Addressing the Persistence and Retention of Students with Disabilities in Higher Education: Incorpor

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Addressing the Persistence and Retention of
Students with Disabilities in Higher Education
Incorporating Key Strategies and Supports on
Campus

• Elizabeth Evans Getzel
• Director, Postsecondary Education Initiatives
• Rehabilitation Research Training Center
• Virginia Commonwealth University

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Education Trends of Individuals with Disabilities

• Increasing enrollment of individuals with
  disabilities estimates range between 3 to 17
• Gap is closing between individuals with
  disabilities and those without disabilities
  completing high school
• Completion of some college coursework has dropped
  from 30 to 26 from 1986 until 2001.

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Education Trends for Individuals with Disabilities

• Completion of college has also declined from 19
  to 12.
• Yet, during this same time period, number of
  transition IEP goals stating college as a goal
  has increased.

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Postsecondary Education Settings

• Technical Schools
• Community Colleges
• Four Year Universities and Colleges
• Military
• Internships/Apprentices
• Business Training Programs
• Tonight we will be talking about 2 and 4 year
  universities and colleges

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Factors Contributing to Lack of Persistence

• Individuals with disabilities become potentially
  one of hundreds of students seeking services
• Differences in laws between IDEA and ADA.
• Individuals are responsible for managing their
  academic program and their accommodations.

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Factors Contributing to Lack of Persistence

• Financial aid opportunities or rehabilitation
  services based on number of credit hours per
  semester.
• Postsecondary environment less contact with
  professors, high student-instructor ratio, grades
  based on fewer tests that cover broader range of
  topics.
• Social and independent living demands.

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Impact of Postsecondary Education on Earning
Potential of Individuals with Disabilities

• Enhances obtaining maintaining employment
• Opportunity to earn higher annual income
• Creates path-way to life long independence
• Creates greater quality of life
• Shows stronger positive correlation between level
  of education rate of employment
• 90 of the fast-growing jobs require
  postsecondary education or training

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Key Services and Supports to Retention of College
Students with Disabilities

• Postsecondary Institutions
• Disability awareness
• Universal design strategies

• College Students
• Self-determination Skills
• Self-management skills
• Compensatory strategies
• Technology
• Internships or related experiences

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Student Self-Determination Skills

• Understanding how students disability impacts
  learning.
• Understanding how to discuss accommodation needs
  with college staff and instructors.
• Understanding how to locate resources on campus
  for all students and those specifically for
  students with disabilities.
• Knowing how to set goals and breaking down into
  manageable steps

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Student Self-Management Skills

• Time management
• Organizational skills
• Study skills

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Student Compensatory Strategies

• Learning how to adjust compensatory strategies to
  meet more demanding course work.
• Understanding how to implement proofreading
  strategies, color coding techniques, writing and
  reading skills.

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Student Technology

• Exposure, exposure, exposure!
• Understanding how technology can impact learning.
• Understanding how to use technology in everyday
  learning activities.

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Student Internships or Other Career Related
Experiences

• Understanding how accommodations used in college
  transfer to employment setting.
• Understanding the ADA and understanding
  self-disclosure process.
• Learning about careers and matching to strengths
  and interests.
• Learning how to network with professionals in the
  field.

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Postsecondary Setting Disability Awareness

• Need for professional development programs.
• Studies show need by teaching faculty and staff
  for
• Services available on campus
• Ethical issues (privacy)
• Learning characteristics of students with
  disabilities

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Postsecondary Setting Universal Design
Strategies

• Creating instructionally accessible environments
  on campus for learning
• Approaches for instructing all students through
• Use of technology tools
• Delivery of information or instruction using a
  variety of learning modalities
• Multiple approaches for evaluating knowledge
  obtained

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Future of College Students with Disabilities

• Research needed
• Effectiveness of program support models in higher
  education
• Effectiveness of universal design strategies in
  higher education
• Effectiveness of accommodations provided in
  higher education on student learning

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Contact Information

• Elizabeth E. Getzel
• lgetzel_at_vcu.edu