How Much Extra Time Do Visually Impaired People Need to Take Examinations: The Case of the SAT

Abstract

This study examined the amount of time used by blind and visually impaired examinees to take special administrations of the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT), in comparison to those with other types of disabilities. Results showed that visually impaired individuals using cassette or braille versions of the SAT used considerably more time, on average, than both those with visual impairments who used regular or large print versions of the test and those with other types of disabilities. On average, visually impaired examinees taking braille or cassette versions of the test use more than twice the time given non-disabled people to complete the exam; those using large or regular type use a little less than double time.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

American Psychological Association (1985). Standards/or educational and psychological testing. Washington, D.C.: Author.

Centra

(1986). Handicapped student performance on a timed vs. untimed SAT. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 19(6), 324–328.

Foulke

, & Berla

E.P.

(1978). Visual impairment and the development of perceptual ability. In Walk

R.D.

, & Pick

H.L.

Jr. , Perception and experience. New York: Plenum Press.

Packer

(1987). SAT testing time for students with disabilities. Princeton: Educational Testing Service.

Ragosta

, & Kaplan

(1986). A survey of handicapped students taking special test administrations of the SAT and GRE. Princeton: Educational Testing Service.

Swineford

(1974). The test analysis manual. Princeton: Educational Testing Service.

Willingham

W.W.

, Ragosta

, Bennett

RE.

, Braun

, Rock

D.A.

, & Powers

D.E.

(1988). Testing handicapped people. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.