The Reality

I have heard many educators speak of their struggle to make content accessible to students who are said to be performing “below grade level expectations”. With positive intentions, educators often provide these students with watered down texts, place students in remedial intervention classes to build foundational skills during core content instruction, and/or pull these students out of electives/arts courses/physical education/science/etc. for small group reteaching at a slower pace with less rigor. As educators, we are natural helpers. We want to see students succeed. It pains us to see a learner struggle. However, in our effort to ease academic struggle for students, we rob them of opportunities to experience complex concepts and texts. Students who are living in poverty, English language learners, and below grade level readers often lack exposure to rich vocabulary and experiences outside of their sphere of influence. When a student misses science or arts, when they are limited to being solely exposed to texts far more simple than their peers, the achievement gap widens as their opportunities for a well-rounded education are thwarted. English language learners, students who have not been exposed to literacy at home, learners who have experienced trauma and/or struggle with a medically diagnosed learning challenge…these students are not unintelligent.

The Hidden Genius of Many “Struggling Students”

My brother was diagnosed with an auditory processing disorder (which made verbal directions from teachers and lecture style instruction very difficult for him), but is incredibly gifted regarding spatial intelligence and mechanical tasks. He can watch a video and learn a complex concept much more quickly than I (who was identified by the school system as a gifted and talented student) can decode and comprehend the same information via text or lecture. I have seen English language learners who outperform their peers when provided with Spanish translation. I witnessed a student who struggles with with anxiety and reading/writing respond to a prompt with incredible insight when allowed to demonstrate his understanding via a video that did not show his face, rather than being required to give a verbal presentation in front of the class as was the original assignment. If we ask all students to learn and respond in the same way, we may fail to recognize their unique talents.

Addressing the “But They CAN’T _______” Argument

As educators are preparing lessons, I often hear them use the phrase, “I have kids that can’t ______” I was speaking with a first year teacher who was shocked and frustrated that some of his middle school students were not yet able to independently read and comprehend the grade level textbook. The tendency for an educator in this situation is to provide text at a lower reading level, or to notify an administrator who then pulls the student out of the class to join a remedial course that teaches basic skills with little or simplified content. I hear the frustration of teachers, coaches and administrators in these situations. I understand that they make modifications to expectations in what they believe is in the best interest of the student.

In many instances, it is possible to allow for and design accommodations rather than modifying expectations. Universal Design for Learning (UDL) strategies, based on neuroscience, can provides us with methods of increasing access via increased methods of representation of content. For example, a high school student who is said to be reading at a third grade level in English may be given a text with similar content, but at a much lower Lexile level. However, a student in a similar situation may be given accommodations to the existing grade level text (i.e. text to speech, embedded dictionaries, an accompanying video to clarify content, translation into a primary language, opportunity to build knowledge through conversation with peers, etc.). Our goal, whenever possible, should be to increase each and every students’ access to content and experiences with peers, not to limit them. This is not to say that modification may not be necessary at times, but I have too often seen educators forgo accommodation options and move immediately toward lessening expectations for students.

Tips for Accessibility

The UDL guidelines that activate the recognition networks of the brain can build our toolbox of strategies for increasing access to content for our students.

• The chrome extension Read & Write for Chrome simplifies websites (removing ads) to support students who may be distracted by visuals and videos surrounding a text.
• Accessibility features on Chromebooks and iPads can be set to allow for text to speech.
• YouTube videos speeds can be slowed, and closed captioning can be turned on (closed captioning can also be translated into another language).
• Flipgrid and Microsoft tools feature Immersive Reader, providing speech to text features.
• I have seen students who prefer high contrast mode on their devices, as it is easier for them to view content.

• Designated English Language Development can build student language skills regarding the structure of the English language, to prepare them to access the specific content they will encounter in core classes.
• Visuals via infographics, memes, sketchnotes, and opportunities for kinesthetic representations of content increase options for accessing content.
• Google translate is particularly beneficial on a mobile device, as it allows students and teachers to have verbal and written conversations in real time.

• The science consultants I work with speak of “activity before content”, and “lab before you blab”. The idea behind this is that students must be provided with experience before texts/lectures/vocabulary, so that the content can attach to the context of a shared experience.
• Context is key. Relate content to ideas with which students are familiar in their lives and in previous learning. Interdisciplinary approaches and real life connections (even to pop culture references) build context and sustain learning. The brain learns via connections.

As we increase access for students, we guide them in finding the best strategies to continue learning outside of the classroom. Students become resourceful. They learn to utilize technology to increase their accessibility to knowledge in the world. The printing press brought knowledge to a greatly increased number of individuals. Similarly, the digital accessibility tools in our midst today can allow more and more learners to build knowledge in the way that works best for them. Our learners can accomplish much more than we often realize, if we provide them the tools to do so.