The "developmental studies" population seems to be a monumental issue 
in community colleges.   In Texas, I was told last week that 70% of 
students coming to a community college in north east Texas had to go 
into developmental courses; in one Houston area  cc it was 60%-- and of 
at least that many in Albuquerque.   I think it is not hard to figure 
out why this is so--the problem is how to help these students get at 
regular college courses.......Robin

-----Original Message-----
From: Susan Jones <sujones at parkland.edu>
To: learningdisabilities at nifl.gov
Sent: Sat, 18 Feb 2006 17:09:50 -0600
Subject: [LearningDisabilities] accommodations, colleges, adult 
learning programs, etc...

This was originally a reply to a request for information about college 
programs
to teach teachers in adult ed situations that Rochelle thought was 
mis-labeled
on the topic line (re-reading it, I"m not sure it was - I was talking 
about
degrees in 'developmental education').

It loosely ties with the ongoing discussion of how to marshall our 
efforts to
change the infrastructures to improve opportunities for folks with 
learning
disabilities.

The entire discipline of "developmental education" for learning at the 
college
level is not "special ed" or psych, but  I've  seen (in developmental 
education
journals) ads for college degree programs in adult ed. and 
developmental
education.  The non-LD issues (educational, cultural, psychological) 
and some LD
issues are addressed in journals and conferences; I don't know if it's 
trickled
down to the education programs.  There are workshops and training and
certifications (Kellogg INstitute for example) as well.  The 
professionals in
the field seem very receptive to information about LD issues - I have 
been
implored to bring back information from the TRLD conference 
specifically to
better address students with LD in our developmental and higher level 
courses.
There is generally a resistance to K-12 models.

Parkland College is currently doing a major re-vamping of its academic
assistance to students at all levels in an effort to be less redundant 
and more
thorough (spend less time duplicating services and more time making 
sure we
reach more students). The recent efforts in my unit (Academic 
Development
Center, working with students in pre-100 level courses) have been 
successful
enough that the powers that be want to spread the success.  People 
working
intensively and "intrusively" with students has been a crucial element 
of our
success.

My job description is that I work with students with learning 
disabilities or a
history of learning difficulties, or words to that effect.  This means 
they
don't need documentation to get my tutoring & academic support 
services.  Many
of the faculty working in develomental level courses know they're 
dealing with
students with LDs; like any other group of faculty they have varying 
degrees of
understanding of accommodations.  This college and others also struggle 
with
defining their roles in serving the needs of the folks who have major 
literacy
needs.   There's room for some of the efforts you're talking about in 
shifting
infrastructures.  We struggle with where to direct students who score 
too poorly
on our placement tests to qualify for classes; other schools have open 
enrolment
and these students are in the classes until the system grinds them back 
out.
   At this level, technology makes some major evolution possible in the
accommodation realm.  Things like SpeechQ/WordQ and Draft: Builder have 
a lot of
potential and I'm curious to see whether there isn't some odd backlash 
(will
teachers forbid the use of certain kinds of technology?).


Susan Jones
Academic Development Specialist
Academic Development Center
Parkland College
Champaign, IL  61821
sujones at parkland.edu
Webmastress,
http://www.resourceroom.net
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