Title: PERCEPTIONS OF DISABILITY SERVICES PROVIDERS TOWARD IMPLEMENTATION OF THE AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT BY ILLINOIS COMMUNITY COLLEGES

Abstract

This study examined the extent to which the disability services providers at community colleges in Illinois agreed that six conditions identified by Maxmanian and Sabatier (1983a, 1983b, 1983c) as essential to successful policy implementation had been met. It examined the extent to which disability services providers agreed their institutions had met the goals of the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA), and the extent to which they were in compliance with the legislation. Using a researcher-developed instrument, disability services providers at 42 of the 48 (88%) community colleges in Illinois were interviewed via telephone. Content validity was established by a three-member panel of experts and reliability estimates were calculated for scales associated with the specified constructs, ranging from a Cronbach alpha of .90 for compliance to a .63 for implementation, with most scales yielding an alpha from .71 to .79.

Results indicated the majority of disability services providers agreed the law was clear and consistent and agreed on a definition of the theory underlying ADA, though many believed the underlying causal theory of ADA was inadequate to support implementation. Almost 70% agreed their institutions were adequately structured administratively to support implementation of ADA, but just over 50% said they were adequately structured financially. Participants agreed their presidents were committed to ADA in some but not all areas, and they thought support of some organized groups, key legislators, and chief executives had waned. When questioned about their institutions compliance with ADA, almost 90% of disability services providers agreed that their institutions were in compliance and that students with disabilities were integrated into the academic community, but they offered other contradictory results. The majority did not have a campus-wide advisory committee to address disability-related concerns, a process to monitor extracurricular clubs and activities to ensure that students were not discriminated against on the basis of disability, an institution-wide plan to provide for the technological needs of students with disabilities, or a policy for making web resources accessible to students with disabilities. Other results were incongruous with one another such as over 80% of respondents agreeing that discrimination against students with disabilities had been eliminated on their campuses while acknowledging that attitudes of faculty, staff, students, and society are one of the greatest challenges community colleges face in ending discrimination against students with disabilities.

In examining relationships among constructs, a substantial relationship was found between administrative structure and compliance with the legislation. Correlations between consistency of the institution's strategies for implementing ADA and implementation, elimination of discrimination, and integration were all substantial. The relationship between commitment of implementing officials and elimination of discrimination was also substantial, as was the relationship between compliance with and implementation of the legislation. These results suggest institutions were not adequately structured to support implementation of ADA, were not evaluating their policies and procedures on a regular basis, and had not integrated students with disabilities into the academic community. Neither were disability services providers fully aware of economic, political, and social issues outside of the institution that could impact ADA implementation on their campuses.

Recommendations included to review the structure of the ADA coordinator and disability services provider positions, designate an institutional budget for disability services, conduct regular self-evaluation of policies and procedures related to ADA, seek political support for disability-related concerns, establish clear guidelines as to who is qualified for all programs of study, and provide education and training on disability-related concerns.