Prevalence of Students with Disabilities in Adult Education & Literacy

Hi group members,

As we begin to look at the population of students with all disabilities in adult education and literacy, it would be important to look at the size of that population.  For that reason, I am asking two different questions for your consideration.

1) What research/reports/articles have you read that provide good statistics on the numbers of students with disabilities attending adult education/literacy?  I would like to keep data that relates to colleges and universities separate from those that pertain to adult basic and secondary.  When responding, please include the URL, publication date, and any other information about the data you share.

2) How would you describe this population in your specific program, or -  at the local level, or even for your state.

Thanks, in advance, for those who jump in to this conversation.

Rochelle Kenyon, Subject Matter Expert
Disabilities in Adult Education group

Comments

Interesting, Rochelle, I was looking for that kind of information recently for a project I was working on. I was looking specifically for informaiton on learning disabilities and could only find references to the late 90's. I'm wondering if there is a way to find out what is being reported through the National Reporting System?

Kaye

Hi, Kaye and Rochelle,

Here are a few fairly recent links that may help with your question - it's an important one. While we have plenty of estimates, the national prevalence of disabilities is hard to pinpoint. From the National Assessment of Adult Literacy (NAAL) 21% of adults with below-basic literacy scores had disabilites (Kutner et al., 2005). More recently, Mellard, Patterson, & Prewett (2007) estimated between 50 and 80% of adults in adult education programs may have special learning needs (http://kuscholarworks.ku.edu/dspace/bitstream/1808/6164/1/Mellard%20Patterson%20Prewett%202007%20KU%20Scholarworks.pdf). At the program level, Tamassia, Lennon, Yamamoto, & Kirsch (2007) reported 62% of adult education programs serve adults with sensory disabilities and 89% serve those with learning disabilities (http://www.ets.org/Media/Research/pdf/ETSLITERACY_AEPS_Report.pdf). A 2008 KET article on a study of 4,500 adult learners in 13 states (http://www.powerpath.com/pdf/KET_PP_only_4-08.pdf) indicated widespread visual stress syndrome (90%), attention difficulties (78%), and diagnosed learning disabilities (40%). 

The 2012 National Research Council report on improving adult literacy instruction that just came out (http://books.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=13242) also has a section on disabilities in adult education. It pointed out that data on disabilities prevalence are not collected consistently on a national basis. The National Reporting System does require reporting the number of adult learners with disabilities, but I understand reporting learners with LD is optional. And of course, NRS collects data from AEFLA funded programs, so there are probablyeven more learners in volunteer programs and locally funded programs than are being reported in NRS.

A question for the list: how reliably is prevalence reported in your state? Do you collect data on how many adults report learning disabilities?

Margaret

Yes, thank you so much Margaret, this is really good information!

In reference to how the NRS collects data, I have the following information to share:

1) The NRS recently changed how it collects data on students with learning diabilities.  Previously, this information was *required*, but was allowed to be based on "student report."  This mean that if the student checked the box on an intake form or stated that they had LD, or had documentation they shared regarding diagnosed LD, it should have been reported to the NRS. Also, a clear definition of 'learning disability' was not given in these guidelines.  I beleive this was true up until  July 1, 2012. [I'm away from my old copy of the NRS guidelines today, so please take this as 'likely accurate info.']

2) Current guidelines state that collecting data on students with LD is now optional.  The new guidelines contain the following instructions:

http://www.nrsonline.org/reference/index.html?chapter=2&section=6&topic=1&subtopic=0

The following five optional student status measures target special populations identified under WIA. Information should be obtained through observation, learner self-report, or appropriate documentation on whether any status applies to learners.

http://www.nrsonline.org/reference/index.html?chapter=2&section=6&topic=1&subtopic=5

Secondary Student Status Measure #5: Learning-Disabled Adult

Definition: Learner with an IQ in the low-average and above level (70+ to any level) who has deficits (related to neurological impairments) in capacity in defined limited learning areas; this can include dyslexia (reading disability), dysgraphia (writing disability), and dyscalculia
(math disability). The learner also has a history of previous educational efforts.

 

So while the definition of an adult with LD is much more specific/clear, it seems like "learner self-report" and observation are still acceptable methods of obtaining this information (as opposed to requiring evidence of a diagnosis).  Also note, that "pre-literate" and "non literate" learners cannot be reported as having a learning disability, as they have no "history of previous educational efforts." (at least I think that is what that means...or does it mean history of previous educational efforts to address their LD?)

I think this means we will see LESS reporting of LD from states via the NRS.  Previous state data sent to the NRS, however,  should contain numbers from every state re: adults with LD.  How accurate those number are (and will continue to be), however is ALSO highly questionsable, as the collection method continues to include "student self-report" as an acceptable measure.

[Note that I have *opinions* about "definitions of LD" and labeling, etc. that I'm not wanting to get into here.]

All that said, to answer your question, Tennessee has data from 2003 - 2012 on the number of adult education students who "self-reported" a learning disability at intake, or at any time during their work with the adult education program - assuming the program was funded by OVAE and required to report to the NRS. (Again, with varying degrees of reliability - based on how consistant programs were in collecting and entering the data, as always.) Tennessee, of course has a number of community based organizations that are not NRS funded, for which we have no data.

Hmmm, and as far as I know, TN has never done anything with their LD data.  Even with all the 'fuzziness' of the data, I wonder what our percentages are, especially our percentages per intake NRS functioning level?  DANG, now I have to either go do the data analysis, or have that question bugging me all the time...

Duren Thompson
Center for Literacy, Education and Employment
University of Tennessee, Knoxville
www.clee.utk.edu


 

 

 

 

 

Hi Duren,

What good information you have shared with us!  I was not aware of the NRS reporting guidelines.  I am very surprised to hear how it collects data on students with learning diabilities.  Self-report and observation are highly questionable and are not accepted even for accommodations. It makes me wonder why they even bother.  Less reporting from the states means the real impact of LD in adult education and literacy classes will go unnoticed.

I will be waiting to hear what additional data you can share with us.

By the way, I have taken your comment from above (Note that I have *opinions* about "definitions of LD" and labeling, etc. that I'm not wanting to get into here.) and started a new discussion thread with that subject line on the main page of our Disabilities in Adult Education group.  I invite you to share your opinions about LD definitions and labeling by replying to that thread.  It was a very well debated topic on the LD Discussion List.  It should begin an interesting new thread.

Thanks so much for your valuable contributions.

Rochelle Kenyon, SME