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The Landmark College Institute for Research and Training (LCIRT) was recently awarded a $149,994 grant from the National Science Foundation’s Advanced Technological Education (ATE) grant program for a two-year project entitled Improving Access to Technological Education Programs and Careers for Community College Students with Learning Disabilities (LD). To conduct the project, LCIRT will partner with the Community College of Allegheny County (Pittsburgh, PA); Lone Star College (Houston, TX); and Western Nevada College (Carson City, NV). The project is intended as a demonstration and proof of concept to increase the number and diversity of students who succeed in technological programs at community colleges. The goal of the project is to increase the number of students with LD who pursue and graduate from technological education programs and either continue their academic pursuit of four-year technological degrees, or gain employment as successful technology workforce employees.
Over the course of the two-year grant, the project team will conduct a series of needs assessments of community college technology programs and regional technology employers to develop a hybrid (in-person and online) professional development program to be pilot tested with instructors who teach required courses for technology programs at community colleges. The professional development program will incorporate evidence-based practices from the disability research literature, and best practices developed from over 20 years of experience serving students with LD at Landmark College. Best practices materials will cover a number of areas of struggle for students in technology-related courses, including math and science instruction, mastering complex vocabulary, study skills, and metacognitive strategies to help students assess their own understanding. Project materials will be made freely available upon conclusion of the grant award to postsecondary educators, technology employers, and others who work with struggling students and employees.
The principal investigator of the grant, Dr. Steve Fadden, Landmark College’s Vice President for Research and Institute Operations, states that the project “enables Landmark College to further demonstrate its value to the advanced technology education domain. Through this grant, we will be able to develop a professional development program to promote awareness and improve attitudes about students with learning differences in technology fields. Ultimately, we hope that this will lead to more accessible and engaging technology programs to promote student success in the technology workforce, and pursuit of advanced technology education programs.”
March 7, 2010: Landmark work with community colleges was featured in the Chronicle of Higher Education article on supporting students with learning disabilities "break into math and science."
For more information, please contact:
Landmark College Institute for Research and Training
PO Box 820
1 River Road South
Putney, VT 05346
(802) 387-1662
institute@landmark.edu
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