Correct. There should not be a lot of additional work required by the guidance office. I send our guidance office documents all the time, since they also need to forward my evals to college admissions offices (who will then, as noted earlier, make their own determinations regarding ADA/Section 504 accommodations). And yes, if College Board requests a document, there's already a platform for uploading it. Autofill is a little more work, although I imagine it would not be all that difficult to create.
I don't want to downplay the value of clinical interpretation, though. For example, I have had a student who did not meet the conventional criteria for calculator accommodations (that is, they were able to perform fairly complex computations, including algebra and other multistep problems), but clearly would not be able to demonstrate their full mathematical ability on an on-demand assessment without one, since they completed all items with multiplication or division components by extremely laborious repeated addition. (Think, multiplying a one digit number by a three digit number by repeated addition of the one-digit number hundreds of times.) Standard scores in math calculations would suggest that this student was a little weak in computations, but not calculator weak. Clinical observation of what it took to attain that slightly below average score would suggest a very different conclusion. A math subtest that typically takes students of comparable intelligence and age about 10 minutes took something like an hour to complete. So there's a student for whom a calculator (and extended time, for that matter) accommodation would arguably allow for a more accurate picture of their college-readiness for math instruction, even though their scores might suggest on the face of it that those would be unfair advantages.
But certainly distributing the additional cost of hiring some more of my co-professionals to review evaluation documentation seems like it would be a worthwhile expense. Actually, if colleges paid into that system, it could potentially save them some costs on the campus end, since they have to pay staff to review the same documentation to make essentially the same accommodation decisions. College Board could potentially market it as an advisory service, and it would increase the predictive value (maybe) of testing for college performance, since it would address the issue also raised upthread about maintaining the same conditions for instruction. The only problem is that the scores are currently disability-blind (as they should be), so it would have to be something that students consent to after the admissions process is complete. But even so, it would simplify the college accommodations process to the click of a button. That's essentially what selective public high schools like my own do; admissions is competitive but disability-blind, but after we send and receive acceptances, sending schools forward their disability plans (IEPs and 504 accommodation plans).
Hm...I'll have to think about this a bit in case I am overlooking some critical civil rights or ethical difficulty.
Last edited by aeh; 04/01/21 02:48 PM.
