MESA: A Promising Practice in Making Math and Science Curriculum Accessible

Introduction to Universal Design Postsecondary Education Elementary/Secondary Education Projects, Exhibits, Conferences Resources and Training

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MESA: A Promising Practice in Making Math and Science Curriculum Accessible

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Washington MESA's mission is to assist "underrepresented students in Washington State achieve their full potential and contribute in the fields of mathematics, engineering, and science". MESA—which stands for Mathematics, Engineering, Science Achievement—is a network of state-level programs with similar goals.

Concerned about the low participation rate of students with disabilities in their existing programs, Washington MESA partnered with DO-IT's Alliance for Access to Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (AccessSTEM) to explore ways to address this problem. As part of this effort, AccessSTEM staff created an addendum to MESA middle-school curriculum to help teachers accommodate students with disabilities in hands-on multidisciplinary activities. The addendum provides examples of accommodations and promotes the application of universal design principles to make activities more accessible to all students. An interactive MESA Supplemental Website was developed to detail disability-specific accommodations for each activity in the MESA series.

Creating the MESA addendum and online supplement is a promising practice in adapting an existing science and mathematics curriculum to make it accessible to students with a variety of disabilities and providing teachers with just-in-time guidance on a searchable website. Efforts to increase teacher awareness of the underrepresentation of students with disabilities in STEM fields and equip them with easy-to-use resources has the potential to increase the participation of individuals with disabilities in STEM academic programs and careers and enhance these fields with the perspectives of this underserved population.

For more information on the products that resulted from this collaboration, consult the DO-IT Knowledge Base article How can I adapt specific science activities in a general curriculum for students with disabilities? For more information on universal design, explore The Center for Universal Design in Education.