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About CSCAE
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Reports from the Field Students with Learning Disabilities Eric Ingle said he has been down so low that there was nowhere to go but up. The tattoo sleeves on his arms tell of another time in his life, marked by hard living and hard labor. "My education's not been that great," he said. "I'm tired of living on the low level in society." At 32, with a wife, two small children and a body worn down by construction work, he was ready for a change. In October he enrolled at Winterstein Adult Center and this summer will try to pass the GED, after having dropped out of high school in the ninth grade. The San Juan Unified School District's Adult Education program helps thousands of people such as Mr. Ingle complete their educational goals. One segment of the population, however, remains under-served: adults with learning disabilities. Because San Juan's adult education program lacks the necessary funding to test for learning disabilities, these students miss out on approved testing accommodations and the specially-tailored curriculum they require in order to succeed. Vanessa Adolphson, a counselor at Winterstein, estimates that 20% of the school's population has a learning disability. The district's adult education program serves 20,000 students annually, and of the roughly 5,000 enrolled in high school completion or GED courses, 1,000 are suspected of having learning disabilities. But like Mr. Ingle, few have been officially diagnosed. Eric Ingle knew there was something different about the way he learned. He couldn't follow lectures or memorize formulas from the blackboard. But, he said, if he could write it, he could retain it. For years he struggled in school, falling farther behind until he gave up. "It hurt my self-esteem," he said. "It made me feel like a loser." Students often come to the program with no transcripts or testing data, said Linda Martin, the district's director of adult education. "We take them where they are and go from there," she said. Once enrolled, students are given placement tests to determine their math and reading levels, though the school neither screens nor tests for disabilities. They are then given a study plan based on their general test scores and are expected to complete exercises from a workbook. That method isn't always the most effective, said Angel Van Strate, a Natomas resident who has dyslexia and struggles with reading. The 20-year-old student said the reduced class size and individualized attention are helping her succeed despite her disabilities. Instructor Tom Brewer, who has taught at Winterstein for 20 years, suspects most of his students have learning disabilities, which helps explain their poor academic achievement and frustration. He said veteran teachers find it isn't difficult to spot certain learning disabilities; students transposing letters and numbers, not paying attention, being restless and not retaining information are warning signs. Despite an expertise based on years of "slugging it out in the field," Brewer said program instructors need to assess specific learning disabilities. A specialist also is needed to develop a plan of study for the students and tailor curriculum for teachers. But, Ms. Martin points out, adult education programs get half that funding elementary schools receive from the state for student attendance and can't afford such a diagnostic. She says it is a plight experienced by adult education programs statewide. Borne of this same frustration, Elk Grove's Adult and Community Education program applied for a $183,000 grant from the county Department of Human Assistance to launch a pilot program that tests for learning disabilities. The grant will pay for administrative costs associated with the test and a full-time psychologist trained in special education to interpret the test results. Ms. Martin says San Juan will be watching and learning from Elk Grove's program. In order to help teachers prepare for serving these students, CalPRO, the California staff development project, has developed and now offers a one-day workshop for identifying and serving students with learning disabilities. For more information about this training contact your local Regional Resource Center.
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