Luckily the student in question had not pursued all of the assistance JCC
could offer so we were able to respond with some suggestions of things
he/she might pursue before a waiver could be seriously considered. This
included taking our math courses with all of the extra help we could
provide such as tutoring, extra time taking tests, classes with extra class
periods or labs, etc. This student had not gone that avenue and had in fact
only taken an algebra course one time and a prealgebra course one time.
Part of the reasoning for this from other members at the meeting was that
he/she must demonstrate to us some proof of the disability. Also, the
psychologist who had done the testing had not stated that the student
should be given a waiver but instead that he/she may need extra time and
assistance to complete an algebra course. I also argued strongly that the
student could complete a different degree program than an AA degree which
would not have the heavy algebra requirement (some of our AAS degrees can
be completed with a business math course that has some algebra but not a
lot). However, I was told that while we can recommend that to the student,
we cannot turn down the waiver for that reason. According to their
knowledge, the law says that we have to make reasonable accomodations for
whatever degree the student is seeking. (I didn't ask how they would
respond to the student with a learning disability in reading wanting to
pursue a law degree.) It matters not whether the degree program they are
seeking is germaine to their job goal. (In this case, we have an AAS degree
that is better suited to this student's job goal than the AA degree.) I was
also disturbed because the student's job goal could be reached with a
vocational/certificate program that would require no math and is offered at
other schools in the Louisville area. Again, not relevant I am told.
There were several things that disturbed me about this whole scenario
(besides the entire idea!). One was the situation about the degree program
that I mentioned above and another was how it is determined that a person
has a math disability. It appears that the definition of learning disabled
in math is that they (appropriately liscenced psychologist) give you a
battery of tests and your score in the math arena (based on achievement not
inherent ability) is WAY below your other scores. While I'm not a
psychologist and not familiar with the battery of tests given, it seems to
me that there are many students for whom this scenario would fit. If that
is the case, we are going to be seeing A LOT of applications for waivers
from math requirements in the future. Our counselor agreed with me. She
also suggested that 4 year schools are ahead of us (2 year CC's) on this
issue and have already granted such waivers. Needless to say, that one
suprised me.
I left the meeting feeling safe for the moment but worried about what would
happen next. While I would like us to be fair to students who are truly
prevented from learning mathematics by factors beyond their control, I am
not sure we know enough about the brain to be conclusive about this and I
do see this as being used to further water down academics.
Sorry to be so long winded. Sandy
Sandy Spears
Jefferson Community College
Louisville, KY 40202
sspears@pop.jcc.uky.edu
502-584-0181, ext. 2269
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