Learning Specialists in College Athletics: Who are they and what do they do?

Mary Anne Steinberg,John Smith,Dixie Wingler,Maria Herbst,Cheryl Walther,Jennifer West

doi:10.15763/issn.2376-5267.2018.1.4.77-118

Abstract

As the number of at-risk collegiate student athletes continues to rise and their academic success continues to be scrutinized, the role of the learning specialist is becoming increasingly important. The purpose of this research was to determine the essential duties of learning specialists in collegiate athletics, possible correlations between the learning specialist’s degree and the frequency of their tasks, as well as the possible connection between conference, number of learning specialists on staff, and tasks assigned and number of students on the learning specialists’ caseload. A survey was completed by 90 individuals who self-identified as learning specialists and members of N4A. Results indicate that the three tasks most frequently performed by learning specialists are developing learning strategies with individual students, sending reminders, and holding study hall and these tasks remain consistent regardless of their educational background, conference or number of learning specialists on staff. Implications of these findings and future research recommendations are also discussed.

Highlights

As the number of at-risk collegiate student-athletes continues to rise and their academic success continues to be scrutinized, the role of the learning specialist is becoming increasingly important
The broadened definition of “disability” led to more diagnoses and an increase in accommodation requests on college campuses among the general student population (Wolverton, 2016). This increase naturally translated into the academic areas of collegiate athletics as well, altering the support needed for student-athletes who meet accommodation eligibility criteria and further growing the need for learning specialists, as the role often works with a caseload of student-athletes who have diagnosed learning disorders and/or cognitive challenges
The absence of research examining the role of the learning specialist and the increasing number of underprepared student-athletes being admitted to Division-I institutions has led to broad, vague, and inconsistent job descriptions for learning specialists

Summary

Introduction

As the number of at-risk collegiate student-athletes continues to rise and their academic success continues to be scrutinized, the role of the learning specialist is becoming increasingly important. The broadened definition of “disability” led to more diagnoses and an increase in accommodation requests on college campuses among the general student population (Wolverton, 2016) This increase naturally translated into the academic areas of collegiate athletics as well, altering the support needed for student-athletes who meet accommodation eligibility criteria and further growing the need for learning specialists, as the role often works with a caseload of student-athletes who have diagnosed learning disorders and/or cognitive challenges. Peer groups tend to be categorized based on resources, often referred to as the Power 5 for the five Division-I conferences with the greatest amount of resources, Group of 5 for the five Division-I conferences just below them, and Mid-Majors for the 21 Division-I conferences with the lowest amount of resources As part of this disparity, athletic academic support staffs have had to add learning specialists at a pace they can afford in an effort to be competitive with their peers in recruiting student-athletes with top athletic talent. For institutions in mid-major conferences where a full-time learning specialist line may not be within budgetary means, hybrid roles are becoming more popular where an academic advisor may serve partially as a learning specialist

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