This research investigates the characteristics of a faculty inquiry group, a learning community in which faculty and staff can learn technology integration to enhance accessibility for students with disabilities in higher education, based on Wenger's 14 indicators (1998) and their learning effects. The results reveal that this faculty inquiry…

Veterans Affairs (VA) offers education benefits to veterans with disabilities through the GI Bill, VA's largest education program, and Veteran Readiness and Employment (VR&E), which helps veterans with service-connected disabilities re-enter the workforce. Each offers distinct features that may better serve veterans depending on their…

In light of COVID-19, school divisions across the country closed their doors and shifted to remote instruction. In Virginia, little guidance was provided to assist educators and teacher educators with making this transition, particularly for students with individualized education programs (IEPs). In May of 2020, researchers surveyed Virginia…

Federal disabilities legislation (the "Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act," or IDEIA of 2004) continued the movement of disabled ("differently-abled") persons from segregated public educational institutions to fully integrated general education classrooms, with appropriate accommodations for the…

Technology is used in almost every school and classroom today and motivates and intrigues students with vision. This same technology is often not accessible to students with visual impairments and blindness. Assistive technology must be used by students with visual impairments and blindness in order to access a computer, the Internet, and print…

Assistive technologies are often promoted to schools, parents and educators as tools to assist students with special needs by providing a compensatory value, to remediate learning problems and to promote personal independence. These technologies range from simple spellcheckers to more complex speech recognition systems and educational software.…

The Sacramento City Unified School District (SCUSD), asked the Council of the Great City Schools to review the district's services for students with disabilities and provide recommendations to improve performance and narrow the achievement gap between these students and their nondisabled peers. This report was designed to help SCUSD achieve its…

Current legal mandates require that students with disabilities in K-12 settings have access to assistive technology (AT) devices and services. Therefore, educational teams serving students with Individualized Educational Programs (IEPs) must consider various ATs and identify services to support their implementation in educational settings.…

This research contributes to efforts in assessment studies related to science and technology interventions. The work presented in this thesis focuses on understanding the effects of policies that influence science and technology interventions, and determining the impact of science and technology interventions themselves. Chapter 1 explores how…

Persons who are deaf-blind represent a heterogeneous, low-incidence population of children and adults who, at some point in life, regardless of the presence of additional disabilities, may benefit from formal orientation and mobility (O&M) instruction. Current national policies, such as the No Child Left Behind Act, which emphasize that…

In this paper, data obtained from a university website accessibility and usability validation process are analyzed and used to demonstrate how the design process can affect the online experience for users with disabilities. Interviews, observations, and use data (e.g. where users clicked on a page or what path taken through a site) were collected.…

This report compares actual performance with the projected levels of performance set out in the National Council on Disability's (NCD's) annual performance plan. The findings of this report show a positive link between the allocated resources and NCD's performance. NCD's assessment review showed that it was successful in meeting its goals and…

Standards-based reform efforts are highly dependent on accurate assessment of all students, including those with disabilities. The accuracy of current large-scale assessments is undermined by construct-irrelevant factors including access barriers, a particular problem for students with disabilities. Testing accommodations such as the read-aloud…