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How do I make arrangements for religious accommodations?

Candidates whose religious convictions prohibit them from testing on the regularly scheduled examination date may qualify to take the exam on an alternate date. Requests for accommodations based on religious faith must meet the following requirements.

How do I make arrangements for ADA accommodations?

NCEES provides reasonable accommodations for individuals who have one or more documented disabilities within the meaning of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990. If you have a documented disability covered under the ADA and require test accommodations, the following requirements apply:

The guidelines in the following sections will help ensure that you complete your documentation correctly:

A. General Guidelines for Accommodations
NCEES will provide accommodations for candidates who provide appropriate and timely documentation from a qualified professional of their disability and its effect on their ability to take the exam under standard conditions. The following information should help you in completing your request for accommodations:

•  Definition of Disability
•  Accommodations Available
•  Documentation Required

Definition of Disability
The ADA defines disability as a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities, such as walking, seeing, hearing, or learning. Having a diagnosed impairment does not necessarily mean that an individual is disabled within the meaning of the ADA, and not all disabilities require test accommodations.

Accommodations Available
Under the ADA, entities that administer standardized examinations must offer the examinations in a place and manner that are accessible to persons with disabilities. This may require reasonable modifications to the manner in which the test is administered. Available accommodations include but are not limited to the following:

•  Reader
•  Scribe
•  Extended testing time
•  Auxiliary aids and services, such as large-print type
•  Extra breaks

The goal of test accommodations is to ensure that the test results of an individual with documented disabilities “accurately reflect the individual's aptitude or achievement level or whatever other factor the examination purports to measure, rather than reflecting the individual's impaired sensory, manual or speaking skills (except where those skills are the factors that the test purports to measure).“ (ADA Regulations)

The goal of NCEES is to provide all qualified candidates access to the testing program. This includes disabled candidates who demonstrate functional limitations that affect their ability to take the exam.

Documentation Required
The purpose of documentation is to demonstrate that the individual is covered under the ADA and has a legitimate need for accommodations. It is important, therefore, that documentation provide a clear explanation of the impairment and rationale for special accommodations.

You must submit a request form and other documentation to NCEES in writing each time you apply to take an NCEES exam with accommodations. Be sure to submit the form that applies to your situation—either a first-time request or a subsequent request for accommodations.

If you are requesting accommodations from NCEES for the first time, you must complete the Questionnaire for Candidates Requesting Test Accommodations; a personal statement describing your disability and its impact on your daily life, your educational functioning, and your ability to take the NCEES exam under standard conditions; a Certification of Prior Test Accommodations form if appropriate; and documentation from qualified professionals to support your need for accommodations. You must submit documentation from a qualified medical or psychological professional (an evaluator) in addition to the Certification of Prior Test Accommodations from your college or university. The Certification of Prior Test Accommodations form alone is not sufficient. To prevent delays in processing your application, carefully read the criteria for documentation that is given below.

If you have received test accommodations for an NCEES exam within the last three years and would like to request accommodations again, you must complete the Form for Requesting Subsequent Test Accommodations and supply any necessary documentation to support your request for accommodations. You must submit this form to receive accommodations again, regardless of any previous accommodations you have received from NCEES.

All documentation submitted in support of a request for accommodations must meet the following criteria.

B. Guidelines for Accommodations Based on Learning Disabilities
The following information is provided to clarify the documentation process for candidates submitting a request for accommodations based on a learning disability or other cognitive impairment. Objective evidence of a substantial limitation in cognition or learning must be provided. At a minimum, the comprehensive evaluation should include the following:

•  Diagnostic Interview
•  Psycho-educational Evaluation

Diagnostic Interview
Because learning disabilities are commonly manifested during childhood, though not always formally diagnosed, relevant historical information regarding the individual's academic history and learning processes in elementary, secondary, and postsecondary education should be documented. The report should include a summary of a comprehensive diagnostic interview with relevant background information to support the diagnosis. In addition to the candidate's self-report, the report should include the following as applicable:

Psycho-educational Evaluation
The psycho-educational evaluation must be submitted on the letterhead of a qualified professional and must provide clear and specific evidence that a learning or cognitive disability does exist. The evaluation must consist of a comprehensive battery of appropriate tests, and the diagnosis must be based on the aggregate of test results, history, and level of current functioning. It is not acceptable to base a diagnosis on only one or two subtests. Tests must be appropriately normed for the age of the patient and must be administered in the designated standardized manner.

Minimally, the domains to be addressed in the psycho-educational or neuropsychological evaluation should include the following:

Actual test scores must be provided (standard scores where available), and norms used to interpret the data need to be identified. It is helpful to list all test data in a score summary sheet appended to the evaluation.

A differential diagnosis must be reviewed, and various possible alternative causes for the identified problems in academic achievement should be ruled out. The evaluation should address key constructs underlying the concept of learning disabilities and provide clear and specific evidence of the information-processing deficit(s) and how these deficits currently impair the individual's ability to learn. No single test or subtest is a sufficient basis for a diagnosis.

The differential diagnosis must demonstrate that the candidate has significant difficulties in acquiring and using listening, speaking, reading, writing, or reasoning skills and that the difficulties are not primarily caused by lack of exposure to the behaviors needed for academic learning or to an inadequate match between the individual's ability and the instructional demands.

A well-written clinical summary based on a comprehensive evaluative process is a necessary component of the report. Assessment instruments and the data they provide do not diagnose; rather, they provide important data that should be integrated with background information, historical information, and current functioning. The following elements must be included in the clinical summary:

Problems such as test anxiety, English as a second language (in and of itself), slow reading without an identified underlying cognitive deficit, or failure to achieve a desired academic outcome are not learning disabilities and therefore are not covered under the ADA.

The evaluator must describe the impact that the diagnosed learning disability has on a specific major life activity, as well as the degree of significance of this impact on the individual. The diagnostic report must include specific recommendations for accommodations and a detailed explanation as to why each accommodation is recommended. Recommendations should be tied to specific test results or clinical observations. The documentation should include any record of prior accommodations or auxiliary aids, including any information about specific conditions under which the accommodations were used and whether they were effective. However, a prior history of accommodation, particularly in a context other than taking a standardized test, without demonstration of a current need, does not in and of itself warrant the provision of a like accommodation. If no prior accommodations have been provided, the evaluator should include a detailed explanation as to why accommodations were not used in the past and why accommodations are needed at this time.

C. Guidelines for Accommodations Based on Attention-Deficit/
Hyperactivity Disorder
Evaluations for accommodations based on Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) must include the following:

•  Assessment by a Qualified Evaluator
•  Current Testing/Assessment
•  Comprehensive Documentation
•  Relevant Assessment Batteries
•  Review of DSM–IV Criteria
•  Specific Diagnosis
•  Clinical Summary
•  Rationale for Accommodations

Assessment by a Qualified Evaluator
As with other disabilities, the evaluation must be conducted by a qualified evaluator. Professionals conducting assessments and rendering diagnoses of ADHD must be qualified to do so. Comprehensive training in the differential diagnosis of ADHD and other psychiatric disorders and direct experience in diagnosing and treating adults is necessary. The evaluator's name, title, and professional credentials, including information about his or her license or certification as well as the area of specialization, employment, and state in which the individual practices should be clearly stated in the documentation.

Current Testing/Assessment
Testing/assessment must be current. The determination of whether an individual is significantly limited in functioning is based on how the impairment currently affects the individual's ability to take an exam (see Section A, General Guidelines for Accommodations).

Comprehensive Documentation
Documentation substantiating the ADHD must be comprehensive. Because ADHD is, by definition, first exhibited in childhood (although it may not have been formally diagnosed) and in more than one setting, objective, relevant, historical information is essential. Information verifying a chronic course of ADHD symptoms from childhood through adolescence to adulthood—such as educational transcripts, report cards, teacher comments, tutoring evaluations, job assessments, and the like—are necessary.

Relevant Assessment Batteries
A neuropsychological or psycho-educational assessment may be necessary in order to determine the individual's pattern of strengths or weaknesses and to determine whether there are patterns that support attention problems. Test scores or subtest scores alone should not be used as the sole basis for the diagnostic decision. Scores from subtests on the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale–III (WAIS–III), memory functions tests, attention or tracking tests, or continuous-performance tests do not in and of themselves establish the presence or absence of ADHD. They may, however, be useful as one part of the diagnostic process. Checklists and/or surveys can supplement the diagnostic profile but by themselves are not adequate for the diagnosis of ADHD. When testing is used, standard scores must be provided for all normalized measures.

Review of DSM–IV Criteria
The diagnostic report must include a review of the DSM–IV criteria for ADHD both currently and retrospectively and specify which symptoms are present (see DSM–IV for specific criteria). According to DSM–IV, “the essential feature of ADHD is a persistent pattern of inattention and/or hyperactivity-impulsivity that is more frequent and severe than is typically observed in individuals at a comparable level of development.“ Other criteria include the following:

Specific Diagnosis
The report must include a specific diagnosis of ADHD based on the DSM–IV diagnostic criteria. Individuals who report problems with organization, test anxiety, memory, and concentration only on a situational basis do not fit the prescribed diagnostic criteria for ADHD. The use of any medications, and their effectiveness, should be reported. A positive response to medication by itself is not supportive of a diagnosis, nor does the use of medication in and of itself support or negate the need for accommodation.

Clinical Summary
A well-written clinical summary based on a comprehensive evaluative process is a necessary component of the assessment. The clinical summary must be written by the qualified evaluator and must include the following:

Rationale for Accommodations
The evaluator must describe the impact of ADHD (if one exists) on a specific major life activity, as well as the degree of significance of this impact on the individual. The diagnostic report must include a specific, detailed explanation as to why each accommodation is recommended and should be correlated with specific identified functional limitations. Documentation should address the need for accommodations based on the individual's current level of functioning. The documentation should include any record of prior accommodations or auxiliary aid, including information about specific conditions under which the accommodation was used (for example, standardized testing, final exams). However, a prior history of accommodation without demonstration of a current need does not in and of itself warrant the provision of a similar accommodation. If no prior accommodation has been provided, the qualified professional and/or individual being evaluated should include a detailed explanation as to why no accommodation was used in the past and why accommodation is needed at this time.

Because of the challenge of distinguishing ADHD from normal developmental patterns and behaviors of adults—including procrastination, disorganization, distractibility, restlessness, boredom, academic underachievement or failure, low self-esteem, and chronic tardiness or inattendance—a multifaceted evaluation must address the intensity and frequency of the symptoms and whether these behaviors constitute an impairment in a major life activity.