Being Fair with Time
The question of fairness in providing accommodation is raised most often in reference to providing extended time in testing for students with disabilities. Wouldn’t all students do better if they had extended time? How would you respond to that concern?
In all fairness to the disabled student deadlines should be the same for everyone for example homework assignments.
The idea is providing access, not providing success. If a student requires additional time due to their disability it is to place them at equal measure with all other students, not to give them an unfair advantage.
What can be deemed as fair is highly subjective and can be viewed differently from person to person based on experience and bias. The key principal behind providing extended time to qualified students is 504 and ADA guidelines. These objective guidelines are designed to guide us in determining what is and what is not fair. Without accommodation, some disabled students wouldn't be able to attempt some tests at all. Lack of accommodation would create a lack of equal access, which according to the law is unquestionably unfair.
I believe it to be true that any student would succeed if they had more time to take a test. But at the same time that student must be prepared to take a time test to obtain a license (especially for those going into a medical/law field). I believe that timed and untimed test's both have their place with students.
Students who have a learning disability deserve the right to extra time. The students who do not have a disability with learning don't need extra time. The goal is to keep the environment and guidelines equal, to see where the standards end up.
Not really...some students don't need the extra time as they assimilate info at a different rate. some students work better when given a time to finish the work vs having an extended period to finish.
It is important that we take the time to first know the students then go back and make sure their needs are being addressed and met each and every day. There are several students that might take advantage of the situation so knowing the student body will actually come into play.
As far as the students that actually do need the additional and help I say know their needs and meet or exceed them. I always give additional work and help when anyone asks.
If there is a proven processing delay or history of dyslexia/dysgraphia, then I fully believe that extended time is necessary for students to have a more equal footing when it comes to quizzes and tests.
The slippery slope is when it is utilized to give the advantage to a student who may have another disability. In my experience, extra time for a student with ADD/ADHD has not proven beneficial. Separate testing environments or being able to have a squeeze ball while testing as proven to be a better and more effective accommodation for LD students.
Hello Kelly.
I couldn't have said it better! Extra time isn't always good. More time can lead to more distractions.
Also, One has to be very careful not to compromise the student's confidentiality. One wouldn't want to compromise it and then have the student feel less confident in their learning ability because his disability was made public. Not to mention compromising the student's trust. This can open a can of worms.
I agree that the student needs more time to process the information in their brain.
Quinne,
Yes-exactly how I would manage it.
Sarah Smoger
Most students would argue that if they had more time, they would be more successful with their assignments; however, there are those that specifically have learning limitations that prevent them from being able to learn or complete assignments within the same amount of time as other students. I would address other students concerns by stating that if they also feel they need additional accommodations for time, they can contact the schools ADA office for more information on how to obtain that.
As students when it comes down to taking exams, I believe all students get anxious and feel as though they could do better with extended time. When exams are started, yes the student wants to get as much of the exam correct, but they also are thinking I need to get finished before time is up. It really depends on the student to be honest with you because a lot of student aren't the best test taking. Test anxiety is a big problem all the way around and that includes accommodations students as well. You as the student disability coordinator can help them the best way you know how with tips on how to overcome test anxiety and hope the student overcomes it.
Pamela,
I would challenge your position. Students with reading disabilities and processing disorders benefit immensely with additional time, not because they don't know or can't retain the information, but simply because it takes their brains longer to synthesize the information and put it on paper.
Sarah Smoger
Fairness is not part of the legal guidelines of ADA in my opinion and experience. A student with a disability may need more time to complete an assignment. The assignments are created with reasonable time to complete (usually a week). So, I do not believe extra time would make a student more successful.
Cathy,
I think in some cases you are correct. But think of it this way, a student with a processing disorder, meaning it takes the student longer to synthesize data and put it to paper would benefit. It's not a matter of not knowing the information, but simply putting all the pieces together to get an answer. Seems to me additional time in these cases would be reasonable..
Sarah Smoger
Mark,
Remember, you can't speak for a licensing agency. I will tell you that many licensing agencies are just "getting up to speed" as far as their need to provide accommodations. For instance, the BAR exam has had many students file lawsuits against it for not providing accommodations-and the BAR association has lost. As a faculty member, if you have a student that presents you with a letter of accommodation which provides for additional time, it's not your job to probe further-that's the job of the Disability Services Coordinator. With that being said, there are some instances where additional time is not reasonable, for instance in a culinary arts program where completing a task within a certain time frame is an essential element of the quiz/test. It's important for the DSC to work with Academic Affairs to make these determinations.
Sarah Smoger
I will note that this experience comes from my son, who has a history of CP: Extra time is allotted when he takes tests because he has an orthopedic deficit. It takes him longer to write his answers. The extended time is meant to give him more time to complete the physical act of writing, not to give him more time to think about the answer.
We live in such a rushed society that I don't think it would do the student any favors to take extra time. Everyone is working towards a deadline these days. It's a tough world out there and not many companies are going to extend deadlines.
