A Case Study on Flexible Design: Eliminating Documentation Requirements for Academic Adjustments on a Test (Practice Brief)

Autor/inn/en	Norris, Meghan E.; Wood, Valerie M.
Titel	A Case Study on Flexible Design: Eliminating Documentation Requirements for Academic Adjustments on a Test (Practice Brief)
Quelle	In: Journal of Postsecondary Education and Disability, 35 (2023) 4, S.355-360 (6 Seiten) PDF als Volltext kostenfreie Datei Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	2379-7762
Schlagwörter	College Students; Students with Disabilities; Academic Accommodations (Disabilities); Testing Accommodations; Documentation; Standards; Test Construction; Access to Education; Attendance Patterns; Learner Engagement + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Collegestudent; Student; Students; Disability; Disabilities; Schüler; Schülerin; Studentin; Behinderung; Testing process; Accessibility (for disabled); Accessibility; Disabled person; Testdurchführung; Testen; Barrierefreiheit; Zugänglichkeit; Behinderter; Dokumentation; Standard; Testaufbau; Education; Access; Bildung; Zugang; Bildungszugang
Abstract	Obtaining and submitting documentation related to disabilities to instructors is a known barrier to students accessing necessary accommodations. We assessed whether the implementation of a universal course design procedure, an automatic re-weight for students who missed a midterm exam without requiring documentation, was associated with differences in midterm examination attendance relative to a previous course offering when documentation was required for such an absence. In 2018, a large (n = 1897) first-year course introduced a fall midterm examination that required documentation for assessment reweights resulting from a missed exam, and in 2019 (n = 1795) assessments were automatically (i.e., no documentation required) re-weighted for students who missed the exam. We expected that the midterm attendance rate for the 2019 (no documentation required) exam would be significantly lower than the 2018 fall midterm exam attendance rate. However, our results revealed that removing the requirement for documentation was not associated with an increase in exam absences. These findings indicate that flexible practices can be effective in promoting accessibility while not significantly affecting student engagement and completion of summative assessments. However, we did not assess for any differences in learning because of this missed testing practice, and there are limitations such that these findings may not generalize to other student populations. We call for further discussion and research with respect to the learning-related consequences of re-weighting assessments. (As Provided).
Anmerkungen	Association on Higher Education and Disability. 8015 West Kenton Circle Suite 230, Huntersville, NC 28078. Tel: 704-947-7779; Fax: 704-948-7779; e-mail: JPED@ahead.org; Web site: https://www.ahead.org/professional-resources/publications/jped
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2024/1/01