Research in Disabilities Education

The Research in Disabilities Education (RDE) program advances the goal of broadening the participation and achievement of postsecondary students with disabilities in STEM. This effort is realized by making strategic investments in educational and institutional Model Building and in basic and applied Broadening Participation Research in STEM Education (BPR).  Model Building projects develop, replicate, translate and utilize innovative educational and institutional capacity building models to broaden the participation of postsecondary students with disabilities in STEM fields.  Models employ evidence-based educational exemplars that improve the learning, participation, persistence and graduation of students with disabilities in associate, baccalaureate and graduate STEM degree programs.  BPR projects promote efforts to understand the underlying issues contributing to the differential learning, participation and graduation rates of postsecondary students with disabilities in STEM.  Particular emphasis is placed on contributing to the knowledge base by investigating the STEM learning characteristics and differences of postsecondary students with disabilities.  Educational research about students with disabilities in STEM is advanced by studying the educational and pre-professional experiences that influence student interest, academic performance, retention and persistence in degree programs, degree completion and career choices.  RDE projects contribute to closing the achievement gaps for postsecondary students with disabilities in STEM fields, including students enrolled in community colleges, baccalaureate degree programs and graduate schools.

RDE-Model Building (RDE-MB) - These projects broaden the participation and achievement of postsecondary students with disabilities in STEM by creating, replicating, translating and implementing innovative educational and institutional capacity building models.  RDE-MB projects employ evidence-based educational exemplars that improve the learning, participation, persistence and graduation of postsecondary students with disabilities in STEM degree programs.  These projects must have a strong theoretical base and initiatives must be justified by the relevant educational, disability, and social science research. 

RDE-Broadening Participation Research in STEM Education (RDE-BPR) - These projects to investigate the underlying issues affecting the differential learning, participation, retention and graduation rates of postsecondary students with disabilities in STEM.  Proposed research may investigate learning and educational influences as well as organizational, institutional or systemic processes that broaden the participation of postsecondary students with disabilities in STEM.  Disability should be the main focus of the research and analysis, with race, ethnicity, gender, economic status, and/or veteran status as potential secondary foci. Projects catalyze the acquisition of knowledge that may inform interventions impacting learning, persistence, and graduation in STEM for postsecondary students with disabilities under certain conditions and in specific educational contexts.  BPR can also be found in other solicitations in the Divison of Research on Learning in Formal and Informal Settings (DRL) and in the Division of Human Resource Development (HRD).  DRL's Research and Evaluation on Education in Science and Engineering  (REESE) solicitation has a strand called BPR that converges with elements of the Research on Gender in Science and Engineering (GSE) and RDE solicitations; the new BPR strand is jointly managed by DRL and HRD with coordination by the RDE, GSE and REESE programs.