Leveling The Playing Field
This is a very interesting question and I believe it is an area that may complicate creating and completing accomadations since the focus can get diverted to guaranteeing success as opposed to facilitating access.
"Accommodations are assigned to facilitate access, not success." How does this quote compare with your experience in providing accommodations to students with disabilities?
Zachary,
That's what it's all about. Giving the opportunity to succeed, not guaranteeing that it will happen.
Dr. Jane Jarrow
This is a great statement that states that the accommodations are in place to help the student succeed but they do not guarantee success. The student still has to utilize the opportunities are work hard to achieve their goals. I think this is the correct approach.
Paul,
Almost! The accommodations provide an equal opportunity to demonstrate their abilities and be successful. It is the chance to try, not the success itself, that is the goal.
Dr. Jane Jarrow
Patricia,
You can't promise equal success, only an equal opportunity to be successful on their own.
Dr. Jane Jarrow
Paul,
You've gotten to the key at the end -- students with disabilities are more LIKE every other student than they are different.
Dr. Jane Jarrow
In my experience students with disabilities are not granted accomodations to give them any special advantage. Instead they simply provide students with equal opportunity for success.
It is very important for professional educators to be fair and frank with their students. Obviously, we want all of our students to be successful in their academic endeavors, but the reality is that there will inevitably be students who are unsuccessful, despite our best efforts and intentions. If the degree of success is impacted by a legitimate disability, accomodations are necessary. However, there may be variables that cause students with disabilities to be unsuccessful; and sometimes the variables are not related to the disability or the accomodations.
In my experience with students who have disabilities, I have found that in general, these individuals are no different from the rest of the student population in that some are successful; some are not.
Give them the tools to succeed equally with others, don't enable them. Be a helpmate, don't do it for them.
Patrick,
"...that equal opportunity does not equate to equal outcome." YES, YES, YES! And there is another piece that precedes it -- "equal treatment does not equate to equal opportunity!" Treating everyone the same does not mean that everyone has the same chance. And giving everyone the same chance doesn't guarnatee that all will have the same result, and that's OK! And THAT is what the laws are all about!
Dr. Jane Jarrow
I cannot speak from experience in order to competently answer this question. A very vocal part of me would also say "knock on wood" as a follow-up to that previous statement!
But all kidding aside, this is a statement that makes all kind of sense. Part of the challenge, after all, is to help somebody with a disability make sure they can access the instruction/information/teaching that they need to get educated and to advance in the curriculum, if not in life, but by that same token, they still have to earn it like everybody else.
The idea of equal access is, if one thinks about it, a variation on the broader theme/concept of equal opportunity. One thing that stuck in my mind regarding the "accommodations are assigned to facilitate access, no success" mantra is an important rule I have lone held, that equal opportunity does not equate to equal outcome.
Margaret,
You are right, and that is an important distinction. Tutoring is, by definition, a success oriented strategy. There is nothing in 504/ADA that prohibits the institution in providing success-oriented services to all students, disabled or not. But that isn't provided because of their disability, but because they are students.
Dr. Jane Jarrow
William,
I would have to disagree. It IS about leveling the playing field. Special Education laws that govern the K-12 system often require that the school make significant changes to curriculum or expectations -- to make more opportunities -- for children with disabilities. That is not what our laws are all about. Our laws focus on more access to the SAME opportunities that everyone else has.
Dr. Jane Jarrow
This explains the difference between access and success. This difference is invaluable for anyone attempting to interpret the law.
I am not aware of how accomodations for disabilities are made at this college, but we do have tutoring for all those requesting it. However this addresses success rather than access.
I have no questions to ask at the present time.
Thanks,
Mark Carlisle
i feel its not about "leveling the playing field" i feel like it giving more opportunities where there might not have been any.. we don't choose to have disabilities.. however, we can choose to consider others and how we can give the same opportunities to them..
Theresa,
It is likely that there ARE students who are not equipped to handle the medical field. And it is likely that not all of those who fit that description are students with disabilities. You say that you assist them by providing appropriate accommodations. Either you think all students who struggle have disabilities, or you think you owe more to students with disabilities who make poor career decisions than you do to nondisabled students. Neither is a good assumption.
Dr. Jane Jarrow
Some of the student who are enrolled in the school where I work are not equipped to handle the medical field. Personnaly I believe that we are setting them up to fail. We do keep trying to assist them as most appropriate accomidations.
Dr. Farrow,
Yes, but one of the points I was making is that, once people see what people with disabilities can do, they may not be as dismissive of their capabilities. After all, how often do you see blind folks skiing at 70 mph or wheel chair bound people playing ice hockey on sleds. So it is not a stretch for me to think that people with disabilities can be successful in many more endeavors than would have been supposed just a few years ago.
