Overview of Providing Testing Accommodations to Students
The Office of Accessible Education (OAE) coordinates alternative testing on behalf of BW faculty and staff for students with documented disabilities registered with our office. Students who intend to utilize their approved testing accommodations must notify instructors at least five (5) business days in advance. Students are encouraged to discuss their accommodation needs with you early in the semester so arrangements can be made.
OAE works diligently to make sure the exams are secure upon receipt. Tests will be administered in a room with video surveillance for observation. Students are not permitted access to personal belongings, including cell phones during exams and are only allowed to take materials you indicate on the Alternative Testing Agreement. Following administration, the test will be returned by the method that you indicated. Please feel free to visit the Testing Room and see our security features.
Instructors are welcome to provide alternative testing services to students. If you would like to provide accommodations directly to the student, OAE is happy to assist you in ensuring that the accommodations are in compliance with ADA AA.
Directions
Please be sure to complete the online Alternative Testing Form, which indicates your specific proctoring instructions. The link is in the bottom of the Letter of Accommodation. Please be sure to include all of the requested information, as OAE will not deviate from the instructions provided on the Alternative Testing Form without explicit instructions from the instructor. Students are given a 20 minute grace period to begin their test before being turned away.
1. Please make sure you indicate how our office will return the test to you. We strongly discourage allowing students to handle blank or completed exams. Once the student leaves our office with their exam, OAE is no longer responsible for the exam. All returned tests will be sealed in an envelope with special tamper resistant red tape. OAE will make every effort to scan and return exams within 24 hours of completion. We will include beginning and end test times, materials used and any incidents noted with the returned tests. Hard copies of exams will be shredded, unless we are provided other instructions.
2. Please do not calculate the extended time when listing the total minutes allowed for the class. Our online system will automatically calculate the extended time. We only need to the total minutes students in the classroom will be provided.
3. Please provide a number or email address where we can reach you directly during the exam, should any questions arise. This could be your cell phone or a classroom phone number. We will not share your personal information with the student.
Process and Procedures
If instructors are unable to provide alternative testing to students, the Alternative Testing Room can be utilized to proctor tests for students on your behalf. Please be advised: Students are entitled to accommodations by the process ONLY if they are registered with OAE. Please do not send students to receive testing accommodations unless they are registered with our office. OAE is happy to assist students by providing information on the registration process to determine their eligibility for accommodations. Below are the steps in this process:
1. Students will submit a Letter of Accommodation (LOA) request through our online accommodation system.
2. Students and instructors will schedule a time and discuss the LOA and how accommodations will be implemented for the course, including testing.
3. Students will use the online registration system to submit a test request five (5) business days prior to the exam.
4. Students must schedule at the same time as the class when possible. An alternate time may be requested if:
(a) the testing accommodation will overlap with another course, or
(b) the test falls outside of the Testing Room hours.
If the student requests a time outside of these two exceptions, you have the right to approve or deny the request, as you would do with any other student who requests to reschedule an exam.
5. Instructors receive automated emails when a student registers to take an exam in the Testing Room. Please review the information carefully.
6. Instructor submits testing materials to OAE utilizing a test submission link from AIM, our online accommodation system. If you are submitting your test electronically, please be sure that it is in a Word document format as we have students that require a reader as an accommodation. We use a reader program for this accommodation that works best with Microsoft Word.
7. OAE proctors and returns the exam according to the information included on the Alternative Testing Form.
Please contact our office at disability@bw.edu if you have any issues with completing the Alternative Testing Form. If you would like to discuss how we can work together to make the alternative testing process as smooth as possible for you, students with testing accommodations and OAE staff.