs has presented challenges for educators in online schools, but research that would inform decision-making and planning has been scarce. This chapter provides some context for serving students with disabilities online and summarizes previous research reviews this topic. In addition, this chapter updates research findings from an original chapter in the first Handbook of K12 Online and Blended Learning Research. New findings suggest that students with disabilities are enrolling in online courses, but gaps in understandings about student outcomes, accommodation and service delivery, and educator preparation and support persist. The chapter ends with suggestions for applying research to practice, engaging in additional research, and forming policies ensuring students with disabilities receive services.
Teaching Exceptional Children, 46, 77-91.
The purpose of this article is to provide teachers and their supporting team (e.g., parents) with an understanding of the implications of blended and virtual learning for students with disabilities. To support these students, it is important to have an understanding of the manner in which a significant majority of blended and virtual learning is delivered for today's K-12 student. Many blended and online programs include resources and tools teachers can use to adapt and extend student learning. This article offers tips, strategies, and resources to the novice as well as a veteran teacher moving to instruct in the blended or virtual learning environment. INSET: Center on Online Learning and Students With Disabilities.
In order to explore critical issues around service delivery, researchers at The Center on Online Learning and Students with Disabilities (COLSD) have sought input throughout its five years of operation from a variety of stakeholders in online learning. These stakeholders included educators, online vendors, and digital content developers actively involved in online learning and knowledgeable about these common challenges. These inquiries elicited additional considerations and potential recommendations that could benefit students with disabilities, their families, and those teaching them.
Online Learning, 2013
K-12 special education policies and practices that ensure students with disabilities receive a free appropriate public education in the least restrictive environment are coming under pressure from rapid expansion of online learning. Forty-six state and non-state jurisdiction special education directors responded to a brief survey about K-12 online learning. Findings demonstrated the increased number of states providing online instruction; indicated students with many different types of disabilities participate in online learning; and described the directors’ reflections on current issues as well as anticipated barriers to students with disabilities participating in online learning. Ambiguity and variability existed across state policies as each state may have been in a different stage of adopting this relatively new approach to K-12 education. The authors suggest that federal guidance might be required to safeguard the civil rights of students with disabilities in online learning.
Online Learning for Students with Disabilities: A Framework for Success
Students with disabilities are increasingly choosing online learning experiences. Research-based interventions need to be applied to online learning to keep them engaged in school. From the literature on students with disabilities who are at-risk, we have identified five areas of impact that can contribute to student engagement. These 5 Cs are learner Control, a flexible and rigorous Curriculum, a safe Climate, a Caring Community, and Connection to students as individuals and their future goals. The 5 Cs are discussed along with their application to online learning environments. Examples of current online programs employing these strategies are given.
This chapter reviews published, peer-reviewed research from the most recent decade at the nexus or intersection of K12 online learning and students with disabilities. Previous reviews of research on this topic are summarized. These reviews assert that there is not enough research on the topic. The authors of this chapter employed a multifaceted coding process on articles that were located for review. This process included reading for broad topics, multiple readings by each author, and a negotiated process for final designations. Research in online learning for students with disabilities in K12 settings in the last decade focuses on (1) curriculum evaluation, (2) student achievement (as broadly defined) (3) stake holder perceptions and (4) policy structures presently in place for online learning for this special population. Blended learning studies that fit the goals of this review were practically non-existent. Several tables capture the major findings of these studies from which implications are drawn about the ever-present need for more research in this area, but also for research that is more rigorous, and is made available in published, peer-reviewed journals. Implications are also offered for practitioners and policy makers.
The Center on Online Learning and Students with Disabilities (COLSD) has released the 2016 version of its annual publication Equity Matters: Digital and Online Learning for Students with Disabilities. This year’s publication focuses on promising practices for addressing the needs of students with disabilities in full-time virtual, blended, and supplemental online settings. The publication summarizes state and territorial policies related to students with disabilities, research on students with disabilities in online settings, the shifting roles of parents and teachers in K-12 virtual education, and state educational agency responsibilities. This publication includes six chapters focused on research compiled and published in the previous year. It provides field-based reviews and monitors current practice in the delivery of K-12 online education for students with disabilities. Chapter 1 contextualizes the report’s focus on the link between the online learning environment and learner variability, and factors associated with the critical issue of the sustainability of K-12 online teaching. Chapters 2-5 provide findings from the Center’s research. Chapter 6 recaps COLSD’s five-year history and specifies critical questions that remain for researchers and other stakeholders. The primary audience for this publication includes educators, education leaders, teacher education faculty, parents, policy makers, researchers, and digital curriculum developers.
Equity Matters: Digital and Online Learning for Students with Disabilities
The Center on Online Learning and Students with Disabilities conducts research on how K-12 online learning impacts the access, participation, and progress of students with disabilities. Research outcomes are expected to inform the design, selection, and implementation of online digital curriculum materials, the systems that deliver and support them, and the instructional practices associated with their use, in order to increase their efficacy for students with disabilities and other elementary and secondary learners. The research agenda is aimed at 1) identifying the trends and issues in online education, 2) developing and testing designs and practices that promise to make online education more effective and accessible, and 3) conducting research that impacts the future of online education. The Center is a partnership involving the University of Kansas Center for Research on Learning (KUCRL), the Center for Applied Special Technology (CAST), and the National Association of State Directors of Special Education (NASDSE). The Center is funded by the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) in the U.S. Department of Education.