Mikael Snitker

Beyond Access: Self-Advocacy is a Measurable DS Outcome

(That You Need)!

Presented by:

Mikael Snitker-Magin, PhD, CRC, LPC

Ferris State University

Gavin Steiger, MS, Trinity University

About your presenters

Mikael Snitker-Magin

• 19 years working with PWD

• PhD in Rehabilitation

Psychology from UW-Madison

• Research interests include youth transition & self-efficacy measures with PWD

• Asst. Professor/Counselor at

Ferris State U. in Big Rapids

MI

• LPC/CRC

Gavin Steiger

• 10 years working with PWD

• M.Ed. In Higher Ed from the

University of Georgia

• Research interests include methods of promoting self advocacy in PWD and the transition to employment

Snitker-Magin & Steiger, 2012 2

Our Collective Interests —Old

Wine?

1. Facilitating successful academic and vocational transitions

2. Effective, strategic, and innovative DS office management practices

(image of moldy wine bottles)


•Facilitating transitions-- providing accommodations, learning, and measurement

•Innovative, strategic--limited resources with need to increase support for you, and students who need it!

BUT, HOW DO WE APPLY

THESE CONCEPTS?


Interests Cut Across Strata

(image of colorful artwork depicting various layers of sediment)

Students

Parents

DS Coordinators

Administrators


Reduce Floundering

“ Transition is better defined as "a period of floundering that occurs for at least the first several years after adolescents leave school and attempt to assume a variety of adult roles in their communities”

A. Halpern, 1991


We ask a lot from students!

From flounder to the frying pan

(image of flounder fish camouflaged in sand)


Dispense with esteem

“Self-esteem is perhaps the greatest emotional sickness known to humans”


Assessments should be achievable

(image of large jet turbine engine, partially disassembled)


Research Problems

• You’re not in the research business, and don’t want to be (e.g. DS counselor and/or

Coordinator)

• Are tasked with showing some evidence of your work, preferably to demonstrate student learning (access or success?)

• Student self-disclosure is voluntary (selfselection bias)


Q & A: Measure What Students

Learn —Self-Advocacy (SA)?

Q: How do you practically measure what students learn about Self-Advocacy?

A: Build it in.

Q: Which approach works best for your office?

A: You likely have strong insight on this.


Q & A: Measure What Students

Learn —Self-Advocacy (SA)?

Q: Is there a pre-made tool I can use?

A: Yes

Q:Do you have the time to conduct the learning assessment?

A: Most often not!

Q: Are tools valid and reliable?

A: Some are. Choose wisely!


Self-Report Methods of Assessment

• Satisfaction and behavior surveys

• Behavior checklists

• Pre/post testing

• Criterion referenced tools


Sample Questions for Behavior Checklists

Agree Disagree Strongly

Disagree

I understand my disability and how it affects me.

I can clearly and effectively identify my disability-related needs.

I can clearly and effectively communicate my disability-related needs to others.

Strongly

Agree


Sample Questions for Behavior Survey

How likely were you to meet with your professors and discuss your accommodation needs with them before attending this presentation?

Not Likely 1 2 3 4 5 Very Likely

How likely are you to meet with your professors and discuss your accommodation needs with them after attending this presentation?

Not Likely 1 2 3 4 5 Very Likely


Sample Questions for Behavior Survey

How frequently did the following happen?

I approached my notetaker to get the notes.

My notetaker approached me to give me the notes.

My notetaker consistently provided the notes to me.

Always Sometimes

Snitker-Magin & Steiger, 2012

Rarely Never

16

Subjective Methods of Assessment by Staff

Systematically

• Part of the intake or accommodation renewal process

• Built in through paperwork process, cues for DS coordinator

Anecdotally

• DS staff member observations

• Discussion with student about SA


Sample Rubric for

DS Staff Observations

Understanding of disability

Communication

Skills

Advanced = 3

Can easily and effectively explain the disability.

Clearly recognizes appropriate accommodations

Can clearly and effectively explain disability-related needs

Intermediate = 2 Beginner = 1

Has some difficulty explaining the disability.

Has some difficulty recognizing appropriate accommodations.

Has some difficulty explaining disability-related needs.

Snitker-Magin & Steiger, 2012

Has significant difficulty explaining the disability.

Has significant difficulty recognizing appropriate accommodations.

Has significant difficulty explaining disability-related needs.

18

Considerations when

Developing Questions

• Should have enough specificity

• Should have “face validity”

– Statistical Validity and Reliability

• Shouldn’t be too wordy or technical in jargon

• Consider the audience of respondents (e.g., reading ability, disability types, online survey sites’ compatibility with AT, etc.)


Assessment Method Concerns

METHOD

Pre/Post w-w/o intervention

Post-only

Case studies

Manualized intervention

Group processes

CONCERNS

Attrition, confounds, cooperation

No baseline

Too time intensive

Training and enforcement

Attrition, confounds, group effects


Consider Multiple Minority

Group Membership

• Athletes • Socio-economic

• LGBTQ status

• Race

• Gender identity

• Ethnicity

• Age

• Religious beliefs

• Veterans

• National origin


Try it in your office

During your next appointment with a student, try role playing.

It takes just a moment, and is telling, even it goes poorly!

Use humor, including at yourself, to challenge potential barriers


Discussion

What types of assessments do you perform?


Assessments should relate to:

• Program goals

• Needs of specific student population

(readily usable)

• Ethical guidelines, best practices, and professional standards

• Any related legal standards


Professional Standard(s)

• AHEAD 5.1: Use a service delivery model that encourages students with disabilities to develop independence —educate and assist; promote self-determination

• OCR: No Mandate for this but can be readily incorporated into your program model, and measured.


Myth: If we teach legal knowledge, they will use what they know

• Generally Busted: not as likely as teaching the specific skills (low correlation)

• Confidence in knowledge of disability law isn’t a sufficient


Myth: If we teach legal knowledge, they will use what they know

• Erroneous information doesn’t help, either!

• Learning specific accommodation request behaviors was strongly related to behavioral expectancy


Best Predictor: Specific Skills

Mediating Relationship of Task-Specific Self-Efficacy Between Confidence in Knowledge

Related to Disability Accommodations and Behavioral Expectations (Snitker-Magin,

2010)

Task-Specific

Self-Efficacy

β=.49

β=.79

Confidence in legal knowledge

Behavioral

Expectations

β=.11


You can do this!

• Technique used (verbal persuasion)

• You may even like including self-advocacy learning as part of your unit’s learning measures


How do

you

define self-advocacy?


It Is

• Measurable

• Attainable

• Observable

• Learnable

• Formative

• Dynamic

• Flexible

What is (and is not) self-advocacy?

It is (probably) Not

• A panacea for all ills

• Universally effective

• Always welloperationalized

• Static


Related to, but different than

• Self-determination

• Self-regulation

• Self-assessment

• Self-esteem

• Self-efficacy

• Self-initiating


But, wouldn’t it be nice?

• “One cannot be all things, which would require mastery of every realm of human life”

A. Bandura, 2005


Is measuring self-advocacy learning meaningful?

• Moral obligation to teach self-advocacy

• Professional obligation (AHEAD standards)

• Ethical obligation

• Not legal obligation


Self-advocacy and program success

• Recognize that success and access are different (i.e.: self advocacy is not success, but may help lead to success!)

• Institutional #’s tracking – GPA, retention, graduation

• DoE retention data= # of students who show up at the beginning of SO year

• Descriptive data from self-studies is interesting, but not causal nor predictive.


Self-advocacy and program success

• Success of your program should not be predicated on the absence of OCR complaints, lawsuits, etc. although avoiding these is preferable.

• Other measures are for other purposes, but maybe not yours!

• Success is difficult to attribute to a specific intervention— too many variables.

• You can not, nor should you, attempt to be something you’re not equipped for!


Is what you do measurable?

• Yes. You probably are already teaching self-advocacy skills when you meet the students, so what not claim the credit for your good work?

• It could help you get additional resources for you and your students!


Academy, Level II, OST

Programs?

• Usually focus part of the curriculum on teaching self-advocacy

• Level II programs usually aim to teach SA skills, at added cost, and may use different title —Learning Differences,

• Teach ‘life skills’, residential


Academy, Level II, OST

Programs?

• Occupational/Voc Skills training programs may incorporate self-efficacy and advocacy efforts as part of the on site job training

• Place/train v. Train/place debate


Program Examples and

Curricula

• Academy, Level II, etc., —SA usually built into the curriculum, or stand alone courses

• May or may not be formally measured -but are usually professed

• Programs may focus on specific subpopulations —i.e., Bellevue (IQ<70),

Marino (Downs Syndrome)


2. Effective, Strategic

DS Office Management

• Start at the top and bottom using the organization’s overarching mission and specific unit objectives

• Incorporate and assess learning outcomes

• Don’t reinvent the wheel. Someone else has probably already done that!

• Get additional resources


Through the hierarchy

1. Universal aim (Top)

“Ferris State University prepares students for successful careers, responsible citizenship, and lifelong learning…[and serves] our rapidly changing global economy and society”

(Sounds good, doesn’t it!?)


Departmental or College level

• “University College: Our purpose is to provide developmental courses, educational counseling, and academic support services that will empower students enrolled at Ferris

State University to achieve their educational and career goals”

• Reach out to developmental faculty, advisors, and other staff


Unit Level

• Our mission is to assist Ferris students, faculty, and the community with services related to academic success and career counseling. Additionally, we provide classroom accommodations for students with documented disabilities.

• Collaborate with colleagues on developing consistent approaches within the unit


From Thought to Action

“Having adopted an intention and an action plan, one cannot simply sit back and wait for the appropriate [accommodations] performances to appear” A. Bandura,

2001


Getting buy-in: Mission and

Accreditation

• “FSU…prepares students for successful careers, responsible citizenship, and lifelong learning. Through its many partnerships and its career-oriented, broad-based education, Ferris serves our rapidly changing global economy and society.”



Accreditation

• No exceptions made for students with disabilities

• Cuts across the strata of student services and academic units, including teaching modalities (on-line, hybrid, satellite campuses)



Accreditation

• Accessibility and advocacy continue to make progress through accreditation bodies —Quality Matters, Learning

Commission, etc.



Accreditation

• Criterion Two: Preparing for the Future:

The organization’s ongoing evaluation and assessment processes provide reliable evidence of institutional effectiveness that clearly informs strategies for continuous improvement.



Accreditation

• Criterion Four: Acquisition, Discovery, and Application of Knowledge

• The organization assesses the usefulness of its curricula to students who will live and work in a global, diverse, and technological society.



Accreditation

• The organization provides support to ensure that faculty, students, and staff acquire, discover, and apply knowledge responsibly.


Standards of Service

• Align with CRCC, ACA, and APA ethical guidelines to foster independence and autonomy

• Consistent with AHEAD Program

Standards and Performance Indicators


Trinity’s Division of Student

Affairs’ Mission

• As educators in the spirit of the liberal arts tradition, the members of the Division of

Student Affairs are committed to serving, supporting, and challenging students in their development as individuals and as responsible global citizens.


TU Student Affairs

Strategic Plan

4 Goals

1. Integrate curricular and co-curricular learning through programs and services.

2. Develop global citizenship via intercultural competency and a commitment to service.


TU Student Affairs

Strategic Plan

4 Goals

3. Nurture leadership development through programming that is rooted in the theoretical framework of the Social Change Model of

Leadership Development.

4. Develop Common Learning Outcomes and utilize assessment techniques to measure student learning.


TU Common

Learning Outcomes

4 Clusters

A. Personal and Leadership Development

B. Health & Wellness

C. Intercultural Understanding and Diversity

D. Social Responsibility


Trinity DSS Departmental

Mission

“Disability Services for Students (DSS) supports Trinity

University’s mission to promote human and intellectual diversity by providing equal access and equal opportunity through fostering an inclusive environment for all students with disabilities within the Trinity community…Through collaboration and support of the entire Trinity community, DSS promotes selfunderstanding and self-advocacy within students with disabilities…”


Trinity DSS Departmental Goals

• Assist students with disabilities in recognizing their disability as one of many important demographic characteristics which will shape their identities and influence how they perceive the world.

• Promote self-advocacy skills within students with disabilities.

• Create a diverse, inclusive, and pluralistic campus climate which fosters respect for and appreciation of the inherent worth of all individuals, at all times, and in all ways.


Teaching students SA

, 1977)

Mastery

Vicarious

Verbal

Persuasion

Anxiety


Teaching & Mastering SA

• Mastery experiences—demonstrating the desired behavior

• Vicarious Experiences—peer modeling

• Verbal persuasion-from peers, faculty, or staff

• Anxiety produced—most likely to create avoidance behaviors


Mastery of some tasks is important —but which ones?

• Different than intentions because intentions don’t account for unforeseen events, problems, etc.

• Efficacy can help re-shape the future behavior in light of new feedback (failures)

• Helps shape pro-social behavior

• Future behavior motivated by ‘projected goals’ and

‘anticipated outcomes’, rather than just along for the ride to an undefined future


Using Bloom’s Taxonomy

Bloom et al (1956) categorized cognitive skills to develop learning objectives, goals, and outcomes to guide instruction and assessment. Revised in

2001 by Krathwohl and

Anderson.

Anderson, L.W. & Krathwohl, D.R. (Eds.). (2001). A taxonomy for learning, teaching and assessing: A revision of Bloom's taxonomy of educational objectives . Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.


Defining Learning Outcomes

Learning outcomes or “learning objectives” are statements describing the changes in behavior or performance that are the desired outcome of the learning interaction between the students and the facilitator of the learning process.


Classifying Outcomes

 Primary

– The core learning of a program; of central or dominant importance; gives meaning, clarity, and unity to all learning activities in the unit or program

 Enabling

– Help in attainment of the primary objective; contributory knowledge, sub-skills, principles or elements of the larger primary skill


Categorizing Outcomes

 Information : require learner to recall knowledge

 Mental Skills: require learner to analyze, classify or solve problems that involve cognitive processes

 Physical Skills: require learner to perform a physical or manipulative activity involving fine or gross motor skills

 Attitudes : require learners to make choices reflecting beliefs such as ethical behavior


Constructing Learning

Outcomes

• A udience – who are the learners?

• B ehavior – what should they know, do, or believe?

• C ondition – under what conditions should they perform?

• D egree – what standard is successful?


SMART Learning Outcomes

• S pecific

• M easurable

• A ggressive but Attainable

• R esults-oriented

• T ime bound


Verbs for each level

Level

Creating

Evaluating

Analyzing

Example verbs

Assess, critique, evaluate, prioritize, verify

Combine, construct, generate, prepare, synthesize

Calculate, compare, differentiate, examine, solve

Applying Apply, develop, perform, produce, use

Understanding Compare, describe, explain, illustrate, summarize,

Remembering Choose, identify, match, name, repeat


Outcome Example

 Behavior: Learners will be able to…

 Conditions: Given the tools, materials, environment….

 Criterion: So that… (consistent with standards or measures)

 Behavior: Write learning objectives

 Conditions: Given access to the appropriate subject matter expert(s), access to task analysis data, and criteria for success

 Criterion: So that the objectives are specific, behaviorallybased and measurable.

Program-related Outcomes

• Students (A) who participate in the DSS

New Student Orientation (C) will:

– become interdependent and utilize campus resources (B&D). [ DO ]

– Identify (B) one (D) new method of advocating for themselves. [ KNOW]


Service-related Outcome

• Students (A) who have received individual academic counseling (C) will report they have gained knowledge of test-taking strategies (B&D) which they can utilize in the future.


Assessing Outcomes

• Student assessment involves the evaluation of student learning through assignments, exams, and portfolios.

• Begin your assessment with careful planning , followed by gathering data and then reporting results .

http://www.utexas.edu/academic/ctl/assessment/iar/


What learning outcomes would you create for your program?


Contact

Contact information:

Mikael Snitker-Magin, snitkem@ferris.edu

,

231.591.3057 (voice)

Gavin Steiger, gsteiger@trinity.edu

210.999-7411 (voice)


Mikael Snitker

“Self-esteem is perhaps the greatest emotional sickness known to humans”

What types of assessments do you perform?

How do

define self-advocacy?

• “One cannot be all things, which would require mastery of every realm of human life”

What learning outcomes would you create for your program?

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Mikael Snitker

“Self-esteem is perhaps the greatest emotional sickness known to humans”

What types of assessments do you perform?

How do

define self-advocacy?

• “One cannot be all things, which would require mastery of every realm of human life”

What learning outcomes would you create for your program?

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