This three-year R&D project aims at increasing access of learning disability (LD) students to high-quality science learning and instruction by developing and implementing curriculum materials for students and teachers; and researching their effectiveness with 6th -8th grade students (N=380) with executive function limitations (EFL). This condition is associated with verbal learning disabilities, which can negatively influence higher order thinking and the productivity of students able to reason conceptually. These students attend inclusive classrooms with 76 teachers in 27 middle schools in Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, and Connecticut. The material development component of the project consists of student unit enhancements, and teacher guides focused on higher order scientific reasoning for two units of the Full Option Science System (FOSS) program (i.e., Diversity of Life and Earth History). The research component of the project comprises a quasi-experimental design that allows comparison of EFL students? achievement in 76 intervention classrooms (with enhancements) and 76 classrooms (without enhancements) for each of the two selected FOSS units. Participating students will not be randomly assigned.
Development and Implementation of Content Enhancements The Accessing Science Ideas (ASI) project designed content enhancements (CEs) for two FOSS curriculum units, Diversity of Life and Populations and Ecosystems. CEs are instructional materials and supports that ‘enhance’ accessibility without changing curricula. ASI CEs were developed to help middle school students with executive function and related learning disabilities (EF-LD) discern and organize critical information, see relationships, connect information and ideas, and employ scientific processes. After careful design, piloting, and revisions of the CEs, we tested their efficacy in inclusive science classrooms comprised of students with and without learning disabilities. We used an experimental design; science teachers were randomly assigned to an intervention or control group. Sixty intervention and 59 control group teachers in 9 states representing 32 districts participated in the ASI study. The proportion of white to non-white students was 60:40 and English Language Learners (ELL) to non-ELL was 8:92. Twenty-five percent of participating students had an Individual Education Program (IEP) or were experiencing EF-LD challenges similar to the IEP students. Each of the 119 teachers gathered data from one science classroom, with a total of 2,696 students participating. The intervention teachers attended a one-day training to learn more about EF-LD. Embedded in the presentation were activities that enabled teachers to experience some of the science learning struggles faced by students, and discussions to reflect on teaching practices. Then, they examined each content enhancement and its placement within the science unit. Teacher guides were provided. Following their participation in research activities, control group teachers were given a full set of CEs and a teacher guide, and they were offered training. Research Findings Usability and Contribution of CEs: Overall, teachers reported that they found the CEs easy to incorporate into science lessons. They felt the CEs helped all students engage in activities and focus on the big ideas in both units. Teachers found that the CEs supported students with EF-LD and without EF-LD challenges equally well, with both groups remaining more engaged in science work while using them. The intervention group teachers were largely pleased with the contributions of the CEs to teaching and learning. There was a high level of agreement across the group that watching students use CEs helped them to identify what students understood and where they were confused. Also, learning about and using CEs helped them to identify additional scaffolds for FOSS investigations. A large majority of teachers believed that CEs supported students to improve reasoning skills, understand the big ideas of the unit, and work on investigations with greater confidence. There was little difference in perceptions about the performance of students with and without EF/LD in these areas. Teacher Learning: Statistically significant differences were found between intervention and control group teachers. Teachers in the intervention group reported feeling more effective in their teaching of science content to students with EF-LD (p<0.01). They also outperformed control group teachers on an assessment measure of their knowledge of EF-LD challenges (p<0.05). Finally, intervention teachers were able to generate more instructional supports tailored to aid comprehension and achieve stated science learning goals, earning an average score that was significantly higher than control teachers’ average score (p<0.05). There was no difference between intervention and comparison teachers’ ability to identify places in a FOSS science lesson that might pose specific challenges to students with EF-LD. Student Learning: Students of intervention group teachers significantly outperformed students of control group teachers (p = 0.034) on an end of unit assessment. These differences remained significant even when accounting for teacher variation such as years of experience and their sense of teaching efficacy. There were significant differences present when comparing typically developing students in treatment and control classrooms (p <0.05), and students with EF-LD in treatment and control classrooms (p <0.05). However, there was not a significant decrease in the gap between learning levels of EF-LD and typically developing students when comparing intervention and control group scores. Impacts Teacher findings indicate that science teachers who learn about and instruct with CEs are better able to differentiate instruction for students with learning challenges. In addition, they suggest one kind of professional preparation that might support special educators to work effectively in STEM classrooms. Student findings suggest effective supports that may create access for students with EF-LD by scaffolding their understanding of science ideas through investigations. As a result, the integration of CEs offers the chance for all students to become participating members of their classroom learning community and, ultimately, the opportunity to become contributing, scientifically literate citizens. The CEs and research findings will be disseminated to the science and special education practitioner and research communities. Further work will be done to improve, extend, and study these CEs.
