In addition  to the comments made by Varshna ... I would like to add that
the latest research in drop out rates in the country puts Texas and Florida
as among the bottom in the nation ... With less then 50% of those children
entering 9th grade graduate with a standard diploma within 5 years. 

A great many of these children can be seen as "victims" of the high stakes
testing approach to education where the schools are held accountable ... So
we all know that the cheapest means of getting the tests scores of schools
higher is to get ride of those who do not test well ... And that is what we
are seeing as more and more states have made GED prep as part of high school
curriculum (I think it is now 12 states that do so) ... And take these kids
in the GED track out of the high stakes testing process too ...

SO ... It is no wonder more and more people in this country do not have
basis skills ... If they don't look like they will pass the test the systems
make them "push out" kids and they never get the resources ... And the
resources are poured to increase the skills of those who look like they can
pass the test ...

Whether unintended consequences or not ... The no child left behind approach
as it is implemented in most of the country has put the emphasis on schools
leaving far more behind then before 

While there is a great deal of unidentified LD in the push out populations
... It clearly is not the dominate issue, at this time  ... It is schools
trying to stay accreedidated by getting more people to pass the test ... 


Glenn Young
505 East Braddock Rd # 608
Alexandria VA 22314
703-684-1750
gyoungxlt at comcast.net
 

-----Original Message-----
From: learningdisabilities-bounces at nifl.gov
[mailto:learningdisabilities-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Varshna
Narumanchi-Jackson
Sent: Saturday, February 18, 2006 7:10 PM
To: The Learning Disabilities Discussion List
Subject: Re: [LearningDisabilities] accommodations, colleges, adult learning
programs, etc...

Robin: Are you suggesting that developmental studies students are synonymous
with students with learning disabilities?  If so, I'll disagree.

I'm not sure what conclusion could be derived from these statistics other
than K-12 in northeast Texas inadequately prepares 70 percent of their
graduating students who enroll in CC to test high enough on the Texas Higher
Education Assessment (THEA) to go straight to credit courses.  I'm not
impressed with Houston's numbers either, but I don't think the problem is
undiagnosed learning disabilities.

Many non-Texans may be surprised to learn that the freshman class of 2004
was the first required to use the recommended high school program (which is
described as a college preparatory degree plan).  I tried to search for
statistics on the number of Texas HS graduates prior to 2004 graduating
under this degree plan, but I couldn't locate anything quickly (sigh).

Even if all students move towards a more rigorous degree plan, there will be
continue to be variation between school districts in achieving 'rigor' in a
college preparatory curriculum. Additionally, there is no coordination
between high school exit and college entrance requirements (nor do I believe
that many other states achieve a smooth transition so I'm not trying to
single out Texas). 

Tell me that 70 percent of the students in developmental studies courses
have diagnoses for learning disabilities, and I'm more likely to believe
that higher education needs to do more than put them into non-credit courses
that drain their ambitions.

Varshna Jackson
Austin, TX

on 2/18/06 5:52 PM, robinschwarz1 at aol.com at robinschwarz1 at aol.com wrote:


> 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

> ----------------------------------------------------

> National Institute for Literacy

> Learning Disabilities mailing list

> LearningDisabilities at nifl.gov

> To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to 

> http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/learningdisabilities

> 

> ----------------------------------------------------

> National Institute for Literacy

> Learning Disabilities mailing list

> LearningDisabilities at nifl.gov

> To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to 

> http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/learningdisabilities

> 

> 



----------------------------------------------------
National Institute for Literacy
Learning Disabilities mailing list
LearningDisabilities at nifl.gov
To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to
http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/learningdisabilities