Hot take: I actually don't think these programs are well-designed! They are mostly built to "meet" institutions legal obligations to "accommodate" students with disabilities, without any evaluation of whether these students are actually being accommodated!
Also hi friend! Hope you are well :)
Instead of spinning conspiracy theories about rising numbers of students with disabilities, let’s use that energy to build better systems for the students who actually need them.
We've assumed that once students get accommodations, they're "accommodated". But until we consider a student’s ability to initiate, administer and advocate for their accommodations in their accommodation letters, students are still missing out.
A student with ADHD forgets to book a testing center appt. and loses their accommodation. A student's anxiety keeps them from sharing accommodations with profs.
If using accommodations requires skills make inherently harder by their disability, is the system working?
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They are clearly trying to whip up a moral panic about disability accommodations but this article doesn't include any data on accommodations.
Disability researcher here, reminding people again that students "gaming" the system for extra time aren't actually at an advantage--they don't perform better on well-written college exams if given extra time:
www.insidehighered.com/opinion/view...
Wow that is....wild
The two I've read have been decent, just needed some clarification and nuance added (without which the paper is hard to understand) nothing that bad
OK y'all--has everyone just given up on providing critical peer reviews? The last two papers I've reviewed I've listed several points of feedback and the other reviewer has just said "no notes looks good 👍"
Like, if we're not going to be good reviewers why bother doing it?
My advisor is pretty freakin neat y'all! If you teach, or are wondering what the data say about creating inclusive spaces in higher education, the research coming out of the Brownell lab is a great place to go!
it's the AI PRFB now 🙃
A line graph showing the number of new and competitive renewal awards for fiscal years 2021-2026. The curve for fiscal year 2026 is essentially zero on this scale with 121 awards compared to close to 3000 awards to the same date in earlier years.
These are the curves for new and competitive renewal grants.
The number of new awards is increasing slightly, but only slightly.
17 out of 25 institutes and centers with funding authority have now made awards.
3/4
A line graph showing funding curves for all NIH non-competitive renewal awards for fiscal years 2021-2026. The curve for fiscal year 2026 is lagging behind those for previous fiscal years with the rate slightly lower than for previous years.
These are the curves for non-competitive renewal grants.
The curve for fiscal year 2026 is still lagging behind, in part because of the government shutdown and in part because of what appears to be a somewhat lower rate of grant issuance.
2/4
Like "oh my friend will take pictures of the board so I dont have to go to class"
There is a group of professors that don't want to let students take lecture materials (ie slides, notes on the board, etc.) out of class because they think it will discourage students from going to class.
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Excited to see continued coverage of our recent article on how American kestrels can improve food safety and reduce crop damage on cherry farms: insideclimatenews.org/news/2201202...
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100%! Extended time on exams is almost certainly helpful for some students, but it unlikely to benefit the vast majority who are assigned them--they probably need some other accommodation that hasn't been considered before.
THANK YOU! It makes me SO mad that we're out here arguing about whether students are faking their disabilities or not (Spoiler: they aren't) and not paying NEARLY enough attention as to whether this is actually a truly useful accommodation.
www.insidehighered.com/opinion/view...
Hi @theatlantic.com, this is a fun piece and all--but its not based on facts: No student (with or without a disability) benefits from extra time on tests. Whether they are "faking" their disability or not, they're certainly not gaining an advantage.
www.insidehighered.com/opinion/view...
Late response but hi! That's exactly what the data support too--no student benefits from extra time on well-written exams:
www.insidehighered.com/opinion/view...
Very belated response but hello! We TOTALLY agree--extra time on tests is the easiest accommodation for institutions to provide, and the data shows it doesn't actually help. Our students deserve better!
www.insidehighered.com/opinion/view...
Very late reply, but hi! We wrote a piece proving that, in fact, this IS NOT true! No student benefits from extra time on well-written college exams.
www.insidehighered.com/opinion/view...
A photo of an hourglass with mustard yellow-colored sand, signifying time running out, against a dark green background.
Opinion | Gaming the System? Extended Time on Tests Is Often a Waste of Time
Extra time on a well-designed college exam rarely benefits anyone. https://bit.ly/49RKoHP
#EDUSky #HigherEd #AcademicSky
Totally! This is a classic case of a direct solution: Can't sit through a 90min lecture? make the lecture shorter. Can't stare at a screen to write a paper? don't!
I wish there were clear examples of how to support students whose symptoms are less clear (i.e. "I struggle to focus")
This is a great idea, and excellent for students with processing speed disorders: they may not have figured it out the first time, but have a much better understanding by the third try.
So if not extra time, then what? Students clearly need SOMETHING—but we’ve leaned on this single accommodation for decades, which means other scalable options haven’t gotten much attention.
Genuinely asking: Instructors + students with disabilities: what’s actually worked for you?
Here's what gets me: students with disabilities are told extra time “levels the playing field,” but it doesn’t. We know their conditions make learning harder, so imagine thinking you’re getting support but still struggling. I wonder how many leave higher ed thinking they just weren’t cut out for it.
What gets far less attention is this: the data show that students who DO have disabilities (like ADHD and anxiety) also don't benefit from the extra time. That suggests we’re offering an accommodation that sounds helpful, but doesn't actually do much for students.
