Extended Time in Examinations for Students with Disability Results of a Literature Review Kelly Parkyn, Student Services University of Tasmania January 2008 Extended Time in Examinations: The Research There has been significant debate in the research on the issue of extended time in examinations However, there seem to have been a number of relatively clear findings from the literature Students with learning disabilities perform more poorly in exams than other students Students with LD generally perform more poorly in exams than students without disabilities (Lesaux, Pearson & Siegel, 2006; Lindstrom, 2007; Mandinach, Bridgeman, Cahalan & Trapani, 2005; Sireci, Li & Scarpati, 2003) All students, with or without learning disability, benefit from extra time On average, all students exhibit score gains when given extended time and that these gains are larger the more speeded the test (Lesaux, Pearson & Siegel, 2006; Sireci, Li & Scarpati, 2003; Zuriff, 2000) Students with learning disabilities benefit more than students without disabilities Although all students show some benefit from extra test time, students with learning disabilities exhibit greater score gains than students without disabilities (Fuchs, Fuchs, Eaton, Hamlett & Karns, 2000; Lesaux, Pearson & Siegel, 2006; Lindstrom, 2007; Sireci, Li & Scarpati, 2003) More generous time allowances may help differentiate student knowledge There are some indications that increasing time allowances can allow all students to more accurately demonstrate their level of ability, thereby separating more- and less-knowledgeable students, irrespective of disability (Bridgeman, Trapani & Curley, 2004; Mandinach, Bridgeman, Cahalan & Trapani, 2005) The suggestion is that if a student has limited knowledge, more time will not provide them with any advantage, but if they have more knowledge, extra time allows them to express this more fully Allowing extra time in examinations for students with learning disabilities is an appropriate accommodation A number of authors have concluded that granting of extra time is an appropriate accommodation for students with learning disabilities (Cohen, Gregg & Deng, 2005; Lesaux, Pearson & Siegel, 2006; Lindstrom, 2007; Mandinach, Bridgeman, Cahalan & Trapani, 2005) University of Tasmania Page 10/20/2022 The best way to provide accommodations for students with learning disabilities without providing them undue advantage is to allow ample time for all students Given the findings above, a number of writers have recommended providing universal testing conditions for all students which allow ample time for almost all students to complete the test (Bridgeman, Trapani & Curley, 2004; Lesaux, Pearson & Siegel, 2006; Lewandowski, Lovett, Parolin, Gordon & Codding, 2007; Zuriff, 2000) A test is regarded as speeded if fewer than 80% of students complete the test in the time available (Mandinach, Bridgeman, Cahalan & Trapani, 2005) There is little evidence that extra time is an advantage to students with ADHD There does not seem to be support for routinely granting extra time to students with ADHD, as many students with ADHD struggle to continue for the duration of the exam (Gordon, Murphy & Keiser, 1998; Gordon & Murphy, 2001; Lewandowski, Lovett, Parolin, Gordon & Codding, 2007) Instead, the authors suggest providing these students with a separate testing room and rest breaks Section breaks can assist all students There is preliminary evidence that providing section breaks (ie Separately timed sections within the exam) can assist students to perform better (irrespective of disability) in exams (Mandinach, Bridgeman, Cahalan & Trapani, 2005) Conclusions If speed is not an inherent requirement of the task, tests and exams should be set with relatively generous time allocations, to allow most students can complete the test in the time available If practicable, make the test or exam untimed If it is necessary to set time limits, and the task is speeded (ie less than 80% of students complete in the time available), allow extra time to students with disabilities whose performance is time constrained In timed tests or exams with complex structures, consider using section breaks between sections for all students Allow extra time to students with ADHD only where it is specifically indicated by the assessor or the student’s history Students with both ADHD and learning disabilities can benefit from rest breaks University of Tasmania Page 10/20/2022 References Bridgeman, B., Trapani, C., & Curley, E (2004) Impact of fewer questions per section on SAT I scores Journal of Educational Measurement, 41(4), 291-310 Cohen, A.S., Gregg, N., & Deng, M (2005) The role of extended time and item content on a high-stakes mathematics test Learning Disabilities Research & Practice, 20(4), 225-233 Fuchs, L.S., Fuchs, D., Eaton, S.B., Hamlett, C.L & Karns, K.M (2000) Supplementing teacher judgements of mathematics test accommodations with objective data sources School Psychology Review, 29(1), 65-85 Gordon, M., & Murphy, K (2001) Judging the impact of time limits and distractions on past test performance: a survey of ADHD, clinic-referred, and normal adults The ADHD Report, 9(3), 1-5 Gordon, M., Murphy, K.R & Keiser, M.S (1998) Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and test accommodations The Bar Examiner, Nov, 26-36 Lesaux, N., Pearson, M R & Siegel, L.S (2006) The effects of timed and untimed testing conditions on the reading comprehension performance of adults with reading disabilities Reading and Writing, 19, 21-48 Lewandowski, L.J., Lovett, B.J., Parolin, R., Gordon, M., & Codding, R.S (2007) Extended time accommodations and the mathematics performance of students with and without ADHD Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment, 25(1), 17-28 Lindstrom, J.H (2007) Determining appropriate accommodations for postsecondary students with reading and written expression disorders Learning Disabilities Research & Practice, 22(4), 229-236 Mandinach, E.B., Bridgeman, B., Cahalan-Laitusis, C.C., & Trapani, C (2005) The impact of extended time on SAT test performance College Board Research Report No 2005-8 Ranseen, J D (2000) Reviewing ADHD Accommodation Requests: An update The Bar Examiner, August, 6-19 Sireci, S.G., Li, S & Scarpati, S (2003) The effects of test accommodation on test performance: A review of the literature Centre for Educational Assessment Research Report No 485 Amherst, MA: School of Education, University of Massachusetts Zuriff, G.E (2000) Extra examination time for students with learning disabilities: an examination of the maximum potential thesis Applied Measurement in Education, 13(1), 99117 University of Tasmania Page 10/20/2022 ... from the literature Students with learning disabilities perform more poorly in exams than other students Students with LD generally perform more poorly in exams than students without disabilities... Students with learning disabilities benefit more than students without disabilities Although all students show some benefit from extra test time, students with learning disabilities exhibit greater... providing section breaks (ie Separately timed sections within the exam) can assist students to perform better (irrespective of disability) in exams (Mandinach, Bridgeman, Cahalan & Trapani, 2005) Conclusions