Eligibility Assessment Requirements at the Postsecondary Level for
Students with Learning Disabilities: A Disconnect with Secondary Schools?*
Name, Buffalo State
Abstract
Methods
Results
In order to gain access to services at universities and colleges, students
with learning disabilities (LD) must provide documentation of their
disability. However, secondary schools are not required by law to provide
the documentation often required at the postsecondary level. Too, it
appears that secondary schools may collect even less psychometric data if
proposed changes to IDEA are adopted during the current reauthorization
process. This ‘disconnect’ between what is provided and what is needed in
terms of eligibility requirements has become a ‘hot’ topic in the field.
Recently, the National Joint Committee on Learning Disabilities (NJCLD)
held a discussion on this issue and it was decided that an initial piece of
information needed for examining this issue was data about what
postsecondary institutions of higher education are requiring for eligibility.
Accordingly, this study presents findings about the eligibility requirements
of 104 colleges and universities in 36 states. Results show several
variables that highlight the discontinuity between evaluation data collected
in high school and what is required at the university level. These variables
include currency of evaluation, examiner qualifications, areas of diagnosis
(e.g., aptitude, processing), use of adult-normed tests, use of discrepancy,
and establishing functional impact.
Participants:
Offices of Disability Services at 2 and 4 year IHE
identified via membership lists of Association of
Higher Education and Disability (AHEAD) and
Learning Disabilities Association (LDA).
General consistency among policies and practices for determining
eligibility and accommodation provision:
Objectives
To determine eligibility documentation required by institutions of higher
education (IHE) for students with learning disabilities to obtain services
and academic accommodations.
Data Collection & Analysis:
• Documentation related to eligibility and
assessment requirements requested and
entered into investigator created checklist.
• Checklist targeted five areas related to
diagnostic information: assessment
currency, examiner qualifications, required
diagnostic areas, recommended or accepted
tests, and score reporting.
• Responses were collated, coded, & tallied.
Frequency and percentage data reported.
Results show several variables
highlighting the discontinuity
between evaluation data
collected in high school and what
is required at the university level.
Background & Rationale
• Documentation Disconnect: A mismatch exists between available
assessment data and required assessment data used to make eligibility
and accommodation decisions at postsecondary level as identified by
National Joint Council for Learning Disabilities (NJCLD) during
postsecondary disability service provider summit (2003).
Variables include:
• Need to Identify Areas of “Disconnection”: NJCLD initiated
exploration of documentation issues by requesting a survey of colleges
and universities’ eligibility requirements needed for students with LD to
obtain services and academic accommodations.
• adult-normed tests
• evaluation currency
• examiner qualifications
• areas of diagnosis
• use of discrepancy
• functional impact
*Based on article published in Journal of Postsecondary Education and Disability: Gormley, Hughes, Block, & Lindmann, 2005.
Assessment Findings:
Evaluation data must be recent (e.g., 3-5 years) & administered by
qualified examiner (e.g., adult experience)
Must use standardized, norm-referenced measures of aptitude,
achievement, and information processing.
Must report scores as standard scores and/or percentiles.
Eligibility Findings:
Eligibility decisions based on ADA/Section 504 guidelines with
emphasis on establishing functional limitations of major life activity.
Accommodation Findings:
Accommodations require a clear rationale and history of use along
with data from psycho educational evaluations.
Grace periods rarely used that allow accommodations while student
obtains needed documentation.
Recommendations
Data gathered at secondary level must be framed in ways that are
acceptable and useful to postsecondary service providers.
Postsecondary personnel must examine how they can adjust current
practices in ways that still adhere to the law and are defensible to
professors & administrators at their institutions.
Both sides need to explore what is possible and acceptable and
negotiate a middle ground.
Initiatives to Address the “Disconnect”
• NJCLD white paper outlining problem & proposing solutions (due Fall 2006)
• National Transition Documentation Summits’ SOP Template
(see http://www.teachingld.org/)