creating university - high school connections

Creating University/High School Connections Using Assistive

Technology for Students with Learning and Attention Challenges

Presenters

Mary Beth Foster & Rose WilhiteStrategic Learning Specialists Co-coordinators - SALT High School ConnectionUniversity of Arizona, SALT Center

Mary Hinson Faculty Univ. of Arizona, Special EducationConsultant, Curricular AccessFounder SALT High School Connection

Creating University/High School Connections for At-

Risk StudentsProgram Title: SALT High School Connection Program Objective: to prepare high school students for higher education through a partnership between a university and a high schoolPartners: the Univ. of Arizona SALT Center & Catalina H.S.

SALT (Strategic Alternative Learning Techniques), a university department providing learning support to students with learning and attention challenges

Catalina High School - an inner-city school with a high minority population, high failure and dropout rate

and a large special education population

SALT- Strategic Alternative Learning Techniques

- Established in 1980 - Offers support to students with learning & attention challenges - Currently provides services to over 550 students- SALT First Year Retention Rate = 90% vs. university wide rate of 77% - SALT Graduation Rate - 80% over five yrs vs. University wide rate of 57% over six years

SALT’s Features

Learning Specialists Writer’s Lab Workshops on Learning Skills Tutoring Assistive Technology Counseling

History of SALT High School Connection

Fall 2005 - Mary Hinson (Special Education teacher and job developer at Catalina High School in Tucson) approached the SALT Center with a vision to replicate the same support services with Special Education students at Catalina

Goals: To decrease a high failure rate To improve students’ use of study skills &

resources To encourage college as a post-secondary option

Failure Data 2005Catalina High School

9th graders - 68% failing 1 or more classes




Students Who Were Recruited 1st Year Had 1 or More of the Following Characteristics

Failing 3 or more classes Students who were ditching class

regularly Had a processing deficit in either or

reading or writing or both areas Were seniors who would benefit from

this technology

SALT High School Connection Program Offerings

Teacher In-Service: Teacher training in universal design strategies, attended by special education & general education teachers

Study Skills/ English Resource Class- SALT staff Presentations w/student mentoring: - Learning strategies- Organizational skills

Assistive Technology Training Shadow Days & SALT Tours

Assistive Technology ProgramsSoftware programs purchased through

educational awards: ing “Unsung Heroes Award” & “Kurzweil Teaching Excellence Award”

Kurzweil -- a text to speech software program Dragon Naturally Speaking -- a voice

recognition typing program Inspiration– a software tool for visual mapping

and organization

Student Evaluations of Program

Video assessmentStudents in Video: Angel, Jake, Zach,

& KevinSALT VISIT - Video Clip 1 What did the SALT Center do to assist

students at your school? Which events did you participate in? Study skills class? SALT tour? U of A SALT Shadow Day?

Which assistive technology programs have you used? How has this technology benefited you in your studies?

Assistive Technology for Reading

Kurzweil Reads text aloud (digital format or

scanned text) Dictionary & highlighting tools Study Notes Features Writing & Editing Features Implemented as an accommodation

on AIMS

Assistive Technology for Mind Mapping

Inspiration Provides visual organization Brainstorm feature Webbing Templates – for educators & students Converts web organization to outline

Dragon Naturally Speaking 9Speech Recognition Software

Talk n Type program Little training time Highly accurate Quick – up to 160 words per min.

Uses Brainstorming Writing Papers Writing emails & instant messages

SALT Presentations with Student Mentoring

College & SALT information sessions Classroom Presentations

- SALT Staff - Student mentors- Learning & Organization Strategies

Topics Presented

Reading Math strategies Essay writing Note-taking Test preparation Test taking Decision making &

Goal setting

Stress management Time management Organization Learning styles Using assistive

technology Admissions

procedures College transition

Student Evaluations of ProgramVideo assessment

Students in Video: Angel, Jake, Zach, & Kevin

Strategy Topics – Video Clip 2 Take a look at the list of topics presented by

SALT. SALT staff & students talked to you about strategies in reading, writing, test taking, math, avoiding procrastination, and time management. Which of these were the most helpful or relevant to your studies? Tell us how you have used one of these skills in your classes.

What would be a topic that you would like to know more about? Why?

Sample Topic from Time Management & Test Preparation

Study Plans

Breaking assignments & studying into chunks

Making studying intentional Planning with month or Semester

Calendars



AIMS Improvements – Video Clip 3

Have you seen any improvements in your grades or AIMS test scores? If so, what do you think has helped the most?

AIMS Gains Points Gain Rdg./ Score Points Gain Writing/

Score 1. +216 (448-664) +253 (413-666) (Falls FB-Approaches) (Approaches-Approaches)

2. +61 (623-684) +39 (615-664) (Falls Far Below-Meets) (Approaches-Approaches) 3. +170 (483-653) +116 (510-626) (Approaches-Approaches) (meets-Approaches) (3rd grade-10th grade scores) (3rd grade-10th grade

scores)

4. +131 (507-638) +112 (588-700) (Meets-Approaches) (meets-meets)

5. +204 (457-661) +110 (532-642) (Approaches-Approaches) (Meets-Approaches)

Points Gain Rdg./ Score Points Gain Writing/ Score

6. -1 (631-630) +56 (591-647) (Approaches-Approaches) (Falls FB-

Approaches)

7. +42 (642-684) +58 (642-700) (Approaches-Meets) (Approaches-Meets)

8. +283 (381-664) +253 (427-680) (Falls FB-Approaches) (Approaches-Meets)


10. +289 (402-691) +259 (358-617) (Falls FB-Meets) (Falls FB-Meets)


College Preparation

Info. Sessions: SALT & UA admission procedures

SALT Tours SALT Shadow Days

3 hosted, 1 per semesterHigh school students paired with SALT studentsAttended 2 U of A classesFollowed by a discussion of the differences between college & high school



College Bound – Video Clip 4 What did you think college was like before

SALT started visiting your school? Before this year, did you see yourself ever becoming a college student? Had you made any plans for college?

At this point, do you have any plans for going to college? Has this changed since the beginning of the year? What details about college life and academics have you learned from your experiences with SALT?

Student Success Stories 15 students participated in at least 1

component of program during ‘05 – ‘06 23 students participated in at least 1

component of program during ‘06 – ‘07 5 seniors in program during 2005 –

2006 All graduated on time All went on to pursue post-secondary

education

Student Successes

Significant decrease in absences Tremendous improvement in

academic many students went from failing multiple classes to passing all classes

Many students made the Honor Roll Increase in self-esteem/ decrease in

frustration

Future of SALT High School Connection

Program ongoing at Catalina High School

Shadow Days Staff Presentations with mentors Tours

Making the Connection

Questions Comments Ideas for creating similar programs in

your community