Curricular Universal Design: Creating Accessible Writing Assignments for Students with Disabilities College of Staten Island Center for Student Accessibility Division of Student Affairs Christopher Cruz Cullari, Director

Today The Center for Student Accessibility About the College The Collaboration The Research Guide for Faculty Students Discussion

Center for Student Accessibility Over 600 students 70% diagnosed learning disability 15% psychological/ psychiatric disability 15% all other disability types

Center for Student Accessibility Some of what we do includes: Facilitate Accommodations  Testing  Interpreting/ CART services  Other Advisement Resource for Faculty Strategic Tutoring Technology Training First Year Connections Program Special Initiatives

College of Staten Island City University of New York CSI: 14,000 students 3000 first year students 20% have developmental education needs CUNY 540,000 students 270,000 matriculated 24 Institutions Largest urban system Third largest system overall

The Collaboration WAC Program Award 2010 and 2011 Recipient  Faculty mini-guidebook  Faculty workshops  Tutor workshops  Student handbook  Student workshops  Campaign

Overview: The Research Points of intersection: Developmental writing, disability studies, literacy education, psycho-educational research

Overview: The Research Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing: Literacy development Learning Disabilities Research  Science and understanding  Compromised holistic literacy dynamic  Pedagogy  Learning strategies

References and Resources AHEAD  Association on Higher Education and Disability Journal of Learning Disabilities Reading Research Quarterly NCTE  Committee on College Composition and Communication

Three Interwoven Processes Faculty development and mini-guidebook Tutor training Student workshops and handbook

Faculty Guide: The Process What the data told us Meetings with students, faculty, and tutors. Research Drafting

Suggestion 1 Give both written and verbal instructions.

Suggestion 2 Ask students to paraphrase the writing prompt/assignment and related instructions as a class activity.

Suggestion 3 Let students know from the beginning how their work will be graded, and consider the use of rubrics.

Suggestion 4 Show models of finished assignments when giving the initial instructions.

Suggestion 5 Break longer assignments like research papers into small, graded parts.

Plus 1 Consider reading strategies for reading assignments. Better reading will improve the quality of the writing.

What Faculty Say In their own words Video

What Our Students Say “It would be great to see different kinds of teaching methods.” “I would like to do more on my own regardless of the professor I have.”

For Students “From Procrastination to Productivity: Writing Strategies for College Students with (and without) LDs/ ADHD”

Strategically Speaking Encourage students to think about how they learn best. Infuse a strategy when possible. Encourage students to approach academic work with a plan. “What’s your plan to complete this assignment?”

Connecting to the Campus Integration Common Causes Continued Collaboration

Summary What’s good for a student with a disability can be good for all students. Universal Design in curriculum helped create a place for us at the table to advocate for our students and all students.

Thank You Christopher Cruz Cullari, Director Center for Student Accessibility College of Staten Island, City University of New York 2800 Victory Boulevard Center for the Arts, 1P -101 Staten Island, NY (718)