Supporting Students With Disabilities in Student-Led Projects in Inclusive Classrooms

• In Event: Elevating Student Agency to Promote Equity and Authenticity in Student-Led Projects

Abstract

Purposes
Project-based learning (PjBL) uses multiple entry points to engage students in meaningful learning activities where students with disabilities and typically-achieving peers can learn with and from each other in inclusive learning environments. Yet there is often a tension between the open-ended nature of student-led projects that emphasize student voice, choice/agency, and creativity and the more structured supports and skills instruction that students with disabilities typically receive. We sought to understand how students with disabilities (SWDs) experience student-led PjBL projects relative to peers without disabilities (SWODs) in 9th grade English Language Arts (ELA) classes.

Perspectives
Inclusive settings do not automatically support SWDs. Specific features are needed to successfully support learning (Zigmond, 2015). Our stance is that inclusive classrooms should be designed to support the variety of learners who are included and that models such as PjBL may provide flexibility to meet rigorous learning goals that feel authentic and meaningful to students. PjBL approaches structure instruction around student-led authentic experiences addressing meaningful challenges or questions that students explore over time, and that culminate in products or performances shared with audiences other than teachers (Condliffe, et al., 2006; Krajcik & Blumenfeld, 2006). To date, few studies investigate PjBL for SWDs, though research suggests PjBL may be a promising approach for SWDs when appropriate supports are provided (e.g., Palincsar, et al., 2000; Rizzo & Taylor, 2000).

Methods and Data Sources
SWDs in 14 inclusive PjBL classrooms were interviewed and matched with an equivalent number of SWODs (n=38). We qualitatively coded and analyzed interviews (Miles, et al., 2014) by developing initial codes aligned with our PjBL design principles (authentic making, collaboration, feedback & revision, reflection, and social and emotional learning) and additional emergent codes (reading, writing, teacher support, general pos/neg). We discussed and refined codes, and distilled larger themes for this analysis.

Results
Both groups of students expressed positive views of their experiences learning in PjBL ELA classrooms. Similar to previous findings of PjBL or inquiry learning for SWDs, (Kincaid & Jackson, 2006, Hernandez-Ramos & DeLaPaz, 2009; Mumba, et al., 2015), both groups frequently shared that they felt creative in PjBL classrooms, that they benefited from collaborating and that they expanded their knowledge and their ability to take others’ perspectives. Differences were that many SWDs were particularly sensitive to group dynamics and that they were attuned to their teachers in ways not always shared by SWODs. About one quarter of SWDs wanted more teacher support. Furthermore, while every student we interviewed shared unique perspectives, we noted that SWD responses varied more.

Scholarly Significance
Overwhelmingly, there was consistency across groups, suggesting that PjBL models can be supportive of students with diverse learning needs and preferences in inclusive classrooms. Still, findings from this study demonstrate that teachers need to attend to the individual needs of SWDs (Van Mieghem, et al., 2020; Zigmond, 2015), by making room for greater student agency and leadership. We identify several types of supports that may help SWDs feel and be even more successful in inclusive PjBL classrooms.

Authors

• Alison Gould Boardman, University of Colorado - Boulder

• Joseph L. Polman, University of Colorado - Boulder