Participants were asked what steps that institutional stakeholders (e.g., schools, districts, service agencies) can take to increase the successful participation of people with disabilities in STEM studies and careers. Their responses included the following items:
Schools can:
- Make the school physically accessible
- Provide teachers with opportunities for professional development
- Apply for grants to increase accessibility
- Build a library of resources for the teachers
- Provide students with disabilities with technical support needed for hardware and software
- Include students with disabilities in general education classes
- Make environments (e.g., the playground, classrooms, buses) safe
- Have meetings with parents about the availability of programs and resources
- Teach teachers to address students holistically
- Provide reasonable accommodations for standardized tests
- Facilitate communication and collaboration between the different grades
- Increase the number of business partners
- Encourage the application of universal design throughout the school
Districts can:
- Help schools with writing and applying for grants
- Make all schools physically accessible
- Provide funding to schools for equipment
- Increase the number of business partners
- Outfit libraries with assistive technology to help kids with visual impairments and/or slow reading skills
- Give priority to publishers with universally designed textbooks and products
- Encourage district-wide universal design practices
States can:
- Increase the number of business partners
- Increase funding for special programs
- Make standardized test accommodations easier to obtain
- Have statewide clearinghouse for adaptive technologies and programs
- Encourage statewide adoption of universal design