ABA Sends Message to LSAC: Do a Better Job Handling Special Accomodation Requests by LSAT Takers
From the National Law Journal:
The ABA’s House of Delegates voted unanimously on Feb. 6 to adopt a resolution urging the council to “ensure that the exam reflects what the exam is designed to measure, and not the test taker’s disability.” The vote came during the ABA’s midyear meeting in New Orleans.
The resolution called upon the council to make its policies clear to people with disabilities; to inform applicants of decisions in a timely manner; and to provide adequate time for appeals of denials of accommodations.
The delegates also took issue with a practice known as “flagging,” by which the council alerts law schools to applicants who have received extra time to complete the LSAT. The resolution was largely symbolic, as the ABA lacks power to compel the council to act. . . .
However, not everyone is totally against LSAC on this one.
University of Louisville Louis D. Brandeis School of Law professor Laura Rothstein, who previously has served on the council’s task force on disabilities, responded in writing to the resolution and urged caution. Some undergraduate institutions “overaccommodate” students, she wrote.
She defended “flagging,” saying the council’s analysts have concluded that “it is not psychometrically sound to report test scores of accommodated tests (extra time) as being comparable to those taken under standard conditions.” . . .
The [Law School Admission] council has reported that it receives requests for accommodations from about 2,000 people each year and makes decision on a case-by-case basis. About 50 percent of those requests are granted in some form. The most common accommodations are a separate testing room, extra time to take the test and extra rest time between sections of the test. People with learning disorders account for the single largest group of accommodation seekers.
Read the rest here.