Practices and attitudes of postsecondary LD service providers in North America

The Transition to College for Students with Disabilities in New York State

This study assesses the services provided to students with disabilities in 30 postsecondary education institutions across New York State. The study determines the type and degree of assistance offered, and gauges how high school counselors could better serve college-bound students. Results indicated that while respondents urged high schools to encourage college-bound students to advocate for themselves, the most frequent types of service provided by colleges did not promote autonomy. Reasons for these findings are discussed and strategies for improving the school-to-college transition are suggested.

Using Speeded Cognitive, Reading, and Academic Measures to Determine the Need for Extended Test Time among University Students with Learning Disabilities

This study examined the relationship between scores on “speeded” cognitive and academic tests and the need for the accommodation of extended test time for normally achieving students (NA) and students with learning disabilities (LD). Often, in postsecondary settings the decision to provide the accommodation of extended test time is based largely on the diagnostic test scores in the student's LD documentation. Therefore, the primary purpose of this study was to evaluate the relationship between specific diagnostic tests and the need for the accommodation of extended test time. A secondary purpose was to investigate the relationships and predictive ability of five speeded cognitive tests, three speeded cluster scores, and two measures of timed reading. Correlations and logistic regression analyses were used to assess gain in score performance and predict the need for extended test time. Participants included 41 NA university students and 43 university students with LD. The findings indicated significant group differences on all speeded cognitive, reading, and academic tests, with the exception of Digit Symbol on the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-III and Retrieval Fluency and Decision Speed tests on the Woodcock-Johnson III Tests of Cognitive Abilities. The Reading Fluency test and the Academic Fluency cluster of the Woodcock-Johnson Tests of Achievement III were the best predictors of students with LD who needed extended time on the multiple-choice reading comprehension test.

Evaluation practices for college students with LD

To examine current practices in the use of psychoeducational evaluations for service delivery, we surveyed 91 service providers to college students with learning disabilities. The three purposes of the survey were to determine (a) whether service delivery decisions are based on information from psychoeducational evaluations, (b) which sections of the psychoeducational report are most useful in making service delivery decisions, and (c) the respondents' satisfaction with the tests and measurements for service delivery. The findings supported the common belief that data from psychoeducational evaluations serve as the primary basis for both eligibility and specific accommodation determinations. Respondents reported that all sections of the psychoeducational evaluation written report were useful, with the least useful section being test scores and the most useful being the summary of cognitive strengths and weaknesses. However, the section used most often for service delivery decisions was the professional's recommendations.

Self-determination in nursing students: an empirical investigation

The purpose of this descriptive study was to examine nursing students' perceptions of student self-determination in a Finnish health-care institute and to find out whether background data were in any way associated with these perceptions. To do this we developed a 56-item Students Self-Determination Questionnaire (SSDQ), which was completed by 435 nursing students. The results showed that self-determination is important for nursing students and that they are willing to exercise self-determination in their training. In practice, however, the students were not very active in this respect, nor did they feel that they were getting very much support from teaching staff. The meaning of self-determination increased with age and with increasing experience.