Common Accommodations
Extended Time
Students with disabilities may require additional time for taking tests and completing work in class. A student's extended time accommodation is based on the documentation submitted to DS. Unless efficiency or speed is the essential skill that is being assessed, students with this accommodation should be provided additional time for timed tests, quizzes, and in-class writing assignments and labs. The extended time accommodation does not apply to take-home exams. Extended time ensures that a student’s performance is reflective of their mastery of the material rather than the speed at which a student performs.
- Online Testing Accommodations: Extending Time in Canvas
Lower Distraction Environment
Students with disabilities may be approved for and request a separate “reduced distraction” testing space. This space may be a conference room, unused classroom, instructor’s office or DS Testing Center. This accommodation is a quiet space where students have few distractions and are thus better able to maintain focus.
Screen Readers for Exams
Some students with disabilities may require having exam questions read to them rather than reading the information on the screen. DS employs a variety of computer software programs that utilize text-to-speech capability and can “read” the exam aloud to a student. Disability Services discourages the use of other individuals for the purpose of reading text.
Use of a Calculator for Exams
This accommodation allows students to use a calculator as long as the calculator is unable to perform the functions that are being tested. This accommodation typically allows for the use of four-function calculator so that students who understand the concepts will not be penalized for errors in basic calculations. Instructors will approve the type of calculator to be used by the student.
Use of a Computer for Testing
Some students with disabilities will be approved for a computer to complete exams. Using a computer allows these students the opportunity to avoid physical fatigue and/or to provide legible, better-organized answers to essays. Students may use a computer in the DS testing center or a personal computer that is pre-approved by the instructor. Computers in the DS testing center allow for word processing and assistive technology programs without Internet access unless otherwise indicated..
Write on Test
Some students have difficulty completing a scantron sheet due to their disability. In these instances, the student will have "Write on Test" as an accommodation, meaning they can mark their answers directly on the test.
Research-Based Practice
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List Price: $69.95
Member/Affiliate Price: $52.46
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For individuals in the U.S. & U.S. territories
Pages: 313
Item #: 4317348
ISBN: 978-1-4338-1797-7
Copyright: 2015
Format: Hardcover
Availability: In Stock
- Overview
- Table of Contents
- Author Bios
- Reviews and Awards
Overview
Deciding whether to grant test accommodations for a student with disabilities is challenging and controversial. Current accommodations practice is seldom research based, and professionals charged with such decisions often reach different conclusions. The result can be either unnecessary accommodations that compromise test validity or the denial of accommodations to a student who needs them.
In this book, Benjamin Lovett and Lawrence Lewandowski draw on research to offer clear, specific guidelines for deciding when accommodations are appropriate for a student with disabilities — depending on the test being taken, the accommodations being considered, and the student’s functional skills.
Case studies apply the guidelines to specific scenarios.
The book also explains how laws and practices differ for K–12 accommodations versus postsecondary education and workplace accommodations, as well as how universal test design might lessen the need for test accommodations.
Table of Contents
Series Foreword
Preface
- Introduction
- Legal, Procedural, and Ethical Foundations
- Psychometric Foundations
- Disability Conditions and Functional Limitations
- Timing and Scheduling Accommodations
- Response Format Accommodations
- Setting and Presentation Accommodations
- Accommodations and Interventions
- Issues in the Transition to Postsecondary Settings
- Universal Design for Assessment
- Conclusions
Appendix A: Documentation Review in Postsecondary Settings
Appendix B: Professional Development Applications
Resources for Further Reading
References
Index
About the Authors
Author Bios
Benjamin J. Lovett, PhD, is an assistant professor of psychology at the State University of New York College at Cortland, where his research focuses on conceptual and applied issues in psychoeducational assessment and psychiatric diagnosis.
Dr. Lovett has more than 50 publications that have appeared in peer-reviewed journals and edited books. He also serves as a consultant to a variety of educational institutions and testing agencies on the topics of disability diagnosis and testing accommodations.
Lawrence J. Lewandowski, PhD, is a professor of psychology at Syracuse University, holding distinction as a Laura J. and Douglas Meredith Professor for Teaching Excellence.
Dr. Lewandowski has approximately 100 publications, most of which deal with the study of learning disabilities, attention disorders, and other pediatric neurological conditions. His recent research involves such topics as processing and reading speed in individuals with and without disabilities, extended-time accommodations for students with disabilities, assessment of clinical impairment in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and learning disabilities, and the effects of concussion on children and adults.
Reviews and Awards
Testing Accommodations for Students with Disabilities deserves a wide audience. It is both an accurate presentation of the state of testing accommodations as well as a vision for the
future. Lovett and Lewandowski do a superb job of identifying the static and dynamic dots that, when connected, produce a picture of where we are and what could be. If you read only one book on educational or school psychology this year, you would be well served by choosing this one.
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