Striving to remove barriers that prevent us from building Vibrant, Diverse, Inclusive, Accessible Communities!
In this commentary, Mark Schneider and Ayan Kishore argue that America can unlock the STEM potential of students with disabilities by investing in educational technology, noting persistent underperformance on national assessments and the small share who enter STEM despite comparable interest.
They spotlight federally seeded efforts and real products — from teletherapy at scale to AI-enabled tools — alongside Benetech’s Bookshare library that provides audio, large print and Braille, and they describe new work to make complex STEM materials readable aloud.
The authors contend that underfunding keeps promising solutions stuck in pilots, prolonging barriers for People with Disabilities, including Blind/Low Vision learners; getting accessible materials into classrooms depends on building and delivering truly accessible content at scale.
They call for a healthier mix of federal, private and philanthropic capital — preserving and expanding smart seed programs while inviting early funders to de-risk innovation — so tools reach students sooner and strengthen the nation’s STEM talent pipeline.
Read the Full Article: Ed Tech Can Unlock STEM Potential of Students With Disabilities — If It’s Funded
by: Mark Schneider & Ayan Kishore
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