Ten Years of Progress: Responding to Special Education Legislation and Students with Disabilities in the Virginia Community College System

Joseph Robert DiFulgo

Johnson Center, E
November 03, 2004, 07:00 PM to 07:00 PM

Abstract:

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the progress and response of the twenty-three colleges within the Virginia Community College System (VCCS) to Special Education Legislation in the areas of accommodating and servicing students with disabilities in the last decade. By exploring this field, the researcher investigated how counselors and faculty are servicing these students and how possible new strategies and solutions can be consolidated and developed in the future. The method used in the research was that of a case study. Four questions were posed regarding the knowledge of laws and the needs of students with disabilities, availabilities of programs / services, and identification of strategies to better serve the needs of students with disabilities in a learning environment and through the students' support services. The database for the analysis derived from an in-depth review of the available literature related to each question and from responses from a program questionnaire sent to the presidents of all twenty-three colleges in the VCCS in March 2004. On the basis of the data analysis and the literature review, a number of conclusions were reached. First, there has been a significantly increased interest in addressing the needs of college students with disabilities in the past decade. Second, programs and services for college students with disabilities have significantly increased in the past decade. Third, colleges are making greater efforts to ensure that all educational programs and services offered to non-disabled students are also offered to students with disabilities affording them equal opportunity to attain the same levels of achievement in the most integrated situation. Fourth, there is an ongoing need for further qualitative and quantitative research, and for demographic studies concerning students with disabilities attending VCCS. Finally, there is an exigency for more research on accommodations, services, and the level of support given to students with disabilities relative to the disability they possess, and to distinguish between learning disabilities and other physical and mental disabilities