“The world is shifting to an innovation economy and nobody does innovation better than America,” President Obama said yesterday in Osawatomie, Kan., as he laid out a vision for broad-based prosperity in America. The President said that education is the foundation for the prosperity – and our world-class colleges and universities will help build that foundation. “The things that have always been our strengths match up perfectly with the demands of the moment,” he said.
The President, in recalling the history of the United States noted that America’s success has been “about building a nation where we’re all better off,” he said. “We pull together. We pitch in. We do our part. We believe that hard work will pay off, that responsibility will be rewarded, and that our children will inherit a nation where those values live on.”
Secretary Duncan listens to students from Montgomery County Public Schools (Md.) and Project Eye-to-Eye based in New York State (Official Department of Education Photo by Paul Wood).
Having a disability should not stop any student from pursuing higher education. And through a unique program in Montgomery County, Md., high school students are proving that a disability is not an obstacle to a college education.
Several students from Project Eye-to-Eye recently visited ED as part of the Secretary’s monthly Student Voices series, where they joined Secretary Duncan and Assistant Secretary for Special Education and Rehabilitative Services, Alexa Posny, to discuss college equity and accessibility for students with disabilities.
During the meeting, the discussion kept coming back to inclusion in K-12 schools. Research shows that when students with disabilities attend the same courses as their peers, they will have a better chance of attending college.
At the college level, issues in educating students with disabilities are often different from those affecting K-12 education, and the instructional climate is changing. Taken together, these trends call for a systematic method of accommodating diverse learning needs at the postsecondary level, even though the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) does not apply to higher education.
“With reasonable accommodations, I have succeeded in college,” said Isaiah Walker a senior at Columbia University, who wants to continue higher education and pursue a law degree. “At times, it was as simple as having extended time to complete an exam or having the option to utilize assistive technology devices to take class lectures,” he said.
In many cases, providing an effective assistive technology tool is considered a reasonable accommodation. “As a student who has a visual impairment, providing screen magnification software has provided me access to my school’s library services and to computers for reading, writing, and research—skills that I am using throughout my college career,” another student shared.
In order to access and use technology tools effectively in college, students with disabilities must be adequately prepared in high school. A common theme voiced from all students sitting around the Secretary’s conference table—many with iPads and smartphones—is that teachers and professors need to be trained and encouraged to allow the use of technology, especially for students with diverse needs.
Technology is seen by students as a tool for inclusion. By helping them communicate with their peers and organize their thoughts, they are better equipped to enter the 21stcentury work environment. In order to compete on a global level, “Our nation needs to take a leadership role; we need a technological revolution,” Duncan remarked.
Sam Ryan, Associate for Regional and Youth Outreach.
Since the Student Voices meeting, ED has released a report from the Advisory Commission on Accessible Instructional Materials (AIM) in Postsecondary Education for Students with Disabilities. The report sets forth recommendations for the effective use of AIM at the postsecondary level. Click here to read the report.
View full sizeThe group that runs Dr. Martin Luther King Charter School in the Lower 9th Ward is poised to win approval for another K-8 campus. King Charter School sixth-graders were photographed on their way to the library on March 18.
