Getting Unstuck - How a Few Determined Educators Strategically and Serendipitously Advanced Accessible Educational Materials

Oct 15, 2026

This paper reports findings from the second case in a multiple case study examining how State Education Agencies (SEAs) and Local Education Agencies (LEAs) in two Southern states advanced Accessible Educational Materials (AEM) for disabled students. Using pseudonyms to protect participants’ identities, it describes how policy was enacted in State 2 and compares it with State 1. The report details findings, quality indicators, critical components, and cross-case recommendations, supported by findings and methodological appendix.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages19

Reading Time48 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Findings

Quality Indicators and Critical Components in State 2

Comparing State 2 and State 1

Context is Key

Recommendations

References

Appendix A: Methodology

Appendix B: Data Exemplars of the Quality Indicators

Quality Indicator 1: A Coordinated System

Quality Indicator 2: Provision in a Timely Manner

Quality Indicator 3: Written Guidelines

Quality Indicator 4: Learning Opportunities and Technical Assistance

Quality Indicator 5: Data Collection

Quality Indicator 6: Data Use

Quality Indicator 7: Resource Allocation

Getting Unstuck: How a Few Determined Educators Strategically and Serendipitously Advanced Accessible Educational Materials By AEM Center at CAST Published: September 13 , 2024 The contents of this document were developed under a cooperative agreement with the US Department of Education,\#H327Z190004 . However, those contents do not necessarily represent the policy of the US Department of Education and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government. Project Officer, Rebecca Sheffield, Ph. D. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International license. [http://creativecommons.org/l](http://creativecommons.org/l)icenses/by-sa/4 .0/ National AEM Center at CAST; 50 Salem St., Building B, Suite 303, Lynnfield, MA 01940-0030 Voice: (781) 245-2212 Fax: (781) 245-5212 Web: [aem.cast.org](aem.cast.org) Getting Unstuck: How a Few Determined Educators Strategically and Serendipitously Advanced Accessible Educational Materials ..................................................................... 4 State Department of Education................................................................................... 4 Online Academy .......................................................................................................... 6 Findings .............................................................................................................................. 7 Quality Indicators and Critical Components in State 2 .............................................. 7 Comparing State 2 and State 1 .................................................................................. 9 Context is Key ........................................................................................................... 11 Recommendations............................................................................................................ 11 References........................................................................................................................ 12 Appendix A: Methodology ................................................................................................ 13 Appendix B: Data Exemplars of the Quality Indicators ................................................... 14 Quality Indicator 1: A Coordinated System .............................................................. 14 Quality Indicator 2: Provision in a Timely Manner.................................................... 15 Quality Indicator 3: Written Guidelines ..................................................................... 15 Quality Indicator 4: Learning Opportunities and Technical Assistance ................... 16 Quality Indicator 5: Data Collection .......................................................................... 17 Quality Indicator 6: Data Use .................................................................................... 18 Quality Indicator 7: Resource Allocation .................................................................. 18 Recommended Citation Shaheen, N. L. (2024) . Getting unstuck: How a few determined educators strategically and serendipitously advanced accessible educational materials. CAST. About the Author Natalie L. Shaheen: Dr. Shaheen is an assistant professor of Blind and Low Vision Education at Illinois State University. Dr. Shaheen’s research focuses on equity and access for disabled students in technology-mediated K-12 education Introduction In this paper, I report the findings of the second case from a multiple case study. The study explored how State Education Agencies (SEAs) and Local Education Agencies (LEAs) in two Southern states (i.e. , State 1 and State 2) enacted federal and state policies to provide Accessible Educational Materials (AEM) to disabled students 1. The findings from the first case, State 1, have already been published (see Shaheen & Curry, 2023) . Readers may find it helpful to review

FAQs

How do the findings handle differences between State 1 and State 2?

The paper reports findings for State 2 and includes a cross-case analysis comparing State 2 with State 1, highlighting relevant context and implications.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Jordan Avery