Explores policies and practices that support the creation of a successful learning environment for postsecondary students with learning disabilities. Outlines the learning challenges that learning-disabled students face and discusses the legal mandate for accommodating students with learning disabilities. Outlines the pedagogical rationale for…

Explores the phenomenon of transition from secondary to postsecondary education for students with disabilities in order to enhance the understanding of this complex issue. Identifies several mechanisms that may contribute to the amelioration of some of the more detrimental effects of a quandary that could be the result of several competing…

Discusses the use of online teaching assistants or "course wizards," employed at Mercy College (New York) not only to tutor students who are experiencing difficulty but also to facilitate discussion and to model the role of a successful student. Presents a discussion of the current crisis in higher education in America and of how online…

Reports on an effort to better understand the impasse and create conditions for constructive local discussions and reforms relating to multiculturalism. Reports how a group of developmental education professionals in a large, interdisciplinary developmental education unit understand multiculturalism. Explores the potentials and challenges involved…

Explores the realities of change facing a successful junior college which must become a regional four-year university. Identifies and discusses (in a response by William G. White Jr.) the problems and issues relative to the developmental program at Evans County Junior College on the eve of its conversion to regional university--Jan Norton…

States that theories of intellectual development offer writing teachers productive ways to analyze student writing; help students develop strategies for improving their writing processes; and consider the implications of writing assignments. Finds that frameworks posited by Jean Piaget and by others contribute useful ways of understanding why…

Replicates, using diverse quotations grouped under four metaphors (dreamcatcher, gatekeeper, spider web, safety net) representing the dissonance of the reading/writing processes as they might be experienced by basic skills readers. Questions the relationship of basic skills to its students; implements D. Bartholomae's recommendations to reform of…

Identifies, in a case study, a gifted student who, in consideration of previous academic achievement, should be performing exceptionally well, but has a four-year history of withdrawing from and failing courses, avoids studying, and occasionally rallies at the 11th hour for an average performance. Proposes a learner-centered intervention, in a…

Tells the story of a very academically motivated college student who is deaf and who confronts an instructor who seems unprepared to teach her. Contends, in a response by Ruth Warick, that "Tracy" is disadvantaged by the instructor's approach that emphasizes writing skills and requires writing in "voices." Suggests ways to…

Relates a case that involves a student with a language-based learning disability and Tourette's Syndrome who becomes increasingly dissatisfied with the support provided by the university. Delineates, in a response by Ruth J. Fink, some enhancements that could have been made in the actual case management, some hindsight observations, and…

Proposes guidelines for associations to elect honorary Fellows in Learning Assistance and Developmental Education. Includes criteria for education, experience, and specific contributions through publishing, research, and practice in evidence of the recognition of the nominee as an authority in the field. Invites readers to comment. (RS)

Claims developmental education has been the central medium of upward social mobility for the American lower and middle classes. Outlines the accomplishments of developmental educators as well as the national trends that bear directly upon the work of developmental educators. (NH)

Addresses how current conditions in the field of developmental education are fueling burnout among educators. Recognizes the role an educator's personality may play in burnout. Presents three cases of teacher burnout. Concludes that the strong argument for the social environmental perspective as a cause of burnout puts the identification and…

Gives instructions in nontechnical terms for building a simple web site using Netscape Navigator or Communicator's web editor. Presents six steps that include: organizing information, creating a page and a background, linking files, linking to Internet web pages, linking images, and linking an email address. Gives advice for sending the web page…

Considers three serious problems associated with learning styles: confusion in definitions, weaknesses in reliability and validity, and the identification of relevant characteristics in instructional settings, or aptitude-treatment interactions. Discusses four basic groups of learning styles that developmental educators should be aware of.…