“SHIFTING OUR FRAME WORK”

how to overcome barriers and make kennysha woods our classrooms more accessible Managing Editor

“Shifting Our Framework for Supporting Students with Disabilities in the Classroom” is a workshop that focuses on the creation of more inclusive spaces for students with disabilities. NC State’s GLBT Center facilitates the workshop, which is open to faculty, staff, students and members of the local community.

The main goals of “Shifting Our Framework” are to educate attendees about four things: “the barriers that limit access for students with disabilities,” “the impact of barriers on students with disabilities,” the social model of disability, and ways people can develop a more inclusive classroom.

Here are five types of barriers that limit access for and impact students with disabilities, how they’re present in the classroom and possible solutions you can use work through them and increase your classroom’s inclusion.

Architectural & Physical

Students who use wheelchairs, scooters and walkers may have difficulty navigating narrow spaces and using desks without customizable heights. Spaces without adequate lighting can make it difficult for lip readers and people with low vision to understand what’s being said during lecture.

What Are Some Solutions? Configure the seating arrangements in the classroom to accommodate students with transportations aids and lighting needs.

Communication & Information

Lectures that are hard to follow and use language that’s difficult to understand present challenges for some students, as well as videos without transcriptions or captions, and class materials that use confusing and/ or too-small fonts.

What Are Some Solutions? Provide clear

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things may not be in everyone’s best interest, things tend to happen very slowly,” said Elliot. “Because I think there’s a lack of transparency between administration and the students, when things do take longer and there’s not an explanation why, students feel like they’re not cared about and what’s learning objectives and/or organized notes at each lecture, archive class materials online that students can access at any time, and ensure that students who need text in Braille or large print receive course materials with those accommodations.

Technological

Some software and electronic course materials are not accessible to screen readers or Alt Text.

What Are Some Solutions? Ensure that your electronic course materials are accessible to screen readers, Alt Text, and other similar programs.

Organizational & Systemic

Actions such as limiting the ways students can express their understanding of the course objectives and holding only in-person office hours can be problematic for students that have difficulty communicating their thoughts effectively. This particular barrier is often enforced unintentionally via grading rubrics.

What Are Some Solutions? Make sure the grading rubrics are clear, understandable and provided ahead of time, diversify the methods you use to engage and assess students, and provide options for individual assessments.

Attitudinal

Students with disabilities can feel singled-out when people make assumptions about them based on their disabilities and misconstrue their needed accommodations as advantages or favors.

What Are Some Solutions? Communicate with your classes about disabilities to raise awareness and understanding of what accessibility is and why it’s important for an inclusive classroom.

happening to them or around them is not important.”

“We need to do a better job of chronicling the actions we are taking,” Schwab said.

The report notes that colleges often return to the same few high schools to recruit black undergraduates, which is “unlikely to produce different results from one year to the next. Admission officers must substantively engage a wider array of high schools to find talented prospective Black students.”

Moreover, solutions must not “rest mostly on a chief diversity officer, black culture Sara Trudan/Staff Photographer There are multiple reserved parking spaces for individuals with disabilities all around NC State campus.

center staff, or a few Black faculty members.” Instead, the report recommends establishing partnerships across campus units and collaborations between faculty, staff, administrators, alumni, and black undergraduates.

The report also states it would be a “waste of institutional resources” to recruit black full-time faculty “without addressing racial climate and workload imbalance issues and ensuring that White faculty colleagues respect their scholarship.”

How does NC State plan to move forward in light of these findings?

According to Schwab, NC State’s shortcomings are likely a combination of recruitment, yield, and student experience.

“We have a culture to work on, what it’s like to be at NC State, how people experience NC State,” Schwab said. “There’s certainly a culture aspect to it—what’s it like to experience your college years on this campus as a person of color and how do we continue to make this a much more inclusive and welcoming place?”