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Dear DPRC:

I am very strict about the timing of my tests and quizzes, and students often complain that they don't have enough time. Now I have a student who tells me he should get extra time because of a disability. I'm very concerned that giving him more time is giving him an advantage over all the other students. I just don't see how it can be fair. Can you help me with this?

Sincerely Concerned in Speech & Communication Studies

 

Dear Sincerely Concerned:

You raise an excellent question. On the surface, it does appear that giving extra test time is giving an advantage. However, for a student with a disability, the extra time is not an advantage, it is an equal chance. It simply levels the playing field.

This concept is easiest to understand with an example of a physically disabling condition. If you have a student with a sprained wrist, it is easy to see why that student might take longer to write answers to essay questions. If you held that student to the same time parameters as the other students, he would probably not have time to express gained knowledge adequately. You would not get an accurate measure of what he has learned.

The situation is the same for students whose disabilities are not so obvious, like students who have learning disabilities, attention deficit disorder, chronic health conditions, side effects of medication, etc. For example, if you hold a student with dyslexia to standard time parameters, her reading problems may interfere to the extent that you cannot accurately measure her mastery of the material.

To be eligible for extended test time, students have to provide the DPRC with detailed documentation that shows the specific ways in which the disability limits test taking. While the detailed information is confidential, the fact that a student is verified for extended time tells you that the appropriate information is on file in the DPRC.

I hope this information makes you more comfortable with granting extended test time. Please call us at ext. 82472 if you wish to discuss this further.

DPRC

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Back to Dear DPRC April 2006

Disability Programs and Resource Center
Student Services Building 110
1600 Holloway Ave.
San Francisco, CA 94132-4046
Phone: 415/338-2472 (voice/TTY); Fax: 415/338-1041

Last Modified April 19, 2006, by the dprc@sfsu.edu