Wright, N., & Wendler, C. (1994, April). Establishing timing limits for the new SAT for students with disabilities [Paper presentation]. Annual meeting of the National Council on Measurement in Education, New Orleans, LA, United States. https://eric.ed.gov/?q=ED375543

Research report (ERIC document reproduction service no. ED 375 543)

The purpose of the paper was to report the results of a SAT I field trial which examined test performance and efficiency of test timing for students with disabilities. The test was available in Braille, large-type, regular-type, audio recording (cassette tape), and reader's script version; calculators were also permitted, yet scores were not analyzed separately for this available support.

The sample consisted of 1,113 junior and senior high school students from 100 participating schools across the nation (U.S.). Data from students with the following disabilities were analyzed: visual impairments (including blindness), hearing impairments (including deafness), learning disabilities, physical disabilities, and psychological/emotional impairments.

The SAT I Reasoning Test, with three verbal and three mathematical sections, served as the dependent variable. Data on speededness of test-takers were collected. Student participants were also surveyed about their testing experiences.

Despite inconsistencies in methodology, some information about restrictive timing on an SAT was derived from the field trial. For example even with section timing being imposed, the great majority of students were able to complete the entire test section. This can be used to guide counselors in determining the amount of time a student might need when taking individual administrations of the SAT I. In addition, it became apparent that running some test formats requires more time per section than other formats. It takes more time to run a cassette tape due to time required to rewind tapes and students using large-print appear to have disabilities whose nature requires more visual processing time.