Athlone Institute of Technology
Dublin City University
Dublin Institute of Technology
Disability Advisors Working Network (DAWN)
National University of Ireland
Maynooth
- Submission to the State Examinations
National University of Ireland
Galway
Advisory Group to re-examine/review policy
and practice in the area of reasonable
accommodations provided for candidates in
the certificate examinations.
May 2007
Queens University Belfast
Trinity College Dublin
University College Cork
University College Dublin
University of Limerick
University of Ulster
Waterford Institute of
Technology
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1.0 Introduction
This document is a response from the Disability Advisors Working Network (DAWN) to a call for
submissions by the State Examinations Commission (SEC) which has established an Advisory Group
to re-examine/review policy and practice in the area of reasonable accommodations provided for
candidates in the certificate examinations.
DAWN represents those staff of all Universities, a number of Institutes of Technology (AIT, CIT, DIT,
ITT and WIT), the NCAD and National College of Ireland with specific responsibility for the provision of
supports to students with disability. Comments are based on the experiences of these staff who
collectively work with over 70% of students with disabilities participating in higher education in Ireland.
We are committed to increasing opportunities for students with disabilities in higher education and
would welcome the opportunity to expand on these brief comments directly to the review group.
One of the primary functions of Disability Services in HEIs is to determine reasonable accommodations
in examinations and assessments for students with disabilities. A reasonable accommodation (RA) in
examinations might be any action that helps alleviate a substantial disadvantage. Making a reasonable
accommodation in examinations might involve changing procedures, modifying examination papers and
providing additional facilities, such as the use of assistive technology in written examinations. Every
student with a disability has different needs. To best tailor the services to individual students, a Needs
Assessment is carried out. This Needs Assessment helps determine the additional examination
requirements. Once RA’s are determined students need to be trained in using the accommodation
granted. For example, students who are granted the use of a computer in written exams should be
proficient in word processing and with the use of the relevant Assistive Technology (A.T.).
2.0 Consistency of Approach in Granting Reasonable Accommodation
DAWN HEIs are presently developing standarised examination policies and procedures which will lead
to consistency across HEIs. These will ensure students with disabilities can be guaranteed that they
will be treated equitably no matter where they study. (See attached a copy of the Trinity College Dublin
‘Guidelines for students and staff on the modification of examination and assessment
arrangements for students with disabilities). A major issue for most DAWN HEIs is the
inconsistency in the granting of 2nd and 3rd level examination accommodations.
A key recommendation of the review group should be the adopting of a mechanism by which
students with disabilities, and in particular those with specific learning difficulties, can be
guaranteed a consistency of approach, irrespective of their geographical location or school, in
the assessing and granting of reasonable accommodations. This can be best achieved by
maximising the access to a full educational psychologist assessment for all students with
specific learning difficulties and using this detailed picture of their learning to focus the
granting of reasonable accommodations
3.0 Reasonable Accommodation – A Long Term View
For students with disabilities entering higher education who have availed of interventions such as use of
reader/scribe and taping some major issues arise. The continued use of these interventions in higher
education is not in the long term best interests of students with disabilities. Reasonable
accommodation should be framed in the context of what can reasonably be expected to be available in
the learner’s environment of professional practice following on from completion of their Higher
Education studies.
A key recommendation of the review group should be the maximisation of the provision of I.T.
and A.T. in both the learning and examination environment for ALL learners with disabilities.
This will fully prepare students for life in further study and employment.
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4.0 Specific Groups of Students with Disabilities
The particular needs of certain groups of students with disabilities need urgent attention, for example
students with sensory disabilities and those with medical conditions. Figures published by the
Association for Higher Education Access for Disability (AHEAD) in 2004 indicate that deaf and blind
students represent only 11% of students with disability in Higher Education. As such they are amongst
the most significantly under-represented minority student groups in this population. These students are
not properly supported at 2nd level and the examination systems do not easily accommodate their
needs. For example, deaf students are expected to present their transcripts in English which is their
second language. Irish Sign Language being their first.
Deaf/hard of hearing students – Trinity College Dublin Disability Service set about developing a
project to increase the participation of deaf and hard of hearing students in 3rd level. This project is
called the Deaf Needs Assessment Project, information on this project can be found at:
www.tcd.ie/disability/projects/dna/index.php
As part of this project we surveyed deaf student entering third level education, on the subject of
examinations and assessments the following issues were identified: Firstly, deaf students lacked
confidence in their ability to understand the English of the question or the instructions of the assignment
task. Secondly, they felt ill prepared to respond to the question or assessment task because they either
relied on the accuracy of the notes taken for them by someone else or on their incomplete
understanding of the text they had studied (often using a dictionary to aid comprehension). Many of
them did not feel confident in their ability to write information in correct English. A third area of concern
was the element of panic induced by the above feeling of inadequacy which led to confused thinking.
The importance of reasonable accommodation in examination was identified as a success factor in 3rd
level education which was missing in 2nd level education. Alternative assessment in HEIs has been in
operation for a number of years involving. The following practices have been implemented:
• Simplification and modification of the examination papers.
• The use of ISL interpreters or clarifiers for the English used in the examination questions.
• The opportunity for a deaf student to explain his or her written intention
orally in English or Irish Sign Language and have it interpreted for the examiner who will assess it for
content rather than English literacy competency.
• The use of a proofreader or transliterator to change the inappropriate
English structure to a more acceptable one for the examiner to read.
• Students have been allowed to present his/her written assignment on Video and have an interpreter
translate it into written English.
Blind examples – a similar survey of blind/visual impaired students was carried out in UCC this year
and a summary of the results are given here:
It is important that needs are assessed on an individual basis. Variables affecting this assessment will
include: the degree of visual impairment; the time at which the impairment developed or occurred;
reading and writing skills acquired by the individual e.g. Braille or assistive technology; the nature of the
particular examination and its subject matter; the language in which the examination is being
conducted.
Question papers should be provided in an alternative format suitable to the individual student: large
print; Braille; tactile diagrams, graphs or maps; printed on paper of a suitable colour contrast for the
individual involved; in electronic format via a disc or memory stick.
Modified papers should be provided to ensure textual descriptions of any diagrams or pictures included
in an examination paper should the student prefer this.
Readers should be provided to students who find it more efficient to have someone read their
examination papers to them. Sometimes students prefer to have a reader along with large print so as
the reader can assist when reading becomes difficult or impossible due to strain.
Students should be offered the choice of conducting their examination via Braille or print.
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A blind or visually impaired student should be given the opportunity to use assistive technology e.g.
magnification equipment or computer equipped with either a screen reader or magnification software.
Students should be given time prior to an examination to familiarise themselves with any equipment
they will be using on the day of the examination and should be familiar with any software involved.
Though the use of technology in conducting examinations promotes independence in a blind or visually
impaired student, in some cases a scribe is more suitable: 1) Screen reading software cannot read the
Irish language at an adequate standard and this will make it impossible for a blind student to reread
their Irish examination script. More profound difficulties arise for students of Irish colleges as they will
conduct all their examinations via the Irish language. 2) Some students may not be confident enough in
the use of technology to conduct a state examination via this medium. Some mature students and
others who may not be technically minded may feel more comfortable using a scribe in conducting their
examinations. Though the advantages of technology for a blind or visually impaired student cannot be
underestimated, it can not be made obligatory for a blind and visually impaired student to use
technology until or unless it becomes obligatory for all students to conduct their examinations via
computer.
Students availing of a scribe should be provided with plenty opportunity to practice with their scribe
before the time of the state examinations, and if possible to have conducted their preliminary
examinations with the use of this scribe.
The use of tape recorders in written examinations should be discouraged. The student is not being
examined in their oral ability, but in their ability to present the answers in a literary form. The use of a
scribe, who will reread written material to the student, is far more likely to assist the student in
exercising literacy in what is after all a written examination. This will also create consistency with the
third level examination system. Students can find it difficult to conduct their third level examinations via
assistive technology or a scribe if they have been allowed conduct their state examinations via a tape
recorder.
Blind and visually impaired students should be allowed ten minutes extra time per hour for each
examination. More time should be considered for subjects which are mathematics based as these can
prove exceptionally tedious to a blind or visually impaired student. If more time is allowed exam
schedules need to be taken into consideration in case one examination is scheduled too close to a
following exam sitting.
Assessment and examination policies, practices and procedures should provide students with
disabilities with the same opportunity as their peers to demonstrate the achievement of learning
outcomes.
The Examination Commission should consider implementing procedures for agreeing alternative
assessment and examination arrangements when necessary that:
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are widely publicised and easy for students, parents, teachers and schools to follow;
operate with minimum delay and be provided at all examinations
allow flexibility in the conduct of the assessment;
protect the rigour and comparability of the assessment;
are applied consistently across the 2nd level sector;
be consistent with what is being provided at 3rd level education;
language waiver (rule 46 and forging language) criteria needs to be reviewed
are not dependent on students' individual financial/funding arrangements.
In addition the Examination Commission may wish to consider the following adjustments:
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flexibility in the balance between assessed course work and examinations;
additional time allowances, rest breaks and re-scheduling of examinations;
extended use of I.T. and A.T. for all groups of students with disabilities in examinations
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the availability of examinations or the presentation of assessed work in alternative formats
(e.g. modifying carrier language in the case of deaf students for example);
where a candidate's disability make it not possible for him or her to participate in a particular
mode of assessment ((an aural examination for a candidate with severe hearing impairment),
in which case it should be open to the candidate to apply for exemption from part of the
assessment procedure) alternative assessment mechanisms should be identified so all
students can be assessed equitably;
annotation of results should be removed, if alternative assessment mechanisms have been
identified then there is no need to treat students differently. A recommendation of the Advisory
Group should be that assessments of learning outcomes will only be allowed in State
Examinations if they have been ‘disability proofed’ and have been made effectively ‘disability
neutral’. Students with disabilities at 3rd level do not have annotation of there results
the provision of additional rooms and invigilators for those using alternative arrangements.
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