Teaching Science to Learners With Special Needs

A fundamental social justice issue worldwide is how to meet the needs of all learners, especially those with special needs who historically have faced discrimination, exclusion, and oppression due to special needs (physical, cognitive, or behavioral dimensions). This article focuses on the key questions that researchers interested in improving science education for students with special needs have examined empirically and lessons learned in regard to making science more accessible and relevant to them through evidence-based adapted instruction. The most promising insights culled from a review of the literature to achieve this goal for curriculum, instruction, and assessment are presented for science teachers at all grade levels, and also for school administrators and policy makers. A call for more research is made, with an emphasis placed on how teachers of science can best conduct and use practitioner research in this topic area.