I believe that all the Adult Education and Literacy agencies in Missouri use
the same screening tool as our program. You can see it on page 54 of a
document from the state AEL section's website:
http://www.dese.mo.gov/divcareered/AEL/AEL_Guidelines_For_Serving_Students.doc

The document as a whole details the rules we follow for providing all
students an equal opportunity to learn in our program; a
program-specific adaptation of the document is the Learning Differences
portion of our program handbook. I think all adult education programs that
receive federal money have to follow pretty much the same protocols we do;
the explanations we got from the LD listserv today were exactly how I've
heard it all explained.

To answer Angela's questions -- first about cooperating with other agencies:
Sometimes we locate classes within an agency and specifically serve that
organization's clientele. In that case, the building is already accessible
and students have case managers helping them get the tools and
accommodations they need. More often, though, agencies bring their clients
to us and provide support for them if what's needed is more than we can
manage. Teachers and/or our director and case managers stay in touch about
the students' needs (with their permission, of course). Students with
identified disabilities are in many ways easier to accommodate because they
do have specific diagnoses and professional recommendations for effective
learning strategies. It's more difficult to help students with learning
issues that have not been professionally identified. We use the assessment
tools we have and recommend further testing if it seems indicated, and we
implement strategies we think might help, but our efforts can't
approach professional evaluation.

Second, about getting IEPs and so forth: We are lucky in the St. Louis area
that a single agency, Special School District, provides the special ed
services to most of the school districts in the county. Teachers have easy
access to a centralized source of most IEPs and request those themselves
using a standard form filled out and signed by the student. When we need an
IEP from anywhere else, teachers turn in the form to the ABE/ASE coordinator
(me), whose responsibility it is to find out where to fax the request form.

Debra




On Wed, Apr 2, 2008 at 9:08 PM, Ryan Hall <sryanhall at gmail.com> wrote:


> Thanks for answering my questions, Debra. Is the 17-question screening

> tool something your agency came up with?

> ryan

>

>

>

> On 4/2/08 10:28 AM, "Debra Smith" <dlmsmith at sbcglobal.net> wrote:

>

>   We use a 17-question screening tool that asks about visual and hearing

> issues, past difficulties in school with activities such as working from a

> test booklet to an answer sheet, working with numbers in a column, filling

> out forms, spelling, memorizing, and other things like that. Teachers go

> through the screening tool with each student during orientation when the

> student enters our program. Students who answer yes to 12 or more of these

> questions are referred within our agency for PowerPath screening, which

> produces extensive "how to accommodate" information for the student and, if

> needed, referrals for further screening. We have a list of

> universities/clinics for additional screening, some of which operate on a

> sliding scale, but students and their families have to follow up and pay. In

> actuality, few do. If students have an IEP from their K12 years, we ask them

> to let us request it from their former school, and that takes the place of

> PowerPath referral. We then work with our students to develop learning plans

> that support their goals and accommodate any special needs.

> Debra

>

>

> On Tue, Apr 1, 2008 at 10:01 PM, Ryan Hall <sryanhall at gmail.com> wrote:

>

> Debra,

> How does your agency screen for learning differences? And, which issues do

> you generally look for? Where do you refer students for further testing? Who

> pays for that further testing?

> Thanks,

> Ryan

>

>

>

> On 4/1/08 10:28 PM, "Debra Smith" <dlmsmith at sbcglobal.net> wrote:

>

> There's a process for applying for accommodations on the GED, and the TABE

> provides for them too. We try to give students the same accommodations in

> class that they are likely to get on the GED, to the extent that we can

> predict that. We are required to have the ADA posted in every classroom and

> to make all reasonable accommodations. We locate our classes in accessible

> buildings as much as possible, and we provide tutors, audio/large print

> materials, color transparencies, line guides, laptops with adaptability

> features, etc.. We screen for learning differences and make referrals for

> further testing, get previous IEPs from K12 with students' permission, and

> cooperate with whatever other agencies students with special needs are

> working with. Adult education is generally underfunded, and accommodations

> can be expensive, but as much as possible, our agency works hard to provide

> suitable accommodations to meet the needs of every learner.

> Debra Smith

>

> On Tue, Apr 1, 2008 at 8:55 PM, Daphne Greenberg <alcdgg at langate.gsu.edu>

> wrote:

>

> I wonder if adult learners who need accommodations, due to physical,

> sensory, cognitive, or psychiatric reasons could "demand" these

> accommodations? Does anyone on this list know the answer to this?

>

> Do any of you work/learn in adult literacy programs where accommodations

> are offered? If yes, we would love to hear about it!

>

> >>> Angela Smith <adsmith1 at uga.edu> 04/01/08 12:39 PM >>>

> Daphne, I definitely believe your outlined (and other accommodations) are

> needed to better serve adult learners, particularly in adult literacy

> programs. It has been my experience that these services are not part of

> adult literacy (routine) offerings. Depending on the location of the

> classroom site, some kinds of physical accommodations may be offered.

>

> I believe this lack of support and resources are the result of an overall

> devaluing of adult literacy programs and the population they serve (from

> funders, policymakers and other leading stakeholders who have the power to

> make the difference).

>

> Angela

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