Manju Banerjee

EFFECTS OF AUDIO TEXTS ON THE ACQUISITION OF SECONDARY-LEVEL CONTENT BY STUDENTS WITH MILD DISABILITIES

Secondary students with high-incidence cognitive disabilities often struggle to meet the demands of the general education curriculum due to poor reading skills. to address this challenge, we examined the effects of a CD-ROM audio textbook, alone and combined with a complementary strategy (SLiCK), on the academic performance of secondary students in content-rich history classes. Students were assigned to one of three conditions: audio textbook combined with the SLiCK strategy, the audio textbook alone, or a control condition. Students in the groups using the audio text, both alone and with the strategy, performed significantly higher on content-area assessments than students in the control condition; however, there was no significant difference in scores between the group using the SLiCK strategy and the group using the audio text alone. Still, it is noteworthy that use of the audio text had a significant effect on secondary-level content acquisition. Outcomes are discussed, and implications for practice, strategy development, and future research are presented.

Leveling the Digital Playing Field: Assessing the Learning Technology Needs of College-Bound Students with LD and/or ADHD.

As increasing numbers of students with learning disabilities (LD) or attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) transition to postsecondary education, they encounter a heightened need for proficiency with a wide range of learning technologies. Whereas the Individuals With Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 (IDEIA) requires consideration of a students assistive technology training needs in high school, the Americans With Disabilities Act does not require any evaluation or training services for postsecondary students with disabilities. In an era of measurable outcomes, it is critical for secondary school personnel to consider effective assessments and relevant interventions when college-bound students with cognitive disabilities lack proficiency with these technologies. Survey research at a highly competitive public university found significant differences between the technology needs, preferences, and fluency of undergraduates with and without disabilities. This article presents findings from that study as well as implications for teachers and evaluators who assist students with LD and ADHD in their transition planning for postsecondary education.

Learning Disability Documentation Decision Making at the Postsecondary Level

Students with learning disabilities (LD) transitioning from secondary school to postsecondary education must submit documentation verifying the existence of a disability and that describes a current and substantial limitation to learning. Preparing acceptable documentation can be a challenge for secondary personnel because of differing laws at the secondary and postsecondary levels and because of variation in the type of data required by each school. This study presents the results of a survey of 183 postsecondary disability service providers related to frequently required components of LD documentation. Although a clear diagnosis of LD was required by most respondents, there was variation in regard to other key components. Implications and suggestions for secondary transition practice are presented.

Assessing Student Performance in Distance Education Courses: Implications for Testing Accommodations for Students with Learning Disabilities:

In the virtual learning community of distance education, instructors must take into account the increased diversity of learners when determining assessment practices, test formats, and assessment strategies. This article highlights some of the defining characteristics of distance education courses and their impact on traditional assessment practices for instructors and students, including those with learning disabilities. Current diagnostic procedures, and psychoeducational reports in particular, typically offer little or no guidance on how to effectively assess students with learning disabilities in distance education courses. Understanding the interface between a technologically mediated environment and the cognitive processes involved in learning paves the way for more effective assessment of performance and more relevant evaluation reports for students with learning disabilities. The implications for adapting traditional test accommodations are also discussed.

High-Stakes Test Accommodations: Documentation Review by Testing Agencies in an Era of Change.

Given the latest reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and evolving views on the identification of cognitive disabilities in special education, many high school graduates with learning disabilities and/or attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder will have a Summary of Performance (SOP) in lieu of a recent psychoeducational evaluation as their primary documentation of disability from high school. This article discusses potential challenges faced by high school students in establishing eligibility for high-stakes test accommodations for college. There is skepticism regarding the SOP document in terms of satisfying established disability documentation requirements and documentation review criteria of testing agencies that administer college admission exams such as the SAT and the Graduate Record Examination. Recommendations for documentation of disability by high school personnel, as well as disability documentation review policies for high-stakes testing agencies, are proposed.

Applying LD Documentation Guidelines at the Postsecondary Level Decision Making With Sparse or Missing Data

A key issue in fostering transition to postsecondary education for students with disabilities is documentation verifying the nature of the disability and supporting the need for services and reasonable accommodations. Documentation guidelines assist postsecondary disability service providers in making decisions about eligibility and reasonable accommodations. However, documentation is often varied in scope, comprehensiveness, and quality, requiring a great deal of professional judgment during the review process. This study examined service provider decision-making when presented with documentation of learning disability with varying levels of information. Results indicated service providers’ value comprehensive Objective Evidence, but importance of the data used in decision-making varied by demographic variables, such as years of experience and type of training in reviewing disability documentation. Implications for practice are addressed.

Reading's SLiCK with New Audio Texts and Strategies.

• Provide instruction in complex content areas. • Attempt to address all their students’ learning needs. Many middle and high school students with learning disabilities (and other high-incidence cognitive disabilities) experience difficulty reading and comprehending assigned textbooks in content-area classes. These students often have poor reading skills and lack effective learning strategies. What can students and teachers do to resolve this problem? Clearly, teachers of students with poor reading skills need alternative instructional methods to convey content information effectively and efficiently. This article looks at some of these alternatives, focusing on the use of audio textbooks on CDs and learning strategies. Challenges for Secondary Students With Disabilities To achieve success, secondary students must read textbooks independently, demonstrate a mastery of content information, and apply previously acquired knowledge to new learning situations. Unlike elementary students, secondary students with learning disabilities must read to learn rather than just learn to read. Curricular demands are intense, because educators and policymakers expect students with learning disabilities to meet school-system standards set for general education students. Unfortunately, students with these disabilities are often not equipped with the reading skills and learning strategies necessary to readily acquire new knowledge or content (see box, “Skills of Good Readers”). To compound the problem, the assigned textbooks—the main access routes to the content information—often have readability levels well beyond the abilities of students with disabilities. Understanding and remembering associated concepts and facts presented in content-area classes and applying and demonstrating mastery of these concepts are two core demands of secondary school settings (Deshler, Ellis, & Lenz, 1996). In many schools, textbooks are the primary tools used to teach associated concepts and facts in the content areas (Harniss, Hollenbeck, Crawford, & Carnine, 1994). Unfortunately, many students with learning disabilities experience frustration because of the high readability levels in their assigned content-area textbooks (Wait, 1987). For example, in an examination of 10 eighth-grade U.S. history textbooks, Kinder, Bursuck, and Epstein (1992) recorded an average readability level of high 10th grade. Similar studies (e.g., Daniels, 1996; Schumaker & Deshler, 1984; Wang 1996) showed that teachers need to be aware of the functional value of the written material provided to their students. In addition to problems with readability, many students—those with and without disabilities—spend an excessive amount of time decoding difficult concepts and vocabulary at the

College Students With ADHD and LD: Effects of Support Services on Academic Performance

Two relatively common disabilities reported by college students are attentiondeficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and learning disabilities (LD). Many questions remain regarding how best to support these students and whether services such as advising, coaching, and tutoring lead to significant academic gains. The current study examined the effect of support services on the GPA of students with LD and/or ADHD at a campus that specifically serves this population by tracking students’ support service usage and GPAs over a 5-year period. Results indicate that although most students who choose to receive coaching support experience academic gains, it is students with ADHD who obtain the greatest gains in GPA as a result of this support. Additionally, although tutoring can be of benefit to all students, significant GPA gains were obtained only for students with an LD diagnosis. Thus, there is a need to provide targeted supports aimed at addressing students’ specific areas of challenge.