exams for students with disabilities

[fizzycist]

I'll add that some of the arguments on here seem to be arguing two things at once, and the two things are contradictory:

1) Students are cheating and not really slow processors; they just want unwarranted extra time on exams.

2) Students who are slow processors shouldn't be accommodated, because some situations require fast processing!

So either way, accommodations are unwarranted, right? This line of argument, from people with no professional expertise in neuroscience or in accommodations, reminds me of those guys who call up our history department and say "I read some stuff about World War II and I think people have it all wrong! How about I come and teach for you guys and explain why everybody's wrong?" As if what some scholars have spent their whole lives working on can be dismantled by somebody walking in with a couple of hunches.

Fair points here. Mostly I am typing these responses because I am not entirely sure and interested to see how others react to my opinions.

What I see is providing accomodations for some situations is widely accepted (e.g. physical disabilities), some are more controversial (slow processing, ADHD, depression), and some are downright not accepted (e.g. low IQ, low self esteem, social stress). And when things evolve as quickly as they have been over the last few decades, it's difficult to keep up or trust that the "expert wisdom" won't reverse course.

If someone makes a convincing argument that I should not assess ability to recall physics concepts and calculate things under some time pressure, then fine I'll stop. But all the indicators I see are that this is still a common assessment practice, and accepted as long as it is balanced with other longer-term (e.g. HW) assessments.

So at some point I lose track of what is the point of an assessment if it can't be applied roughly uniformly with occasional exceptions. At 20% of the class, with presumably many more eligible if they thought to seek it, it doesn't seem like occasional exceptions anymore. This is more of a philosophical question, hard to see how we can just defer to domain experts...

[the_geneticist]

I see having a greater percentage of students with documented, approved accommodations as a sign that we are better at making sure that students can succeed.
These so-called "hidden disabilities" meant that for decades, any students who couldn't hide/mask/etc could not succeed. 
That includes students with diabetes who needed to quietly leave class to eat a snack & risk getting locked out; students with slow processing who are resigned to not being able to finish exams & hoping that they are also graded on non-timed assessments; students with ADHD that need to physically move to stay focused hoping that no one will say their pencil tapping/fidget-spinner is "annoying".

For physics, my professors allowed EVERYONE a notecard for formulas.  The exams were about how to select and apply the correct formula, which was plenty challenging enough (seriously, why are r and l used for so many different variables?).

[mythbuster]

When I was an undergrad, one of the Organic Chem profs refused to use class time for exams. He scheduled his exams in the evenings (midterms- not just finals) and there was no time limit. The exams were written to be completed in a standard 1 hour class period, but the TA (NOT the Professor Ha!) had to sit there until the last student was ready to turn theirs in.

It makes me wonder two things 1) HOW did he get away with this, and 2) could we do this nowadays?

[the_geneticist]

When I was an undergrad, one of the Organic Chem profs refused to use class time for exams. He scheduled his exams in the evenings (midterms- not just finals) and there was no time limit. The exams were written to be completed in a standard 1 hour class period, but the TA (NOT the Professor Ha!) had to sit there until the last student was ready to turn theirs in.

It makes me wonder two things 1) HOW did he get away with this, and 2) could we do this nowadays?

1) Tenure?
2) Nope

[EdnaMode]

When I was an undergrad, one of the Organic Chem profs refused to use class time for exams. He scheduled his exams in the evenings (midterms- not just finals) and there was no time limit. The exams were written to be completed in a standard 1 hour class period, but the TA (NOT the Professor Ha!) had to sit there until the last student was ready to turn theirs in.

It makes me wonder two things 1) HOW did he get away with this, and 2) could we do this nowadays?

We don't do this in my department, but the largest department in our School of Engineering holds all their exams in the evening outside of regular class periods and they are limited to one classroom hour in length. I'm guessing the students with extra time take theirs at another time. If we did our exams that way in my department, I'd have those students take an alternate version earlier in the same day at the testing center.

We don't have graduate TAs, only RAs, so the professors are the ones who watch the students take the exams. My grad school alma mater [engineering] had evening exams as a matter of routine in their undergraduate courses, and the TAs proctored the exams, but it was part of their regular duties.

[marshwiggle]

I see having a greater percentage of students with documented, approved accommodations as a sign that we are better at making sure that students can succeed.
These so-called "hidden disabilities" meant that for decades, any students who couldn't hide/mask/etc could not succeed. 

So at some point in the future, where more than 50% of the population are identified as having some sort of "disability", which should indicate we're even better at "making sure that students can succeed", is there even any meaning to the "non-accommodated" version of assessments? If most of the students doing an exam get more than 2 hours to do it, does it make any sense to call it a "two hour exam"? At that point what's effectively going to happen is to simply penalize any student who hasn't managed to get some sort of disability assessment.

[the_geneticist]

I see having a greater percentage of students with documented, approved accommodations as a sign that we are better at making sure that students can succeed.
These so-called "hidden disabilities" meant that for decades, any students who couldn't hide/mask/etc could not succeed. 

So at some point in the future, where more than 50% of the population are identified as having some sort of "disability", which should indicate we're even better at "making sure that students can succeed", is there even any meaning to the "non-accommodated" version of assessments? If most of the students doing an exam get more than 2 hours to do it, does it make any sense to call it a "two hour exam"? At that point what's effectively going to happen is to simply penalize any student who hasn't managed to get some sort of disability assessment.

If the 50% of the class with no accommodation can finish the exam in the 2 hours I see no issues.
If 50% of my class gets an accommodation, then I will happily provide it.  What are you worried about?

It's not like answers are magically beamed into your brain if you have more time.

[marshwiggle]

I see having a greater percentage of students with documented, approved accommodations as a sign that we are better at making sure that students can succeed.
These so-called "hidden disabilities" meant that for decades, any students who couldn't hide/mask/etc could not succeed. 

So at some point in the future, where more than 50% of the population are identified as having some sort of "disability", which should indicate we're even better at "making sure that students can succeed", is there even any meaning to the "non-accommodated" version of assessments? If most of the students doing an exam get more than 2 hours to do it, does it make any sense to call it a "two hour exam"? At that point what's effectively going to happen is to simply penalize any student who hasn't managed to get some sort of disability assessment.

If the 50% of the class with no accommodation can finish the exam in the 2 hours I see no issues.
If 50% of my class gets an accommodation, then I will happily provide it.  What are you worried about?

The point is that the whole idea of "normal" implies that there is a statistical majority that defines the standard. Unless there is ongoing "re-norming" of criteria for defining who has a "disability", the over time more and more bulldozer parents and "helpful" professionals will identify a greater and greater proportion of students as having some sort of "disability". Once more than 50% are supposed to get "extra" time on tests, the only logical move is to change the required test time to the longer time.

As Syndrome said in "The Incredibles",
"When everyone's super, no-one will be!".

[Hegemony]

I don't see any problem with giving students longer to take tests. In most fields, it will matter not one whit.

[kaysixteen]

Ok, but the only problem I have with this is that wealthier students and their fams do often (not always) game the system having the $ and institutional savvy to garner these accommodations.   Do any unis actually make it possible for a student who does not currently have such an accommodation bbut thinks he might qualify for one, make free, university-run testing for such things available to him, and can professors ever actually recommend that said student might seek out such testing?

[dismalist]

We're all mixing type I error and type II error. [Me, I'm doing type III error, which is confusing type I error with type II error].

I completely understand and sympathize with extra time for those with some kind of disability. That it's not specifically diagnosed troubles me not -- it's cheap to not diagnose! Twenty minutes is fine  -- whatever. The non-treatment of someone who clearly could benefit from treatment, the article cited by Spork, is much more troubling. How much extra do we want to spend to get it better? Financed by reducing spending on what?

My prognostication is that everybody will vie for the extra time, and get it, leaving everybody in the same place as before. Arms race. Administrators will win. :-)

[marshwiggle]

I don't see any problem with giving students longer to take tests. In most fields, it will matter not one whit.

So give everyone 3 hours to write the test that used to be given in 2 hours. Everyone benefits.

Except that it will be unacceptable because people with accommodations have to be given "extra" time, no matter what. The idea that there is an amount of time that should be reasonable for anyone is rejected out of hand.


 

[Langue_doc]

We're required to give time and a half at a minimum for accommodations regardless of how much time students are given to complete even low-stakes assignments. I had a student in an online course complain to the Disability office that the weekly low stakes assignment that would be posted on Monday and due the following Friday wasn't in compliance with her accommodations so I had to post these assignments extra early for her or give her extra time (time and a half) because of her disability. I also had to excuse her from submitting revised drafts and peer reviews as there were only so many days in the semester, so giving her the extra time and a half for each assignment would have resulted in her needing half of the following semester to complete her assignments. As far as the Disability office was concerned, they made sure to let faculty know that they had the upper hand, regardless of the harm to the students who were always behind.

[RatGuy]

We're required to give time and a half at a minimum for accommodations regardless of how much time students are given to complete even low-stakes assignments. I had a student in an online course complain to the Disability office that the weekly low stakes assignment that would be posted on Monday and due the following Friday wasn't in compliance with her accommodations so I had to post these assignments extra early for her or give her extra time (time and a half) because of her disability. I also had to excuse her from submitting revised drafts and peer reviews as there were only so many days in the semester, so giving her the extra time and a half for each assignment would have resulted in her needing half of the following semester to complete her assignments. As far as the Disability office was concerned, they made sure to let faculty know that they had the upper hand, regardless of the harm to the students who were always behind.

At my place, such a complaint wouldn't fly. The accommodation is for timed assessments (such as exams and quizzes) and not for untimed assignments (essays, projects, homework).

Faculty are also required to undergo "legal" training every four years. Legal is just a label -- this training is really a peak behind the curtain for how offices such as ODS work. So I firmly believe that, given the hoops students and their families must jump through, that very few (if any) of my students are "gaming the system." Some of them are first-year students who think that they'll need such accommodations; some have them and don't use them. Some students are allowed recording and/or notetaking devices, but I don't know how many actually use them. I haven't been required to assign a notetaker in the last 10 years. The two most common requests are extra time + quiet environment (which the ODS office provides) and flex absences. I'd agree with what someone said upthread that I think the higher number of accommodations just means we've gotten better at helping students who traditionally went unserved. One of the reasons my spouse never finished college is that she was epileptic w/ migraines -- without an effective ODS office, she was told by profs that she was SOL for missing an exam due to a migraine.

[the_geneticist]

We're required to give time and a half at a minimum for accommodations regardless of how much time students are given to complete even low-stakes assignments. I had a student in an online course complain to the Disability office that the weekly low stakes assignment that would be posted on Monday and due the following Friday wasn't in compliance with her accommodations so I had to post these assignments extra early for her or give her extra time (time and a half) because of her disability. I also had to excuse her from submitting revised drafts and peer reviews as there were only so many days in the semester, so giving her the extra time and a half for each assignment would have resulted in her needing half of the following semester to complete her assignments. As far as the Disability office was concerned, they made sure to let faculty know that they had the upper hand, regardless of the harm to the students who were always behind.

At my place, such a complaint wouldn't fly. The accommodation is for timed assessments (such as exams and quizzes) and not for untimed assignments (essays, projects, homework).

Faculty are also required to undergo "legal" training every four years. Legal is just a label -- this training is really a peak behind the curtain for how offices such as ODS work. So I firmly believe that, given the hoops students and their families must jump through, that very few (if any) of my students are "gaming the system." Some of them are first-year students who think that they'll need such accommodations; some have them and don't use them. Some students are allowed recording and/or notetaking devices, but I don't know how many actually use them. I haven't been required to assign a notetaker in the last 10 years. The two most common requests are extra time + quiet environment (which the ODS office provides) and flex absences. I'd agree with what someone said upthread that I think the higher number of accommodations just means we've gotten better at helping students who traditionally went unserved. One of the reasons my spouse never finished college is that she was epileptic w/ migraines -- without an effective ODS office, she was told by profs that she was SOL for missing an exam due to a migraine.

Same here. Timed assessments get extra time (midterms, in-class quizzes, etc).  Assignments students complete in class with no hard time limit (clicker questions, lab worksheets) or outside of class with no timer don't get extra time.  Basically, if you can reasonably say "this task should take X minutes, you have N days to complete it", then there is not limit on how long the student takes to do the task.  How they manage their time is up to the student.