Closing the Educational Achievement Gap for Students With Learning Disabilities

Book excerpt: Recently, there has been a growing demand for diversity and inclusion in schools worldwide to ensure effective learning for every student. Efforts have been made to support teachers in promoting diversity in classrooms, but research shows that students with learning disabilities (LD), including autism spectrum disorder, neurodevelopmental disabilities, dyslexia, and executive dysfunction, still struggle to keep up despite having individualized education programs (IEPs). These students are not receiving the necessary support they need to learn effectively in the classroom, leaving them behind and often completely unprepared for their futures. When intersectional statistics are taken into account, students who have a learning disability and are among minority ethnic groups have even lower rates of earning a diploma than their counterparts. Changes in the educational system must be made to close this learning chasm and create a more equitable learning environment. Closing the Educational Achievement Gap for Students With Learning Disabilities increases awareness of the issue of inequalities in education for students with learning disabilities through improved training programs for teachers, recommendations for policy changes, and development of new strategies to close the gap between these students and their classmates. The goal of this book is to educate and empower educators, researchers, and policymakers on how they can help students with learning disabilities thrive academically and emotionally. It examines the barriers that prevent teachers from effectively providing instruction to these students. This book covers topics such as achievement gaps, student-centered approaches, and culturally responsive teaching and is ideal for educators, professionals, researchers, special education professionals, speech and occupational therapists, disability service providers, intervention strategists, psychologists, parents, and local communities.