Elizabeth Barker, PhD
Accessibility Research Scientist
Researcher Bio
Elizabeth Barker began her career in education as a middle school and elementary special education teacher, specifically of students with mild-to-moderate disabilities in Michigan and Colorado. She received her doctoral degree with an emphasis on growth trajectories for students with learning disabilities in mathematics and reading comprehension from the University of Oregon. Her current research focuses on how growth trajectories vary among students with visual impairments, deafness and hearing loss, and other disabilities.
Research by Elizabeth Barker
The pandemic is a crisis for students with special needs
Some students rely on schools for the personal, hands-on attention of specialists. What do they do now?
The Atlantic (2020, April 18)
Topics: COVID-19 and schools, Accessibility, Equity
6 ways to support students with disabilities during COVID-19 school closures
As COVID-19 pushes us toward distance learning, we can make small adjustments to online instruction to better meet the specific learning needs of students with disabilities.
Topics: Accessibility, COVID-19 and schools, Equity
A longitudinal study of reading growth for students with visual impairments
This study compares reading growth for students with visual impairments with a nationally normed group of students from the general population using data from the NWEA MAP Growth assessment.
Topics: Accessibility, Equity, Reading & language arts
The changing landscape of assessment and accommodation policies
Educational assessments must include accommodations in the pursuit of accessibility for all, but the development and drive for accommodations on assessments is everchanging. This paper looks to review the accommodations landscape— discovering the past, highlighting our present progress, and uncovering new areas to explore.
Topics: Accessibility, Equity, Student growth & accountability policies
Back-to-school accessibility checklist
Devices are only as accessible as the content they deliver to students. Put your vendor list to the test with these accessibility questions.
Topics: Accessibility
Making digital content accessible for all
On this Education Talk Radio Pre K – 20 radio show, host Larry Jacobs talks with NWEA’s Elizabeth Barker and Brian Tosky about universal design for learning and more.
Making digital content accessible for all. Education Talk Radio Pre K-20
Topics: Accessibility, Equity
NWEA promotes accessibility in assessment with release of image description guidelines
Image descriptions are important to make computer-based assessments accessible to students using assistive technology (AT) devices, such as screen readers and refreshable braille displays. NWEA, with support from the National Center for Accessible Media (NCAM), has created guidelines for describing many variations of images, charts, and graphics targeted specifically to the disciplines of reading, language usage, science, and mathematics.
Topics: Accessibility, Equity
