Accessibility, Availability, & Equity

What Makes Education "Accessible", "Available", & "Equitable"?

Accessible & Available Education

In order for education to be considered "accessible," it must anticipate financial, social, or technological disadvantages serving as barriers that various types of students will face, and be proactive in creating ways so that all students can participate (Kyriakides & Creemers, 2018). It is provided by implementing a set of standards and practices that make the need for an accommodation obsolete. Available education on the other hand, refers to whether students have the ability to have access to classrooms, courses, or materials within specific courses (Ibid). This indicates that something can be available to an individual without being accessible to them, i.e. a student may be allowed to enroll in a course, but their cultural background or geographic location may make it difficult, or even impossible, for them to actually take the course; This course would be available but not accessible to the student.

Equitable Education

Another important term regarding education that is often used interchangeably with “equality”, is equity. These terms, however, have different meanings and understanding the distinction between the two is crucial in resolving issues faced by disadvantaged students in the classroom. Equality denotes the way students are treated, such as giving them equal amounts of respect, or an equal opportunity to write on the chalkboard as shown in Figure 1. Equity on the other hand is more involved in providing individual students with the tools they need to thrive in the classroom (Equality vs. Equity, 2018). Every student is different, they each have a different style in learning whether it is through audio, visuals, or opportunities to be hands on. Some need more individualized attention from their educators to fully grasp the meaning of a concept because they cannot do so on their own (Ibid). Equity along with accessibility is what happens when schools enable their educators to go the extra mile to give students the fair shot at the quality education they deserve.