Leveling The Playing Field
"Accommodations are assigned to facilitate access, not success." How does this quote compare with your experience in providing accommodations to students with disabilities?
In my experience, all students deserve full access to what ever is required to achieve success in their education. I do not differentiate between with or without a disability as to whether a student will be successful or not. As an instructor, I try to help ALL of my students to be successful regardless of whether a student has a disability. It is up to both me and my educational facility to make sure that accommodations are being made for all, including a disabled student.
James,
Great attitude! It's refreshing to hear from a faculty member who believes that with the proper support, all students have the ability to be successful.
Sarah Smoger
I feel that Every Student shoud have the same opportunity to be successful in their chosen field. We as Instructors should try to make sure that ALL of our students succeed!
Thanks Sarah, it's very true. Observing the outcome of past accommodations, they've given our students the confidence and tools they needed at the time. But I agree with the other posts, all students regardless of disabilities or not should have the same access to tools they need to achieve.
Accomedation to facilitate access implies the person with a disability has equal opportunity once the accomedation has been provided. However, the accomedation should not provide the person with a disability with an unfair advantage over other students without a disability.
in my previous experience, people with disabilities are provided fair opportunity, but are challenged to succeed as equally as students without disabilities.
I am sure it is meant with good intentions, however all of the students I have ever had with accommodations were concerned and asked me about their future success beyond school. They are not trying to be " professional students".
I have always been able to guide them to success by mentoring them into the right paths.
I haven't had any experiences in providing accommodations to students with disabilities, but I would think there wouldn't be a need for access if there wasn't a success rate. There has to be a reason to facilitate access, which in my opinion the student has to have a common goal as the institution wants success as well.
Speaking as a former student Dx with a learning disability. I believe that all students, irrespective of their type of disability, deserve educators who promote learning, and equal educational opportunities. I recall accommodations needing to be made for me while in school; I never was really great at taking tests, and the very notion of having to take a test scared me. Albeit, the feeling often dissipated after about 30min or so; however, I recall this leading to recurrent failure. Nevertheless, once light was shed on this issue of mine, I was given the accommodation of extra-time. This extended time never allowed me to do any better than my peers (thus, I was never given a competitive advantage). However, the extended time did afford me the opportunity to relax and take the test at a more comfortable (less anxiety provoking)pace.
As an administrator and an instructor in the transportation industry, specifically CDL schools, the areas of disability, discrimination, and accommodations become even more complicated.
I have had students with various disabilities including seizure disorders, deaf, blind, PTSD, traumatic brain injury, dwarfism, loss of limb, and many others.
Basically, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSR) can win out over the ADA regulations. This is true in other areas as well, with applicable federal Department of Transportation laws pertaining to regulations of safetyâ€sensitive transportation employees – pilots, bus and truck drivers, train engineers, subway operators, aircraft maintenance personnel, transit fireâ€armed security personnel, ship captains, and pipeline emergency response personnel, among others.
In order to do the job my students are being trained to do, each driver (and student) has to be able to perform physically to specific standards. These students are required to pass a physical examination in accordance with the federal regulations, and this examination must be performed by a federally qualified and certified medical examiner.
Areas of examination include urinalysis (drug/alcohol and protein/blood/sugar), general health, vital signs, general appearance, hearing, sight, neurological, musculoskeletal, and limb impairment.
If a student can qualify for a DOT medical card, we are required to follow the ADA laws as would any other facility. However, if a student cannot qualify, the laws get a little trickier. A student could still qualify for a CDL, but only one where he does not leave the state he is licensed in while driving a commercial vehicle, and only if state safety regulations allow the license.
If an individual state has adopted the federal laws as state laws, and the individual cannot therefore qualify for the CDL, we cannot legally train him for the CDL since much of the training requires operation of the vehicle for which one must be qualified to operate.
I have had, however, with one facility I was involved with, students ask to attend the classes and receive the classroom portion of the training, despite their inability to receive the hands-on training of vehicle operation, and an inability therefore to qualify for a license or earn a course certificate. (They were allowed to receive the classroom training at that facility after requesting it.)
Is this fair? Should a facility allow enrollment to a student who cannot complete a course, cannot meet the qualifications to be certified in his field of study, and cannot be licensed to practice in his desired field? Or is it bad business to accept tuition from someone in this case?
What about other "otherwise qualified" people who are not disabled but need accommodations? Such as, a driver who is too short to reach the pedals of a company vehicle?
As an instructor and a Director in my day time employment it is not only required, but important to me that "everyone" is afforded the opportunity to access. I do by best to make sure barriers are kept at a minimal if any, but I have seen students and employees assume accommodations as a promise for success. I worked with several military veterans that have disabilities and explaining to them what "leveling the playing field" means at the start of our journey has worked well for me. Clarity of expectations in the beginning is the winning tool in this area for me.
I agree with this quote stating that all people should have access to the appropropriate tools required for equal access. From personal experience, I cannot think of a previous circumstance that violated or abused this right. Equality is the key.
Darien,
I agree. I think you have the right idea here.
Sarah Smoger
Tawnyn,
I am sure that your students appreciate your willingness to share your insight into the industry as well as the time and effort you put into them. Many times, a single instructor willing to go above and beyond for his/her students makes all the difference in how they approach further studies and the field.
Sarah Smoger
Jeremy,
This is a great example of how a simple accommodation can make a huge difference in a student being successful or not academically.
Sarah Smoger
Loleta,
I agree that this is a very important step in working with students as they begin their post-secondary education. It can be a struggle sometimes when we have a younger generation in which their experience in grade/high school has been any accommodation, modification, academic adjustment is made so that the student can find academic success-whatever that means. Many students are entering college feeling that any request for accommodation, specifically what was afforded to them previously, should apply regardless to their college experience, which isn't true. We spend a great deal of time educating new students (and usually their parents) about the differences between high school and college level course work. It's eye opening form them to say the least.
Sarah Smoger
Melanie,
This is a great post with great examples. Your questions are very interesting. I can only provide my opinion here, which is, if a student understands that the course they are taking will not meet the qualifications needed to be certified but makes the decision to proceed, then that's their choice (again, as long as the institution if truthful and providing full disclosure). Otherwise, we have a real ethical issue here, don't we? In the last case, some outside of the box thinking could be very beneficial to both the student and the institution, right?
Sarah Smoger
Is it wrong that I believe sometimes students manipulate their accommodations? I am a learning support specialist at a community college, and I proctor many tests in the name of "untimed testing" or "testing in a quiet area." Although I thoroughly believe these accommodations are necessary and warranted, I also question the authenticity of the need of students in specific situations. For example, my institution requires a major writing test to be administered in a one-hour timeframe, and the guidelines are quite stringent. I have proctored the test for those with accommodations and watched those students attend the test ill-prepared, leisurely draft and then rewrite the tested material, and take ample time to proofread the final draft. This in my opinion is facilitating "success" instead of "access." Out of concern for fairness, I took my concerns to my director, and together we decided that even "extended time" in such crucial instances should have its limitations. Am I wrong to be suspicious from time to time? I am certainly not a pessimist, and I help many students every day - but sometimes I feel like accommodations give some students a feeling of entitlement.
Crystal,
Interesting. I do think this probably happens from time to time, I think we'd be ignorant to think otherwise. However, I don't think there is any way to distinguish between those who are simply ill prepared and those who have a legitimate need. Obviously, if the student has provided appropriate documentation from an appropriate professional and has had testing done which indicates explicit functional limitations, the accommodation is most-likely warranted.
Sarah Smoger
If there is clarity in understanding the legal side of accommodations with the student, we are able to identify the difference. The access piece refers to the schools responsibility, while the success piece is a highlight leaning toward the student's responsibility.
