Landmark College Presents:

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Landmark College Presents

• Transitioning to College with Learning Differences

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Landmark College

• The first college in the world to exclusively
  serve college students with learning differences
• Academic support embedded in the academic
  curricula
• Executive Function support embedded in the
  academic curricula
• Faculty are content experts as well as learning
  specialists

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Our Students

• Currently 47 of our students attend directly
  from high school
• 53 attend Landmark after disappointing academic
  results in college, mostly stemming from
  executive function issues

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Who is Struggling?

• Students from highly selective colleges
• Brown, CAL Berkley, Cornell, Occidental,
  Williams
• Generally have high skill levels
• Reading level, writing level, comprehension
• Strong SAT scores
• Strong high school transcript.

Why are they failing?
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Alarming Statistics

• Graduation rates for all students attending 4
  year degree granting institutions.
• All students 54.3
• Men 51.3 (49 of men are dropping out)
• Women 56.8
• July 2005 "Enrollment in Postsecondary
  Institutions, Fall 2003 Graduation Rates 1997
  2000 Cohorts NCES
• Graduation rates for students with disabilities.
• Only 28 of students with diagnosed disabilities
  who start post secondary programs complete the
  program.
• Pending - National Longitudinal Transition
  Study-2 (NLTS2) Lynn Newman, Ed.D. SRI
  International

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All LD students are at-risk

• 2007 Landmark College joint survey with
  Association of Higher Education and Disability.

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What Academic Skills Are Most Commonly Lacking?
2007 AHEAD Survey
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What profile of an LD/ADHD student is
unsuccessful? 2007 AHEAD Survey
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High School vs. College

• High School
• Parental Support
• Explicit Assignments and Consequences
• Smaller Assignments

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High School vs. College

• College
• Freedom
• Student Self-Schedules
• Larger Less Clearly Defined Projects

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The Five Foundations of College Success

• 1. Academic Skill
• 2. Self Understanding (Meta-cognition)
• 3. Self - Advocacy
• 4. Executive Function
• 5. Motivation and Confidence

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1. Academic Skill

• Important to test in the senior year
• The Nelson Denny
• The Woodcock Johnson
• The Gray Oral Reading
• Wechsler Individual Achievement Test

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2. Self Understanding (Meta-cognition)

• A students awareness and understanding of her or
  his learning profile
• Meet with psychologist for a thorough explanation
  of the implications of the testing
• Landmark - research project around testing
• Neuropsychologist works with advisors and
  professors

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The Experts Say

• If a student does not know what is in his or her
  IEP or 504 by grade 9, then there is a major
  problem.
• Dr.Ruth Bork, Director of Disability Services at
  Northeastern University (and the longest running
  college disability office in the U.S.)

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3. Self Advocacy

• Success often depends on how the student
  addresses struggle.
• Martin Seligman at UPENN
• 25 of students who qualify for services in
  college get them.
• NLTS-2

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Barriers to Self-Advocacy

• Learned helplessness
• Attribution style
• Institutional Resistance

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Parental Control

• Must prevent failure during the K-12
• May stunt self-advocacy skills

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Students Take the Lead

• Student is the point person for college searches
• Make inquiry calls, schedule interviews and keep
  track of applications
• Never do for the student what she or he can do
  independently Landmark core teaching principle

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4. Executive Function

• The cognitive process that regulates an
  individual's ability to organize thoughts and
  activities, prioritize tasks, manage time
  efficiently, and make decisions.

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Executive Function

• Does someone you know struggle with

Following a new routine?
Finding Support?
Deadlines?
Prioritizing?
Developing a routine?
Lack of inertia?
Procrastination?
Creating a high stress situation before finding
clarity?
Adjusting to a new environment?
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Executive Function Support

• New pathways for self-management, time-management
  and organization
• Master Notebook System
• Weekly planner system
• E-mail calendar system
• Advisor or a Coach
• ADD Coach can loan executive function and working
  memory
• Managing projects and the next actions

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5. Motivation and Confidence Visualize Success

• Would student rather be somewhere else
• working for a living, in a trade or technical
  school,
• pursuing dream, sailing around the world?
• Must believe in success
• Struggle against one's doubts and insecurities
• Self sabotaging behavior -- skipping classes,
  getting sick for finals.
• Success is antidote for doubt
• Need that first successful semester

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Coaching

• Visualize success
• Establish goals
• Create a plan
• Projects
• Next actions

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Assessment Guide

• Student and Parents evaluate the Five
  Foundations
• I. Academic Skill
• II. Self Understanding, (Meta-cognition)
• III. Self - Advocacy
• IV. Executive Function
• V. Motivation and Confidence

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College Support Structures (Often based on
Language LD)

• Accommodations only
• Accommodations and some skill building
• Structured learning support programs
• LD/ADHD exclusive colleges and postsecondary
  programs

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Describe the level of services provided for
LD/ADHD 2007 AHEAD Survey

• Accommodations Only   85.1     
• Assistive Technology   80.1    
• Structured Program   11.2   

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Who provides these services? 2007 AHEAD Survey

• LD/ADHD Specialists 3.6    
• Faculty   39.3    
• Peer Tutors   37.2  
•  
•  

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The Good News!

• LD/ADHD students are some of the most dynamic and
  creative students in higher education
• Diagnosed students who find the right support
  thrive

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Application Strategies

• Make an appointment to interview with Admissions,
  but also the Disability Coordinator
• Every college and university must have disability
  access because of ADA, but services vary
• Determining access vs. success - be realistic!

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Landmarks Unique Approach

• We help the students build self-advocacy skills
  and meta-cognition
• Perspectives in Learning course required for all
  LMC students
• Advising Model

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Landmark Addresses EF

• First year seminar designed to support EF
  difficulty
• Landmark explicitly teaches the college writing
  process
• Coaching and advising

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First Semester all students enroll in

• An English course focusing on developing reading,
  writing and organizing skills.
• A First Year course focusing on greater
  understanding of learning disabilities in a broad
  framework.
• Universal Design for all courses -- assistive
  technology support

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The Four Points of Entry

• Language Intensive Curriculum (LIC) for students
  with reading and writing skills at the elementary
  school level.
• Partial Credit for students with reading and
  writing skills at the 7-10 grade level.
• Credit for students who struggle primarily with
  Executive function issues.
• Transfer Program for students who have previous
  College experience and passed college-level
  English course.

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Student Distribution

• In Fall 2009, Landmark placed 238 new students in
  the following
• LIC 37 (15)
• Partial Credit 64 (27)
• Credit 121 (51)
• Transfer Program 16 (7)

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Landmark Degrees

• A.A. in General Studies
• A.A. in Liberal Arts
• A.A. in Business Studies
• A.A. in Business Administration

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Technology Rich Environment

• One-on-one and group training on all educational
  technologies in use at Landmark College.
• Assistive Technology support, research, and
  resources.
• Moodle system, Landmark Colleges online course
  tool.
• All course material is universally accessible to
  a text reader.

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Life On Campus
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What you should know about Landmark College
students

• 2008-2009 Academic Year
• Men 76 Women 24
• Average age 19.3
• Students come from 37 states and 12 other
  countries
• 47 are first-time college students
• 15 are minorities

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