CT AHEAD

Contents

Membership Meeting Minutes

Date: February 14, 2003
Location: Central Connecticut State University - Marcus White Living Room
Chair: John Jarvis

2002 - 2003 Executive Board
President: John Jarvis
Vice President: Jill Angotta
Secretary: Carol Young
Treasurer: Barbara MacKay

Treasury Report

Barbara MacKay reported that the current balance of the budget is $1678.67, which is held in a CT AHEAD account at Banknorth.
Twenty-four colleges, thirteen of which are private, have participated in membership this year.
Members who have not yet done so, are encouraged to forward their 2002-2003 membership form (attached) and dues to Barbara MacKay as soon as possible.

Business Meeting/News

Update on the Proposed Interagency Agreement: Although John Jarvis has been actively pursuing the resolution of this matter, it seems that the document has been stalled at the Commissioner’s Office as a result of the current budget crisis. John will attempt to set up a meeting with the appropriate parties in March to generate a renewed interest in seeing this to a resolution.
Download the proposed interagency agreement
Review of Association Bylaws: Carol Young presented a revised draft of the Association Bylaws for discussion and review. Donna Korbel provided an invaluable, historical perspective on the bylaws. Members present agreed on various revisions, and Carol will prepare a second draft for the April 11, 2003 meeting. It will then be voted upon by the membership. Additional feedback is welcomed and can be directed to Carol at youngc@ccsu.edu. In preparation for the vote, please see the attachment entitled, CT AHEAD Bylaws for the latest version.

Presentation: “Accommodation Dilemmas and High Stakes Testing”

Loring Brinckerhoff, the Director of the Office of Disability Policy at Educational Testing Service (ETS), and a disability and education consultant to Recording for the Blind & Dyslexic (RFB&D), Harvard Medical School, and Stanford University. Loring also directed the Learning Disabilities Support Services Office at Boston University for five years. The Accommodation Dilemmas and High Stakes Testing workshop covered a variety of issues and challenges that relate to high stakes testing including separating out disability-related ADA mandated accommodations from accommodations that are actually compensatory strategies that would benefit any student, determining when disability documentation is insufficient, and deciding when accommodations may be too sweeping given the context or course the student is being tested in. His handout, a PowerPoint document entitled, Brinckerhoff – Disability vs. Strategy, is attached. Also, ETS policy statements that were provided to members present can be downloaded from the ETS website at http://www.ets.org/disability/index.html.

Important reminders to all members:

Steering committee meetings are held immediately after every membership meeting. The executive board encourages all interested CT AHEAD members to join in on discussions around meeting outcomes and planning for the future.
Carol Young is compiling a current list of member’s e-mail addresses. Please be sure to notify her if you are not receiving emails or if your email address has changed. Forward concerns or changes to Carol at youngc@ccsu.edu.
The following is the meeting and presentation schedule for the remainder of the 2002-2003 academic year: Friday, April 11, 2003: Asperger Syndrome, Jane Thierfeld Brown, Ed.D. The meeting is scheduled for 8:45 – 12:15 PM at Central Connecticut State University, Marcus White Living Room.

In attendance: Linda Copney-Okeke, Rick Culliton, Lauri DiGalbo, Susan Duques, Deborah Frattini, John Jarvis, Donna Korbel, Lynn Langella, Jennifer Lucia, Barbara MacKay, Joseph Madaus, Mark Myers, Toni Page, Teresa Russo DeMars, Sharon Ruvane, David Ryan-Soderlund, Sherilyn Scully, Karen Stigliano, Wesley Thorne, Carol Young