SDS: Prepare Students for College Early, Disability Experts Say

There are differences in how students with disabilities are treated at the K-12 and postsecondary level. It is important that professionals who work with these students in high school, the students themselves, and their parents understand these differences so that when students transition to college they will understand their rights and responsibilities and have a better chance at adapting to the college environment, said two speakers at a Thompson Publishers Groups audioconference.

While K-12 schools are subject to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, as well as the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), postsecondary institutions are not subject to the IDEA. The IDEA is an entitlement statue. It is about a free, appropriate public education, or the hope for success, said Jane Jarrow, the head of Disability Access Information and Support.

On the other hand, Section 504 and the ADA are about equal access, or the opportunity to compete. This is a critical distinction and one that often confuses both disability student services (DSS) personnel and K-12 special education personnel, said Kathy Hoffman, who provides services to students with disabilities at Erie Community College.

Section 504 and the ADA are civil rights laws to prevent discrimination. They apply in any setting (Section 504 only when an organization receives federal funding). Although Section 504 also applies in the K-12 setting, it has a slightly different meaning than it does in postsecondary education, where the emphasis is on equal opportunity to compete, not on succeeding or the provision of a free, appropriate public education.

In postsecondary education, the definition of disability is different than it is in K-12 education, the speakers said. The IDEA lists specific categories of disability, but under Section 504 and the ADA, disability is defined only as a significant limitation to a major life function. There may be times when a student eligible for special education services in a K-12 setting will not be eligible for disability services in a postsecondary setting and times when a student who needs services in a postsecondary setting would not receive special education in a K-12 setting.

For example, students with behavioral problems that cause learning disabilities might be eligible for special education in K-12 but might not have disability services or accommodations in postsecondary education. Students in wheelchairs could be recognized as having a disability in a postsecondary institution and eligible for accommodations – even if they never received special education in their K-12 schooling because they did not need it.

Students must be eligible for disability services under Section 504 and the ADA. They must be otherwise qualified for the educational program and meet eligibility standards for disability assistance. The laws in the postsecondary setting are about access, not about success, the speakers said.

Areas of Confusion

Because the IDEA is an entitlement statue, K-12 school districts must identify children with disabilities and provide appropriate services to help them achieve a free appropriate public education. But at the postsecondary level, students must self-identify to receive services. Many parents and students do not realize this and expect the postsecondary institution to come to them, or to provide an individualized education program like the one the student had in high school. This is not going to happen, Jarrow said, and the expectation that it will often is a source of disappointment for students entering college, and for their parents.

Another area of confusion is documentation. At the K-12 level, the school may provide evaluations and documentation for the student. If it is obvious that a student has a disability, the documentation the school uses to qualify the student for services may not be current. For example, a dyslexic child who obviously cannot read without assistance might have an IEP throughout her K-12 schooling with only an evaluation and the accompanying documentation in the second grade. At the postsecondary level, documentation needs to be current because the student must prove that she has a significant limitation to a major life activity to qualify for disability student services.

A student diagnosed as dyslexic in the second grade who never had another evaluation may have learned coping strategies that will make her ineligible for services at the postsecondary level. Documentation that she still has a significant limitation to a major life function needs to be current for her to receive consideration for disability services. Most schools do not provide the evaluation or testing that will result in that documentation. This is the responsibility of the student, Jarrow said.

Hoffman said that parents who expect classes or class requirements for their child to be waived at the college level because they are waived at the high school level are in for an unpleasant surprise.

This happens, for example, when the student or parents request that math class be waived. Often, Hoffman said, this is for a student who wants to major in architecture or business, where math classes are an essential element of the program.

DSS professionals sometimes will criticize the K-12 school system for being too easy on the student and not requiring courses or skills the student will need to succeed in college. But DSS professional have to remember that K-12 institutions have a different mission – to try to give the student tools for success. DSS professionals should not be focused on success, but rather on access to compete, Jarrow said.

Both K-12 and DSS have a responsibility to help the student who will transition to college. DSS can perform outreach to K-12 to show students, parents, and teachers just how different the educational environments are. One excellent way to do this, Hoffman said, is to have students who are in college go back to their school or school district to talk about how different the college environment is and help prepare students in high school for the transition to college.

Although the IDEA does not mandate that transition plans inform the student about the different environment in postsecondary settings, it is desirable that both parents and students start preparing fairly early in a student’s high school years for what will happen in college.

Students who may not have had to advocate for themselves in a K-12 setting will have to in college. Students who had personal services such as aides in elementary and high school may have to use technological solutions instead in college. If they encounter these solutions for the first time when they are away at school on a college campus, they will have a harder time adapting.

A better strategy is to make sure students are familiar with the types of accommodations they might need before they begin living on a college campus.