Collaborative Solutions for Complex Problems: Preventing Disability Complaints on Your Campus Eileen Connell Berger, Graduate School of Education, Harvard University Michael Berger, Simmons College Neal Lipsitz, College of the Holy Cross Sunday, March 4, 2018 Marriott Downtown, ROOM #305

Collaborative Solutions for Complex Problems: Preventing Disability Complaints on Your Campus Eileen Connell Berger, MS Ed.1, Neal E. Lipsitz, Ph.D. 2, Michael Berger Ph.D. 3 1 Harvard Graduate School of Education, 2 College of the Holy Cross, 3 Simmons College Abstract A novel approach is proposed to analyze and then navigate the complexities of providing disability services in academia using a case study method. This approach may lead to creative opportunities for disability services personnel in the context of an increasingly complex higher education environment. The analysis considers the roles and responsibilities of each major stakeholder involved in providing disability services: the student, parents/guardians, administrators, disability providers, and faculty. Additionally the roles and responsibilities of these stakeholders are viewed through various lenses: disability law, inclusion and socialization, life transitions, self-advocacy, stakeholder attitudes, academic rigor, individual differences, technology, and “new pedagogy.” While each student case is unique, the authors propose a general set of roles and responsibilities that provide the most effective outcomes with effective use of resources. An example of the analytic case study method is presented.

Background Case study methodology has been widely used for both research and teaching, especially in analyzing complex social systems. (Stake,1978; Flyvbjerg, 2006).   As a research tool, the case study has been employed for both quantitatively and qualitatively studies. As a teaching tool, the case study method has been used successfully in a variety of educational settings – such as law, business, social work, and health care as examples. While case studies may take a number of forms and can serve a number of purposes, they are all characterized by the detailed study of a particular “bounded system” (person, institution, event) and analyzed by a particular protocol for a particular purpose. For example, an “Instrumental case study” provides insight in an issue or refinement of theory, while the case itself is of secondary interest; while in contradistinction an “Intrinsic case study” focuses on a particular case because it is of particular interest. (Stake, 1994)

Background (continued) The college experiences of students with disabilities (SWD) provide an ideal opportunity for analysis using the case study method. Barber has used the case study method to conduct quantitative research on those factors that influence successful degree completions for SWD (Barber, 2012) in a number of colleges. The importance of SWD advocacy is described in an intrinsic case study at Syracuse University (Cory et al., 2010). These case studies identified a number of factors that significantly impacted the SWD college experience.   In this poster the authors propose a conceptual framework for a case study of SWD at the college level. The framework is based on various “lenses” through which different stakeholders involved in the student’s success view their role in the student’s college experience. Typical stakeholder roles and responsibilities have been identified for optimum efficient and effective delivery of services and student success. This framework is used as the basis for the analysis of a case study, with the goal of analyzing strengths and weaknesses of disability services delivery and institutional response, and degree of student success.

Analytical Framework

Analytical Framework (continued) The “Lenses”

Analytical Framework (continued)

References Barber, P. “College Students with Disabilities: What Factors Influence Successful Degree Completion? A Case Study”, Disability and Work Research Report, September 2012, http://www.heldrich.rutgers.edu/sites/default/files/content/College_Students_Disabilities_Report.pdf accessed July 4, 2014   Cory, R., White, J., Stuckey, Z., “Using Disability Studies Theory to Change Disability Services: A Case Study in Student Activism,” Journal of Postsecondary Education and Disability, Vol. 23, (1): 2010, 28-36. Flyvbjerg, B. "Five Misunderstandings about Case-study Research".  Qualitative Inquiry, 12(2), April 2006, 219-245. Stake, R.E. “Case Studies”, Handbook of Qualitative Research, N. Denzin and Y. Lincoln, ed. (1994) Chapter 14, 236 – 247. Stake, R.E. "The Case Study Method in Social Inquiry".  Educational Researcher, 7(2), February, 1978, 5-8.

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