Seeing the Whole Student:
Understanding and Resources for Diverse Learning Needs in Your Classroom
By Tessa Dobson
Since 2010, Emerging America has been a national leader in fostering inclusive and accessible teaching and learning by students with disabilities. The Know and Support Students page in its Accessing Inquiry Clearinghouse offers a trove of specific tools and approaches. In this guest post, Tessa Dodson, education specialist and senior writer at Classrooms.com offers an introduction to this empowering resource.
Why Supporting Diverse Learners Matters
Inclusive teaching starts with recognizing that students learn in different ways and may need different types of support to succeed. Creating an accessible classroom helps ensure that every student can participate, demonstrate what they know and build confidence. For teachers, inclusion does not mean creating separate lessons for every learner. It means finding practical ways to remove barriers and provide meaningful access to learning.
Every classroom includes students with different experiences, languages and learning needs. Supporting students with disabilities is about removing unnecessary barriers so students can meet learning goals. For example, a student who struggles with handwriting may have a strong understanding of a historical topic but needs speech-to-text or another way to record their ideas.
Emerging America’s Know and Support Students page provides resources to address diverse learning needs and help you support your students. You can start with one area that connects to your students and your upcoming lesson, then build from there.
1. Start by Knowing the Student, Not Just the Disability
The first step toward inclusion is getting to know the students in front of you. One in six students–7.5 million nationwide–are enrolled in special education. This includes 1 in 20 children diagnosed with a specific learning disability and 1 in 31 children identified as having autism, highlighting the importance of understanding that students may learn, communicate and participate in different ways. A disability category or diagnosis does not tell you everything about how a student learns. You should take time to learn about students' individual strengths, interests, preferences, communication styles and support needs.
Ask students what helps them learn best. You can use a short beginning-of-year survey, private check-ins and simple conversations about classroom preferences. For example, ask students what makes reading, discussion or working with primary sources easier for them.
You might notice that one student understands a source best when it is read aloud, while another needs time to process thoughts before participating in a discussion. Knowing these preferences helps you plan lessons that allow both students to participate.
2. Make Historical Language Easier to Access
Teaching history requires students to work with specialized vocabulary and complex texts. For students with Specific Learning Disabilities (SLD), such as dyslexia or dysgraphia, language itself can become a barrier to understanding content. Over 90% of fourth and eighth-grade students with SLD are not proficient in reading.
Choose three or four important terms before a lesson and make them visible throughout the activity. Use a word wall, word bank, visuals, examples or a simple vocabulary organizer. For example, for a lesson on disability history, terms such as advocacy, accessibility, institutionalization and civil rights could be introduced to students before they encounter them in a primary source.
Universal Design for Learning employs inclusive instructional principles to guide the planning, programming and assessment stages of the teaching and learning cycle. This creates flexible and barrier-free learning environments for all students to become successful, lifelong learners.
3. Use Assistive Technology to Increase Student Independence
Assistive technology can help students read, write, communicate and access information. Tools such as text-to-speech, speech-to-text, screen readers and screen magnification can open opportunities for students who struggle with traditional materials.
You can review your digital materials before assigning them. Check whether students can enlarge text, navigate documents, hear written material read aloud and use their preferred tools. If you are using a scanned primary source, consider whether students can access it in a screen-reader-friendly format. Providing multiple pathways for engagement ensures that every student has an opportunity to succeed.
You can also make digital materials more accessible by using clear headings, readable formatting and accessible document formats. Even small design choices can make a big difference. It is essential to work with your school’s special education professionals for guidance on the tools that are available and supported in your district.
4. Make Language Flexible and Create More Ways to Participate
In California alone, there were approximately 1.113 million English learners in public schools for the 2022–23 school year. These students learning English may need additional support when working with historical documents and academic language. Simultaneously, their home languages and cultural experiences can be valuable resources for learning.
Give students different ways to understand and use historical language. For example, you can allow students to write an idea in their home language before sharing it in English. You might also give students time to talk through the topic with a partner. These approaches allow students to engage with important historical context without making language proficiency the only measure of their understanding.
Start With One Change
Inclusive teaching can seem overwhelming when you think about every possible student need at once, yet you do not have to solve everything in a single lesson. You can start by considering what might prevent a student from fully participating in a lesson and what you can change about it. When you design a classroom for access, more learners can participate, contribute and understand that their experiences have a place in history.
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From the Self-Determination Youth Credo video of the Virginia Department of Education.
Tessa Dodson
Tessa Dodson is the Senior Writer for Classrooms.com, where she covers education-related content for students, graduates and educators. She is also an education specialist and former teacher's assistant passionate about student support and fostering lifelong learning initiatives. In her work, she focuses on helping both learners and educators successfully navigate their educational and professional journeys through inclusive practices, resources and actionable insights.
