Elite Colleges Have an Extra-Time-on-Tests Problem

"Administering an exam used to be straightforward: All a college professor needed was an open room and a stack of blue books. At many American universities, this is no longer true. Professors now struggle to accommodate the many students with an official disability designation, which may entitle them to extra time, a distraction-free environment, or the use of otherwise-prohibited technology. The University of Michigan has two centers where students with disabilities can take exams, but they frequently fill to capacity,"

"Accommodations in higher education were supposed to help disabled Americans enjoy the same opportunities as everyone else. No one should be kept from taking a class, for example, because they are physically unable to enter the building where it's taught. Over the past decade and a half, however, the share of students at selective universities who qualify for accommodations-often, extra time on tests-has grown at a breathtaking pace."

Colleges increasingly must provide extended-time, distraction-free, or technology accommodations for students with official disability designations. Testing centers at universities like Michigan often fill to capacity, forcing professors to find additional desks and proctors. Low-distraction testing sites can become more distracting than main classrooms when many students use them. The share of undergraduates qualifying for accommodations at selective universities has surged over the past decade and a half. Growth is driven by higher diagnoses of ADHD, anxiety, and depression and by simplified accommodation processes. The increases are concentrated at elite institutions, where registrational rates can exceed 20 or even 34 percent, and most registered students receive accommodations.

Read at The Atlantic