Wadley, M., & Liljequist, L. (2013). The effect of extended test time for students with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder . Journal of Postsecondary Education and Disability , 26 (3), 263–271. https://www.ahead.org/professional-resources/publications/jped

Journal Article
Wadley, M., & Liljequist, L. (2013). The effect of extended test time for students with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. Journal of Postsecondary Education and Disability, 26(3), 263–271. https://www.ahead.org/professional-resources/publications/jped

Notes

[no doi reported]; also located on ERIC online database: https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1026889

Tags

Attention problem; College entrance test; Extended time; Learning disabilities; Math; No disability; Postsecondary; Student survey; U.S. context

URL

https://www.ahead.org/professional-resources/publications/jped

Summary

Accommodation

The accommodation under investigation was extended-time. The participant groups were informed at the beginning of the test session either that they were being given the standard administration time or that they were being given twice the amount of the standard administration time; both conditions were provided with 45 minutes to complete the test.

Participants

A total of 129 postsecondary students—including 61 students with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and 68 students without ADHD—participated. Other demographics reported were gender, age, ethnicity, and status with other disabilities—about 15% reported having learning disabilities.

Dependent Variable

Mathematics postsecondary placement examination scores, as measured by the Kentucky Online Testing program (KYOTE), were compared among the participant groups to discern the effects of accommodations conditions. [Note: Although typically administered online, paper forms of the exam were administered in the study.] Also, participants completed two measures of moods and emotions, the Positive Affect Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS; Watson, Clark, & Tellegen, 1988) and the State Self-Esteem Scale (SSES; Heatherton & Polivy, 1991). Students' previous mathematics performance were not collected independently of the KYOTE.

Findings

Participants with ADHD scored lower on average, and took longer, on the math placement exam than participants without ADHD. Students with ADHD also had a lower self-esteem score than students without ADHD. Participants with ADHD did not differ significantly across the accommodation conditions; further, they used about the same amount of time, on average, whether they were told they had the standard administration time or the extended-time accommodation. Finally, all participants, with or without ADHD, did not use all, or even nearly all, the time allotted (45 minutes in both conditions). Limitations of the study were reported, and future research directions were suggested.