Pathways to Trinity:The Disabled Student Journey – a new transition model

is emergingAlison Doyle, Declan Reilly, Declan Treanor

DS background

• The Disability Service currently supports 911 students with a disability with a retention rate of 93%; in addition 66% of graduands with a disability achieved a first class or upper second class degree last year;

• 346 student registered with the service in 2011-12;

• 240 students graduated in 2011-12;• Demographics – all countries represented

except Derry (51% Dublin);• International students – 11% with 16 countries

represented (UK 5%, USA 2%...)

Disability profile

• Breakdown by disability type differs from national data (Ahead 2011);

• Dyslexia (SpLD) 34% (60%);• Mental Health 17% (9%);• S O Illness 10% (10%)• Physical 10% (7%);• ADHD 7% (2%)• Asperger’s Syndrome 4% (2%)• Deaf/HH 4% (3%)• Blind/VD 2% (2%)

Shift from Reactive Model

Proactive Model

Pathway to College

Stage 1:Pre-entry, admission and the first year experience.

Pathway to College

Stage 1:Pre-entry, admission and the first year experience.

Pathway through College

Stage 2: Building and maintaining a college career.

Pathway through College

Stage 2: Building and maintaining a college career.

Pathway to employment

Stage 3: Transition to further study or employment

Pathway to employment

Stage 3: Transition to further study or employment

The Student Journey

Disability Service Outreach, Transition, Retention and Progression Plan 2011 – 2014

Policy context

National Policy – HEA Access Plan 2008-2013

TCD Strategic Plan - 2009-2014, TCD Access Plan 2009-13

The OECD (2011) final review of international policy and practice for students with disabilities engaging in higher education and / or employment activities post-secondary school.

• Promoting equity as a responsibility of educational institutions • Empowering second level students and schools to ensure

inclusion • Promoting an education system that focuses on every student’s

success • Making a move towards integrated transition systems

Stage I – Pre-entry & 1st year experience

Pathway to College

Stage 1:Pre-entry, admission and the first year experience.

Pathway to College

Stage 1:Pre-entry, admission and the first year experience.

Pathway through College

Stage 2: Building and maintaining a college career.

Pathway through College

Stage 2: Building and maintaining a college career.

Pathway to employment

Stage 3: Transition to further study or employment

Pathway to employment

Stage 3: Transition to further study or employment

The Student Journey

Disability Service Outreach, Transition, Retention and Progression Plan 2011 – 2014

Stage 1: Pathway to College

Disability 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012

Asperger's Syndrome / Autism

36 76 68 94 129

ADHD 40 107 70 114 148

Blind / VI 24 54 36 36 42

Deaf / HoH 67 110 70 77 68

Dyspraxia 32 74 88 143 151

Mental Health

49 115 89 129 206

Physical Disability

17 94 62 94 92

Significant Ongoing Illness

178 72 189 226 247

SpLD 1152 1560 1108 1197 1221

DARE applications 2008 - 2012

Pathways to Trinity: a modelled pre-entry and first year initiative to support disabled students in the process of

transition from school to college.

http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/assets/documents/what-works-student-retention/What_Works_Compendium_Effective_Practice.pdf

Pathways to Trinity (www.tcd.ie/pathways-to-trinity)

1) Act as a repository for information relevant to all aspects of the application and admissions process for students with disabilities.

2) Provide access to study skills and assistive technology resources which will facilitate a level of academic competency and confidence around transition into the first year of college.

2) identify issues related to transition from senior cycle education.

Respondents n = 71

Respondents n = 43

Respondents n = 1

Research

• Concurrent-transformative-triangulated-convergent Mixed Methodology.

• Equal quantitative and qualitative weighting.

• Merged results from two sequential phases.

Academic ‘readiness’

http://www.palgrave.com/skills4studycampustaster/An_introduction.html

Transition support workshops

Monthly workshops, Wednesday 2pm – 4pm, 6th year students and

parents October 2011 – May 2012.Opportunities to:

• Explore the nature of their own learning style,• Develop effective study skills,• Actively partake in planning their own transition to college,• Navigate through the Disability Access Route to Education (DARE) process,• Succeed during the exam period including effective use of reasonable accommodations, exam technique and stress management techniques.

Schedule September 2012

Date WorkshopWednesday 19th September 2012

Planning your transition to college. Subject choices in LC. Meet the Student’s Union Officers.

Wednesday 24th October 2012

Learning styles and using the SMART approach to study and revision http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SMART_criteria

Wednesday 21st November 2012

Organising your study time: pacing, planning and procrastination, goal setting. Individual study timetable for all subjects.

Wednesday 12th December 2012

Introduction to revision checklists. Using exam accommodations, answering the question paper effectively, understanding the marking schemes.

Wednesday 16th January 2013

Applying to DARE and the CAO. Choosing college courses.

Wednesday 4th April 2012

Exam stress, relaxation techniques, setting up an effective study environment.

Transition assessment and planning tool

https://blogs.tcd.ie/pathways-to-trinity/

Stage II – Retention and Progression

Pathway to College

Stage 1:Pre-entry, admission and the first year experience.

Pathway to College

Stage 1:Pre-entry, admission and the first year experience.

Pathway through College

Stage 2: Building and maintaining a college career.

Pathway through College

Stage 2: Building and maintaining a college career.

Pathway to employment

Stage 3: Transition to further study or employment

Pathway to employment

Stage 3: Transition to further study or employment

The Student Journey

Disability Service Outreach, Transition, Retention and Progression Plan 2011 – 2014

Stage 2: Pathway through College

Stage 2. Building and maintaining a college career … striking a balance

Declan Reilly

Support

Supports for students with disabilities are defined by

policies and practices which provide reasonableaccommodations at individual, course and

College level.

Independence

• Independence is defined as greater self autonomy in decisions which affect a student.

• Striking a balance between ‘providing support’

and ‘encouraging independence’ need not be a conflict of interests if the supports offered adjust to the student’s needs as they proceed through College.

Retention and Progression

Retention and progression are recognised as important outcome measures of higher education internationally (Tinto,1993), (Yorke,1999), (HESA, 2011), (Seidman,2012).

DS Policy over 10 years

• Responded to the needs of students over the short to medium term (up to 6 months).These practical supports were successful in assisting students and developing the service.

• But policy neglected problems prior to 3rd level, limited scope for independence and neglected issues of employment.

• New policy is to continue to provide supports to students with disabilities but develop new initiatives in line with the 3 stages of transition into, through and from TCD.

Retention in TCD

The retention rate of students in TCD is 85% annually.

The retention rate of students with a disability in TCD is

93%.

Overall, more students withdraw from College after attempting to repeat JF year than withdraw during their first year!

www.tcd.ie/vpcao/council/senior-lecturer-reports.php

Persistence and disability

• Students with mental health difficulties or who are Deaf or hard of hearing are most likely to withdraw. Students with ADHD, DCD or who are blind or visually impaired are least likely to withdraw.

• 9.5% of students with disabilities are international students compared to 21.5% of the general student population in TCD.

• Students with disabilities from the US are more likely to withdraw than students with disabilities from the UK by a ratio of 7 to 1

Grade comparison

• Students with disabilities in TCD are less likely to achieve a 1st or 2.1 exam result and more likely to achieve a 2.2 or pass.

• Reasons: supports are more sought after by students who are at risk of failing and the facility to repeat on medical grounds is more likely to be taken up by students with disabilities

In common with other HEIs*…

• Students are more likely to leave in their first year.*

• Students with disabilities are more likely to take longer to graduate.*

• Students with disabilities are more likely to graduate than their non disabled peers.

*Students with Disabilities Tracking Report – 2005 intake

Students with disabilities in

TCD...

• ..have a higher rate of retention and course completion than their peers.

• ..with a mental health difficulty have the highest risk of withdrawing.

• ..are more likely to take longer to complete their degree.

• ..are more likely to attain grades of 1 and 2.1 in proportionately lower numbers than their peers.

Develop new systems

• Early identification: pathways website, DARE, needs assessment.

• Identify ‘at risk’ students based on previous students in TCD with difficulties.

• Work with other areas in TCD to enhance current supports.

• Develop new systems to reflect new DS strategies. • Self assessment system to alert students to seek

support.• Improved data management to enable greater student

autonomy i.e. Student ownership of supports. • Anticipate needs as students progress. • Academic skills modules.

Stage III – T2E

Pathway to College

Stage 1:Pre-entry, admission and the first year experience.

Pathway to College

Stage 1:Pre-entry, admission and the first year experience.

Pathway through College

Stage 2: Building and maintaining a college career.

Pathway through College

Stage 2: Building and maintaining a college career.

Pathway to employment

Stage 3: Transition to further study or employment

Pathway to employment

Stage 3: Transition to further study or employment

The Student Journey

Disability Service Outreach, Transition, Retention and Progression Plan 2011 – 2014

Stage 3: Pathway into employment

Aims

1. To investigate the experiences of disabled students in transitioning into employment.

2. To evaluate the transition to employment tool and determine if it will work in a university to employment setting. 3. To critique employer issues in the employment of disabled graduates and determine national policy issues required to allow for greater employment opportunities. 

Lack of data

• HEA First Destination Report (FDR) does not ask any specific disability questions;

• Data is gathered in different ways amongst the few HEIs that do so;

• UCC, UL & TCD: ‘Were you a student with support requirements (for example disability)’. Yes/No response choice.

FDR 2010 TCD

• Total completed 1, 743 (59%). • 85 (2.9%) were disabled graduates. • Of this group:

– 29% did not respond– 39% were in employment– 25% were in further study– 2% were not available for work– 5% were seeking employment

• Graduates with disabilities more likely to go into employment (55% against 42% of total final year cohort) but less likely to go into further study (35% against 49% of total final year cohort); 

• There is a slight difference in unemployment rate, with 7% of graduates with disabilities seeking employment compared to 5% of total final year cohort.

EU – Leonardo Project

Project aims

Develop an employment support and guidance assessment tool for students with disabilities which combines success in higher education and access to employment.

Student Employment

NeedsFitness to Practice

Dealing With Disclosure

Application Preparation

•Cover Letters

•CV Preparation

Interview Preparation and Skills

Identifying Potential Employers

Reasonable Accommodations and Information on Funding

Key Employment Needs

Success of Project to Date

• Employment Offers

TCD UCCMentoring Phase/Undecided 2 2

Job Offer 11  9

Internship 2

Total 15  11

Proactive structure: strategic plan

Pathway to College

Stage 1:Pre-entry, admission and the first year experience.

Pathway to College

Stage 1:Pre-entry, admission and the first year experience.

Pathway through College

Stage 2: Building and maintaining a college career.

Pathway through College

Stage 2: Building and maintaining a college career.

Pathway to employment

Stage 3: Transition to further study or employment

Pathway to employment

Stage 3: Transition to further study or employment

The Student Journey

Implement – Review - Develop

• Paper and presentation downloadable at:

• http://www.tcd.ie/disability/banner/Links/Conf-papers.php