Center for Teaching and Learning

Promoting Student Success: What would YOU do? A Quiz

 

  1. As the semester begins, a student brings you a letter, identifying him as a student with a disability and requesting academic accommodations of extended time on exams in a least distracting environment. You recognize the student as someone a colleague found very difficult to deal with during the previous semester. The student is disruptive in class early in the semester. He calls out without being acknowledged, brings up irrelevant topics, and frequently leaves his seat. You:
    • a. Correct his behavior in class and remind him to be civil.
    • b. Decide to consult with someone in Disability Access Services.
    • c. Speak with him after class and ask him what his disability is.
    • d. Send your colleague an e-mail message to learn how she handled "John Doe" last semester.

      DISCUSSION

      All students must abide by the Student Conduct Code which mandates that everyone behaves civilly and in a manner that is conducive for learning to occur in the class. Faculty members are expected to create and maintain an environment with minimal distractions to learning. Include a civility statement in the syllabus so that if distractions occur, you can refer to this statement as you remind students to behave professionally in class.

      Students who have a disabling condition are expected to behave civilly just as students who do not have a disability. In each instance, continued disruptive behavior would violate the Conduct Code and would then be reported and handled by Student Conduct and Community Standards,
      http://www.umsl.edu/~studentconduct/ .

      For question 2, consulting with Disability Access is the best option (Choice D). In both instances above, you may also need to speak with the student, either quietly during class (choice A) or after class (choice B) to remind him/her to be civil in class. In speaking with the student, however, you cannot ask him about the disability because it is against the law. The accommodations which are allowed are listed in the letter from Disability Access, http://www.umsl.edu/services/disabled/ .

      Students' information is protected by the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (F.E.R.P.A.) so discussing this particular student by e-mail or in person with a colleague is strictly prohibited (Choice C). Use the Student Planner as a resource guide to assist in making referrals. For more information go to: http://www.umsl.edu/%7euhwcs/ or http://www.umsl.edu/~mcraa/index.html

      Back to Quiz
ctl