1. #3.4 Guiding Principles for Collaboration
The Testing Industry
and
Postsecondary Disability Services
July 20, 2017
John

2. AHEAD Postsecondary Disability Service Professionals
Testing Industry Disability Service Professionals
John

3. Setting The Stage
John

4. Difficulties with Transitions
Different institutions (K-12, HE, PHS Testing) have different legal responsibilities and people with disabilities have different rights under different laws. Understanding these differences can empower students to make informed choices, and be better prepared to address their rights and responsibilities.
John

5. Goals for the Session Aware of the collaboration Explore common goals
Explore current work and efforts
Explore future goals for professional
Explore future goals for students
Sally

6. Ground Rules Be open to new ways of approaching this conversation
Focus on systems
Not individual agencies
Not specific student situations
Recognize we are all committed to students with disabilities
Sally

7. We Have Much in Common
Social justice of equal access and equal opportunity.
Value of Education
We understand that we are all stewards of promoting environments that, to the greatest extent possible, are barrier-free for persons with disabilities.
We recognize that in order to accomplish our goals, we can accomplish more when working together than we can working apart (separately/alone?).
Integrity of program and institution
Kendra

8. Making a Paradigm Shift: Ourselves as Professionals
Each organization has its own demands, nuances, and complications.
Professional judgment is informed by that individual’s unique experiences with people with disabilities, in certain (but not all) environments, and with certain (but not all) types of tasks.
No one professional’s judgment is more or less valid than another’s.
Despite– or thanks to– our varied professional and personal experiences with Disability, our goals are still the same– equitable access.
Kendra

9. Individual, Task & Setting
Guiding Principles
Person First
Individual, Task & Setting
Valid Assessment
Transition
GUIDING PRINCIPLES
Linda

10. Guiding Principles and Common Alignments
Person First: We focus on the whole individual, not just the disability.
Individual, Task & Setting: We appreciate that the determination of appropriate educational services requires careful consideration of the intersection between the individual, the task at hand, and the setting involved.
Valid Assessment: Exams need to measure the abilities of the test taker, not the effects of the disability.
Transition: Most students– especially those with disabilities– have challenges with transition, both into higher education and out of higher education. We are committed to working together to improve both of these.
Linda

11. Guiding Principles and Common Alignments
DISABILITY SERVICES
TESTING INDUSTRY
Person First
Focus is more on the individual than on the disability
Valid Assessment
Exams measure the ability of the test taker, not the nature and extent of the disability
Accessibility
We provide reasonable alternative arrangements for test takers with disabilities---one size does not fit all
We provide reasonable alternative arrangements for test takers with disabilities--one size does not fit all
Expectations & Communication
It is important to ensure that students understand the differences between services and accommodations in HE, and those on standardized, high-stakes exams.
Requesting Services/
accommodations
Students in HE meet face-to-face with DS staff to determine what is reasonable and appropriate in that environment based on the institution’s guidelines.
Students work with DS staff to provide testing organization with documentation. Since this is done on paper– not face-to-face– the documentation must provide the fullest picture possible of the student’s history and needs.
Individual, Task, & Setting
Students with disabilities may need different types of services or accommodations (or none at all), depending on their unique challenges, the task at hand, and the setting. One size does not fit all– all the time, everywhere.
Transitions
Students have challenges transitioning into and out of higher education. DS and testing industry professionals can work closely to help students navigate these transitions.
Linda

12. Guiding Principles and Common Alignments
Higher Education
Testing Organizations
Not one entity; represents many different purposes and perspectives.
Different educational institutions have different purposes and different populations.
Different tests have different purposes.
[Ex.: Written vs. Clinical/Skills]
Have an obligation to foster student success.
Have an obligation to provide a standardized assessment and valid, meaningful scores. In some cases (licensure), public health/safety is at issue.
Each institution knows it own program best, and has a responsibility to make an independent decision about how it will best serve the needs of students with disabilities.
Each institution knows it own program best, and has a responsibility to make an independent decision about how it will best serve the needs of candidates with disabilities.
Linda

13. We Have Some Differences
Higher Education
Testing Organizations
Tests are developed by individual and/or team of faculty and are usually not normed.
Tests take months/years to develop and standardize; hence has a lot of monetary investment.
Tests need only be meaningful to the developer (faculty) and the test takers (students).
Tests need to be meaningful (predictive relevance) to future institutions (in the case of entrance/placement exams), or to the general public/field/profession (in the case of certification & licensure exams).
DS professionals and other professionals may advocate on campus for the students they serve and with whom they have relationship.
Look to professionals (DS staff, psychologists, other experts) working with students to be as unbiased and “factually comprehensive” as possible.
Tests measure recent learning
Tests measure readiness and/or overall competence
DS professionals work within an environment. They may have significant flexibility/leeway to customize services that may or may not be consistent with what other HE institutions could or would provide.
In order to be fair to everyone, must employ consistent policies and practices, across thousands of test takers with disabilities each year, throughout the state, country, or world.
May have some flexibility about documentation because they get to know students in person. In particular, the need for some types of documentation may be unnecessary.
Rely on written documentation because they don’t know the test taker personally.
Katie

14. Student Expectations
Accommodations are not one-size-fits-all– all the time, everywhere, under every circumstance.
Expectations based on history vs. documentation.
“I’ve always had this accommodation”
“My IEP says I am entitled to this accommodation”
“Dr. Smith says I have ADHD. His note was good enough for my college, why isn’t it good enough for your testing agency?”
Katie

15. Student Expectations
“My Learning Disability is a life-long condition. It was diagnosed at age 8. So why do I need to be re-tested and provide new documentation?”
“I’ve always had double-time on everything, why can’t I have double-time on my nursing clinical skills exam?”
“I can have my emotional-support Boa Constrictor with me in the dorm, why can’t I bring it to the test center?”
“My psychiatrist says I should not be stressed out by time limits on tests.”
Katie

16. Examples of What Testing Agencies Are Doing
Loring

17. Successful Interactions
Examples of successful interactions
Loring

18. Examples of What DSS Offices Are Doing
Coach students through the process
Contact the testing agency for general information if needed
Provide a clear statement about the student’s accommodations
Kristie

19. Examples of successful Interactions
Coaching students to call ahead of time with questions
Testing agency reaching out to DRC for assistance
 All the times we DON’T hear from a student J
Kristie

20. Making a Paradigm Shift: Looking AHEAD
Together, we can help students navigate and transition successfully from secondary education, to undergraduate education, to graduate education, to professional environment.
Kristie

21. Questions/Conversations
Sally

22. Action Items/Next Steps
Sally

23. Thank You!
Bea Awoniyi, Kristie Orr, Texas A&M University, Kendra Johnson, EdD, Graduate Management Admission Council, Kathryn M. Bugbee, Ph.D.. Association of American Medical Colleges, Loring Brinckerhoff, Educational Testing Service, Linda Nissenbaum, John Hosterman, Paradigm Testing Sally Scott, AHEAD,