Dive Brief:
- School staff are challenged by limited knowledge of how assistive technology can help students with disabilities participate more fully in learning, as well as the rapid pace of changes in tech, according to a report released Thursday by the U.S. Government Accountability Office.
- Other factors like insufficient time and opportunities for training, staff shortages and high turnover, technology compatibility issues, and funding constraints also create hurdles for the use of assistive technology in schools, the GAO study found.
- Strategies some school districts are using to overcome these barriers include forming assistive technology teams that create standardized processes to identify the best tech for students’ individualized needs and to coordinate procurement processes, the report said.
Dive Insight:
Assistive technology in schools can run the gamut of low-tech tools like pencil grips and swivel chairs to high-tech ones like large mobile touch screens and voice recognition software.
The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act requires a student's individualized education program team to consider assistive technology use, at no cost to the student, for every student receiving special education services. However, not much is known about how this requirement is implemented, the GAO report said.
Additionally, students may receive assistive technology under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.
To conduct the study, GAO interviewed staff from state and regional education agencies, visiting eight school districts and eight schools across four states — Minnesota, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Wyoming. Researchers also reviewed documents from the U.S. Department of Education and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, as well as surveyed Education Department-funded Parent Centers across the country.
The GAO report highlighted examples from school staff about how assistive technology has benefited students, including one student who "blossomed" after accessing eye gaze technology that allows students to interact with devices with just their eyes and another student who was able to express more words verbally through a communication device and special education supports.
But the study found that in many school districts that GAO visited, staff said teachers often only think of high-tech devices and may not consider low-tech devices to be assistive technology. "This may result in students not having simple solutions that could meet their individual needs," the report said.
Myths about assistive technology or attitudes that such tech can give students with disabilities an unfair advantage were also barriers, the report said. In 2024, the Education Department issued guidance to dispel myths about the use of assistive technology for young children and students.
Rep. Bobby Scott, D-Va., requested the report and is ranking member of the House Education and Workforce Committee. “Assistive technology is critical to helping students with disabilities fully participate in their school environment,” Scott said in an email statement to K-12 Dive Thursday. “This report demonstrates that school districts are struggling to implement assistive technology to comprehensively address student needs.”
He added that the Trump administration's efforts to downsize and eventually close the Education Department will "exacerbate challenges students with disabilities, parents, and schools are already experiencing."
The GAO report highlighted practices from the schools it interviewed that mitigated some of the challenges. Those practices included:
- Establishing assistive technology teams to improve coordination and collaboration and build knowledge and capacity related to assistive technology.
- Developing or expanding school districts’ standardized assistive technology processes, such as how to identify the best assistive technology for students’ needs, document assistive technology use in students’ IEPs, and acquire assistive technology.
- Providing training, resources or consultations to school staff, as well as creating resources like internal websites or tools.
- Coordinating with IT departments to address technology challenges.
- Tapping into federal, state or regional assistive technology resources to train school staff or provide assistive technology to students.
- Leveraging external training and expert consultations to support students’ use of assistive technology.
- Creating assistive technology lending libraries to try out such devices and tools with students.
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