Karen Trimmer Byrne
An Online Disability Assessment Service Program for Advanced Academic Programs at Johns Hopkins
University
OMDE 608
SECTION: 9040
November 24, 2013
An Online Disability Assessment Service Program for Advancement Academic Programs
at Johns Hopkins University
Introduction
Johns Hopkins University’s (JHU) Advanced Academic Programs (AAP) division plans
to rapidly increase enrollments and expand to domestic markets outside its local region and to
foreign markets (Byrne, 2013). This broad expansion of AAP will overwhelm the existing ad hoc
approach to evaluating and diagnosing students for learning difficulties in this online program.
We propose to create an online disability assessment program (ODAP, hereafter) so that entering
students can be systematically evaluated and diagnosed for learning difficulties prior to entering
or during their period of study in the AAP system. This would enhance JHU’s notoriety as a
leader in the field of education research, provide essential services for our students and increase
AAP retention.
Goals of Proposal
Creating an ODAP would help identify learning disabilities in entering AAP students,
raise the learner retention rate, increase engagement and enhance learner performance. In
addition, an ODAP would lower the cost of delivering these services relative to the current
approach. Therefore an ODAP would be a viable investment for JHU. The ODAP will be
geared toward the online learner, who is typically off campus and in some cases located abroad.
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Karen Trimmer Byrne
An Online Disability Assessment Service Program for Advanced Academic Programs at Johns Hopkins
University
OMDE 608
SECTION: 9040
November 24, 2013
The program would meet or exceed the standards set by the Americans with Disabilities Act
(ADA) for online access to learning materials.
Many AAP learners are adults who are employed and seeking professional development.
These adults interact with their learning environment differently than recent high school
graduates and, therefore, need different learning services. In particular, the design for learning
services for this population should be focused on andragogic theory (Morgan, 1995). Also,
recent neurological studies of adult learners show that learning disabilities such as dyslexia,
dysgraphia, dyscalcula or ADHD are a brain-based, lifelong barriers to learning and that 60% of
adults with literacy problems have never been diagnosed (Learning Disabilities Association of
America, 2013). Consequently, an ODAP would assist in identifying the learning needs of
students so that accommodations can be put in place to assist them as AAP expands its adult
student population. This proposal is intended to demonstrate that having the essential routes to
providing learning accommodations and study skill supports for a key demographic group of
AAP’s learners will provide measurable gains for our overall program.
Elements of the Online Disability Assessment Services Program
The ODAP will offer systematic counseling to assist students who need evaluative testing
for learning disabilities for AAP online graduate programs (Learning disabilities assocoation of
America, 2013) . This program would be an ancillary student support to JHU’s Office of Student
Disability Services (OSDS) focused on accommodating the online learners entering AAP (Johns
Hopkins University, 2013) . The ODAP will perform 6 essential services.
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Karen Trimmer Byrne
An Online Disability Assessment Service Program for Advanced Academic Programs at Johns Hopkins
University
OMDE 608
SECTION: 9040
November 24, 2013
1. Students will self-identify themselves as facing learning challenges or be directed to
ODAP by teacher or advisor. Online access: Students will access ODAP via a link in
the dropdown menu on the JHU OSDS web page. This link will be supported on all
AAP course syllabi. In addition ODAP will also be accessible via telephone and
teleconference.
2. ODAP staff provides initial intake assessment and more detailed screening to direct
students to proper referrals. Online access: Students will receive an initial outreach
and welcome to the ODAP via personal email. This outreach will set in motion intake
procedures. The ODAP staff will work with JHU School of Education faculty and
within the U.S., each states Rehabilitation Services Administration, to direct students
to public or private educational testing (RSA: Rehabilitation Services Administration,
2013, Johns Hopkins University Center for Talented Youth, 2013)
3. Screening results in recommendation:
A. A referral to qualified professionals to assist in obtaining educational
diagnosis. Online access: Online Disability Assessment Services Program
will provide two referrals to the student to obtain education testing via email.
B. The referred literacy practitioner will determine online study skills deficits.
4. ODAP receives results of screening
A. If the student shares the results of educational testing with ODAP, staff will
work to make an individual education plan (IEP) or 504 plan to create
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Karen Trimmer Byrne
An Online Disability Assessment Service Program for Advanced Academic Programs at Johns Hopkins
University
OMDE 608
SECTION: 9040
November 24, 2013
classroom accommodations. Online access: Staff will communicate with
student via email.
B. Initial screening may result in initial plan to improve online study skills.
Online access: staff will set up online webinars and individual conferences to
assist adult learners with digital study skills.
5. Partner with students to advocate and implement IEP/504 and ongoing study skill
support. Online access: Online Disability Assessment Services Program staff will
communicate and advocate for students via email.
6. Provide faculty development programs to help faculty keep current in supporting
students with learning disabilities and accommodations (beginning 2016).
7. Assess and evaluate ODAP yearly to see if the program is meeting its stating
objectives.
Organization of ODAP Staff and Services
The ODAP will be integrated into a web of student services for online users that are
geared toward developing positive academic outcomes for online students (Western interstate
commission for higher education, 2013). ODAP will also utilize the onsite resources of JHU’s
OSDS. Online learners’ disabilities fall into a subcategory that is different from the services
received from onsite students at JHU. For example. AAP students do not use onsite accessibility
services, such as ramps, parking spaces, elevators, but AAP students with accommodations
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Karen Trimmer Byrne
An Online Disability Assessment Service Program for Advanced Academic Programs at Johns Hopkins
University
OMDE 608
SECTION: 9040
November 24, 2013
might require adaptive technology from a distance. Nevertheless, the system to test and
determine eligibility for services is the same.
The target needs to match the projected 200% growth of AAP in three years, ODAP
would initially hire two trained M.Ed. professionals in 2014, one with a concentration in online
learning and special education or andragogy and one with a specialization in online learning
theory and practice . These two staff members would work to do intake assessments and
implement elements 2-5 listed in “Elements of the ODAP” above. So, ODAP staff members
would conduct initial intake interviews and screenings to direct AAP students to either a referral
for educational testing or online study skills assistance. In addition ODAP staff would work with
members of the JHU’s Center for Gifted and Talented Youth and School of Education to provide
psycho-educational evaluations (Johns Hopkins University Center for Talented Youth, 2013).
Partnering with other JHU programs would enable ODAP to develop collegial and collaborative
ties to like-minded professionals and serve a more united JHU student community. If AAP grows
at the anticipated rate, ODAP would also hire an administrative assistant in 2016. ODAP would
be located in JHU’s OSDS so that staff can benefit from a collegial and collaborative
relationship with the onsite partners who are doing similar work.
Goals and Objectives
The creation of ODAP would require no further expansion of AAP technological
infrastructure. The greatest need to ensure the success of the program would be the hiring of two
qualified personnel and resource sharing with the JHU School of Education and Center for
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Karen Trimmer Byrne
An Online Disability Assessment Service Program for Advanced Academic Programs at Johns Hopkins
University
OMDE 608
SECTION: 9040
November 24, 2013
Talented Youth. The ODAP team would apply to the JHU open fund to secure funding for
personnel (Byrne, 2013) .
Assessment
The ODAP assessment would be based on judging if the program has its desired effects for AAP
in the short and long term. Our assessment criteria will be based on the following broad queries
(Brindley, 1995)

Johns Hopkins University is a top ranked university and a leader in academic research
and advancement (Byrne, 2013). In this regard, ODAP, will be an innovator in the field
of distance learning support and contribute to the field of providing online psychoeducational testing support services for its adult learners. Consequently a key assessment
query would be: Has the ODAP approach to educational assessment promoted the
educational values of JHU?

The ODAP seeks to link its activities to current research on brain based learning and
current data that demonstrates that learning disabilities are life-long barriers to learning
unless proper accommodations are put in place. Consequently, a key assessment query
would be: How has current data or research on learning disabilities changed the ODAP
approach to administering programs?

The objectives of the ODAP are to
1. Identify AAP learners with unidentified learning disabilities, diagnosis the disabilities
and provide testing (if necessary) and accommodations (if necessary).
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Karen Trimmer Byrne
An Online Disability Assessment Service Program for Advanced Academic Programs at Johns Hopkins
University
OMDE 608
SECTION: 9040
November 24, 2013
2. Identify AAP learners with online learning challenges and assist with providing study
skills.
Consequently, a key assessment query would be: Is ODAP meeting its objectives?

Online Disability Assessment Services Program seeks to assist AAP in provide
student satisfaction and increasing retention in all programs. Our staff will
document and track the outcomes of all of our referrals and assessments.
Consequently, an assessment query would be: Has ODAP succeed in providing
student satisfaction and increasing retention?
Additionally, ODAP will provide all students with an evaluation after services are completed to
assess their experience at ODAP. This evaluation will try to determine if the student’s behavior
changed as a result of their visit to ODAP and what they learned about themselves or how their
lives many have changed as a result of visiting ODAP.
Rationale
Recent scholarship, key studies and surveys suggest that online learners may not have
access to important personal counseling services that would help them in understanding why
they could experience academic difficulties if they return to university studies as adults (Dirr,
1999, Hughes, 2004, Evans, 1994, Rumble, 2000) Additionally, high numbers of adult learners
may have undiagnosed learning disabilities or have not had assistance developing their online
study skills (Learning Disabilities Association of America, 2013, Kitchen, 2006, Diaz, 1999 ). If
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Karen Trimmer Byrne
An Online Disability Assessment Service Program for Advanced Academic Programs at Johns Hopkins
University
OMDE 608
SECTION: 9040
November 24, 2013
AAP plans on expanding at such a rapid pace and broadening its adult student population, the
program should plan to sufficiently serve adult learners who are facing these serious barriers to
learning. Providing services to the cohort of students in need of diagnostic educational testing
and accommodations or enhanced online study skills will increase the retention of AAP because
these students will have more confidence in their ability to succeed and eagerly look forward to
applying their knowledge in the workplace.
Broadly speaking, the learning disabilities that impact adult learners are divided into
three groups: the acquisition of language, language disorders and academic skills (Kitchen,
2006). These specified learning disabilities manifest themselves in the skills that learners rely on
most in the online classroom: expressive writing, spelling, calculating and visual processing. The
AAP teaching model deploys multiple teaching methods, all of which use the synchronous and
asynchronous conferences or forums, where students write and respond in structured or
unstructured formats (Byrne, 2013). The best research demonstrates that students with specified
learning disorders need support in online environments because of their tendency to process
content in a neurologically different way (Beacham&Alty, 2006, Jelfs and Richardson, 2010,
Woodfine, Nunes, Baptista & Wright, 2008). If ODAP can help to diagnosis, identify and
support incoming adult learners with learning disorders, AAP will benefit overall.
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Karen Trimmer Byrne
An Online Disability Assessment Service Program for Advanced Academic Programs at Johns Hopkins
University
OMDE 608
SECTION: 9040
November 24, 2013
References
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Karen Trimmer Byrne
An Online Disability Assessment Service Program for Advanced Academic Programs at Johns Hopkins
University
OMDE 608
SECTION: 9040
November 24, 2013
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Karen Trimmer Byrne
An Online Disability Assessment Service Program for Advanced Academic Programs at Johns Hopkins
University
OMDE 608
SECTION: 9040
November 24, 2013
RSA: Rehabilitation Services Administration. (2013). RSA: Rehabilitation services
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Rumble, G. (2000). Student support in distance education in the 21st century: Learning from
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and dyslexia: Not necessarily the perfect match! Computers and Education, 50(3), 701-717.
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Karen Trimmer Byrne
An Online Disability Assessment Service Program for Advanced Academic Programs at Johns Hopkins
University
OMDE 608
SECTION: 9040
November 24, 2013
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