From the Editors…

Dear JSESD Readers and Supporters,

Happy New Year and thank you for your continued support of the Journal of Science Education for Students with Disabilities (JSESD). JSESD remains a venue for the dissemination of research and practice related to the education of students with disabilities in the science classroom and laboratory since 1998. Volumes #1 through 11 were published in a print format. Starting with Volume #12, the journal has been published online and Open Access. Having JSESD in the Open Access format maximizes access for readers and authors and allows the journal to remain economically sustainable. The journal is currently hosted by bepressTM Digital Commons. The journal’s management and production are led by the very talented group at Rochester Institute of Technology’s Scholarly Publishing group.

We are very excited to welcome Dr. Reginald Rogers to the JSESD team as an associate editor. Dr. Rogers is an Associate Professor and Director of Graduate Studies in the Chemical Engineering program at the University of Missouri. His research primarily focuses on separation processes using nanomaterials for improving water quality along with using nanomaterials for advanced energy storage systems. Dr. Rogers continues to work on inclusive activities in and out of the classroom and research laboratory. He strives to involve students from all demographics and backgrounds in his research activities to cultivate growth amongst them and a desire to pursue creative activities that foster new knowledge. Dr. Rogers has been recognized for his diversity and inclusion efforts with several awards from notable organizations.

We are also proud of the close relationship that JSESD has with its partner organization, Science Education for Students with Disabilities (SESD), which is an associated group of the National Science Teaching Association (NSTA). Each year, SESD holds a pre-conference on science and disability at NSTA’s national conference. Due to COVID-19, pre-conference plans over the past two years have been disrupted. For further information on upcoming SESD pre-conference activities, please contact Rachel Zimmerman Brachman, SESD Conference Coordinator, at: Rachel.Zimmerman-Brachman@jpl.
nasa.gov.

The journal enthusiastically seeks new manuscript submissions. We are especially interested in articles on science education for students with varying types of disabilities and at a full range of grade levels (K-12 and postsecondary). We are also eager to include articles that represent the full research-to-practice continuum. While most manuscripts submitted to JSESD have historically focused on research, we have recently seen an increase in practitioner, or “Teaching Techniques” articles. We are delighted to see these articles, as they provide practical, ready-to-implement approaches for educators at all levels. We also seek referees who can peer-review JSESD manuscript submissions. If you are interested in peer reviewing, please contact us.

A few reminders:

• The journal resides online and free-of-charge.

• Manuscripts should be submitted online at http://scholarworks.rit.edu/jsesd/.

• There are currently no fees charged to authors for publication in JSESD. As an open access journal, articles are also free for anyone to read.

• JSESD uses a double-blind review of manuscripts.

We know that there is a considerable amount of high-quality scholarship that is being conducted in the field of science education for students with disabilities. JSESD is proud to serve as a mechanism for the dissemination of such work. As always, we appreciate your support in maintaining JSESD as a quality peer-reviewed journal.

Sincerely,

Todd Pagano, Sami Kahn, and Michele Koomen


Todd Pagano, Ph.D.
Co-editor, JSESD
Rochester Institute of Technology/
National Technical Institute for the Deaf

Michele Hollingsworth Koomen, Ph.D.
Co-editor, JSESD
Gustavus Adolphus College