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Volume 15, Number 2
Spring 2002
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Assessing the Academic Competence of College
Students: Validation of a Self-Report Measure of Skills and Enablers
Stephen N. Elliott & James C. DiPerna
Abstract: This study investigated the criterion-related
validity of the Academic Competence Evaluation Scales-College (ACES-College),
a self-report measure of academic competence. A nationally representative
sample of 250 students attending two- and four-year colleges completed
the ACES-College and provided GPA information and their ACT or SAT
scores. A subsample of 31 of the students were self-identified as
having been formally classified with a learning disability. Students’
scores on the ACES provided evidence to partially support the prediction
that the ACES was moderately correlated with their GPAs and college
admission test scores. In addition, strong evidence was found in
the form of a significant MANOVA and classification analyses for
the prediction that ACES scores may be used to reliably differentiate
a large percentage of students with learning disabilities from students
without a disability. These findings provide good evidence for the
criterion-related validity of scores from the ACES-College. The
results are discussed in terms of previous research on the ACES
and the potential for the ACES to be used to facilitate assessment
and intervention services for college students experiencing learning
difficulties.
Opinions of Disability Service Directors
on Faculty Training: The Need, Content, Issues, Formats, Media,
and Activities
Charles L. Salzberg, Llyod Peterson, Christopher C. Debrand, Rebecca
J. Blair, Anna C. Carsey, and Alexis S. Johnson
Abstract: There is a growing need for colleges
and universities to provide training for faculty members about
students with disabilities. In this study, a representative sample
of 214 directors of disability service offices (DSOs) responded
to a survey that called for their opinions about various aspects
of faculty training programs. Specifically, they responded to
questions about the need for training, about the factors which
they believe lead to a successful training program, problems in
getting faculty to participate, concerns of faculty, the content
for a training program, the duration or length of training sessions,
the types of activities which should be included in training and
the best formats with which to deliver training. A detailed summary
of their responses is presented in the results along with some
discussion of key issues.
Generally, DSO directors are not satisfied with
their institutions’ current faculty training programs and
believe a far more substantial effort would be in order. They
note the difficulty in getting many faculty members to attend
training sessions, and the overwhelming majority recommended that,
as a practical matter, sessions need to be limited to one or two
hours. Participants had many consistent opinions about preferred
content, faculty concerns, and formats for training.
Multidimensional Disability Attitudes and
Equitable Evaluation of Educational Accommodations by College
Students Without Disabilities
Thomas D. Upton & Dennis C. Harper
Abstract: Disability attitudes can impact how
people with disabilities are perceived and responded to by college
peers both within and outside the classroom setting. This study
investigated specific and multidimensional disability attitudes
of college students without disabilities at a large midwestern
university. We assessed general attitudes toward college educational
accommodations, student perceptions of selected types of educational
accommodation for selected disabilities, and the relationship
of these variables to gender and level of college study. Survey
data gathered from 852 university students were analyzed to determine
their reported general disability attitudes and their view of
the provision of educational accommodations to their peers with
selected disabilities. Results indicated that college students’
general attitudes toward college educational accommodations varied
significantly across gender; more females than males reported
favorable attitudes toward providing classroom accommodations
to students with disabilities. Also, participants perceived selected
disabilities on a relatively stable continuum of “accommodation
deservedness.” Frequency of need for educational accommodation
and number of required accommodations quantified relative “accommodation
deservedness” across presented disabilities. Additionally,
student evaluation of selected types of classroom accommodations
varied significantly across both gender and year of college study.
Plausible explanations for differences based on gender, level
of college study, and accommodation deservedness are discussed.
Data-based implications for disability support professionals and
postsecondary institutions are suggested.
Book Review - The New Disability History:
American Perspectives.
Elaine Manglitz
Summary: This edited volume provides a look
at experiences of disabilities during the last two centuries and
begins to fill the historical gap that has existed on the subject.
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