[NIFL-LD:4534] RE: Introduction and Question about LD Assessment for GED

From: Kaare, Donita (kaared@iecc.edu)
Date: Wed Nov 24 2004 - 15:59:30 EST


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From: "Kaare, Donita" <kaared@iecc.edu>
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Subject: [NIFL-LD:4534] RE: Introduction and Question about LD Assessment for GED
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Try contacting your local Department of Rehabilitation Services.  Your
LD students may be eligible for an assessment and other services.  Also,
talk to your local sheltered workshop and see if they have a
psychologist on staff who might assess your students at a reduced rate.
Also, contact the GED testing service for a list of accommodations they
can give without any documentation.

Donita Kaare
Learning Skills Center Director
Olney Central College
Olney, IL

-----Original Message-----
From: nifl-ld@nifl.gov [mailto:nifl-ld@nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Michele
Craig (shellcraig@ix.netcom.com)
Sent: Tuesday, November 23, 2004 5:20 PM
To: Multiple recipients of list
Subject: [NIFL-LD:4529] Introduction and Question about LD Assessment
for GED

Hello to All,

I have been on the NIFL-BASICS list for some time, but a recent cross
post 
that you all responded to  about teaching long division (thank you) and 
Rochelle's invitation has persuaded me to add another list! I teach ABE
and 
GED (in the same classroom) at the Woodland Adult School in Woodland, 
California. I have been working there for about 7 years now and
previously 
taught college level composition courses at UC Berkeley and at the local

community college. I recently attended the Area 3 Writing Project and 
developed a presentation on teaching writing to adults  with learning 
disabilities.  The more I work at this (and because I now have a son
with 
ld) the more I realize how many of my adult students have learning 
disabilities and  how few resources they have to cope with them.

My latest hobby-horse is trying to get money to provide services to my
ld 
students who want to take the GED with accomodations. The GED has a rule

that the assessment has to be current within the last five years. Our 
school district does not provide assessments for the adult school, so I 
contacted the CA State Department of Education about who would provide 
assessments for adults. They sent me to our local community college.
They 
said they can't provide assessments unless they are enrolled in the
college 
(because of the cost). Then I emailed Sac State to see if they had
graduate 
students in Special Ed who might do the assessments (no reply). Then I 
emailed the Bill Gates Foundation who replied, "Sorry, we are reserving
our 
grants for "at risk" students who are unlikely to graduate from high 
school..." So I am still running in circles.

Mostly these are students who qualified for special education services
as 
children, but their assessments are not current according to GED rules.
But 
learning disabilities don't go away, do they? These students tend to be 
intelligent and can pass the GED with extra time. One of these students
has 
severe dysgraphia and dyslexia and can pass the essay exam with a
Franklin 
Speller and extra time, but will not pass otherwise. I also have 3
students 
who are relearning (and in some cases I suspect learning for the first 
time) skills and two with severe mental illness. They have neurologists
and 
psychologists, so they will probably receive accomodations for medical 
reasons.

How do the rest of you deal with the issue of assessment  and 
accommodations in your schools?

Michele Craig



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