[blindlaw] text of LSAC's letter to accompany non-standard LSATadministration

Haben Girma habnkid at aol.com
Tue May 19 06:24:09 UTC 2009


Joseph, have you taken the LSAT?

T. Joseph Carter wrote:
> I don't see that as entirely practical.
>
> The test is visually biased and the stakes could not possibly be 
> higher.  If you want to take a gamble like that, knowing that the test 
> is designed for you to fail without the accommodation because it 
> depends upon visual processing skills, you go right ahead.
>
> One of the skills I think people entering college have often failed to 
> learn is knowing what they can honestly accomplish.  Many believe they 
> cannot do things that they can and will do.  Some believe they can do 
> things they cannot.
>
> I can already hear the response of, "How will you know until you 
> try?"  My answer is that a test that determines whether or not you are 
> deemed worthy of a particular career is not the time to be 
> experimenting.  If you know you can do it with the accommodation, but 
> don't know if you could do it without, take the accommodation for the 
> LSAT.  It's an artificial environment with artificial rules and an 
> artificial result.  Accommodations used therein have little bearing on 
> the "real world".
>
> Unless any of you have had major cases hinge upon how many gumballs 
> fit into a given shaped container or the other silliness I've seen on 
> practice exams.
>
> Joseph
>
>
> On Sun, May 17, 2009 at 08:03:24PM -0700, ckrugman at sbcglobal.net wrote:
>> It would almost be better for a blind to take the test without the 
>> extra  time accommodations if it is at all possible.
>> Chuck
>> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Stephanie Enyart" 
>> <stephanie_enyart at yahoo.com>
>> To: "'NFBnet Blind Law Mailing List'" <blindlaw at nfbnet.org>
>> Sent: Saturday, May 16, 2009 11:36 PM
>> Subject: Re: [blindlaw] text of LSAC's letter to accompany 
>> non-standard  LSATadministration
>>
>>
>>> Hello all,
>>> Since Haben asked about the type of communication that will 
>>> accompany any
>>> non-standard test (any test taken with extended time due to a 
>>> disability)
>>> here is a copy of what the LSAC sends with the score report to law  
>>> schools:
>>>
>>> "Dear Colleague:
>>> This candidate took a __fill in test date___ LSAT under nonstandard 
>>> timing
>>> conditions in order to accommodate his or her disability. The 
>>> nonstandard
>>> test this candidate received was administered on or about the same 
>>> test date
>>> as the corresponding standard administration.
>>> Because this candidate's score was earned under nonstandard timing
>>> conditions, it is important to note that the degree of comparability 
>>> of this
>>> score to scores earned under standard conditions cannot be 
>>> determined. The
>>> LSAC's Cautionary Policies Concerning LSAT Scores and Related Services
>>> explain:
>>> LSAC has no data to demonstrate that scores earned under accommodated
>>> conditions have the same meaning as scores earned under standard  
>>> conditions.
>>> Because the LSAT has not been validated in its various accommodated 
>>> forms,
>>> accommodated tests are identified as nonstandard, and an 
>>> individual's  scores
>>> from accommodated tests are not averaged with scores from tests 
>>> taken  under
>>> standard conditions. The fact that accommodations were granted for 
>>> the  LSAT
>>> should not be dispositive evidence that accommodations should be 
>>> granted
>>> once a test taker becomes a student. The accommodation needed for a  
>>> one-day
>>> multiple choice test may be different from those needed for law school
>>> course work and examinations."
>>>
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: blindlaw-bounces at nfbnet.org 
>>> [mailto:blindlaw-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
>>> Behalf Of Haben Girma
>>> Sent: Friday, May 15, 2009 9:39 AM
>>> To: NFBnet Blind Law Mailing List
>>> Subject: Re: [blindlaw] LSAT Accommodations?
>>>
>>>
>>> Is there a fact sheet out there that reveals what percentage of a
>>> university's student body is disabled?
>>>
>>> Haben
>>>
>>> James Pepper wrote:
>>>> They probably do that, I know that one of thee Coolge entrance 
>>>> exams does
>>>> it, but I am not sure if it is the SAT or the ACT but they inform the
>>>> schools eactly which devices were used to take the test.  I think 
>>>> it is
>>> both
>>>> of them.  This is how colleges can know who is disabled and who is not
>>>> without actually asking the student if they are disabled or not.  
>>>> It is a
>>>> great way to get around the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.
>>>> And this is good for colleges that do not have a high percentage of
>>> students
>>>> who are disabled because they will most certainly accept you once they
>>>> realize you are disabled, to satisfy their requirements to not be
>>> considered
>>>> discriminatory.  But your chances of graduating from that situation 
>>>> is not
>>>> as good as a college that accepts the disabled on a regular basis.  Of
>>>> course state schools are more likely to handle the disabled with 
>>>> respect,
>>>> since they are more in tune with the consequences of 
>>>> discriminiation. But
>>>> if you are competing with a lot of other disabled students to get 
>>>> into a
>>>> college that is a good college for the blind, then you will 
>>>> probably be
>>>> judged on your abilities based on being disabled and not the general
>>>> population.  Because they will probably only admit a certain amount of
>>>> students who are disabled as the disabled tend to cost the 
>>>> university a
>>> lot
>>>> more than non disabled.
>>>>
>>>> Since most people do not know they are doing this type of 
>>>> profiling, they
>>>> have gotten away with it since 1973.
>>>>
>>>> You all are lawyers, can you stop this nonsense because colleges 
>>>> accept
>>> the
>>>> blind and disabled in proportion to their numbers in the 
>>>> population, but
>>>> they don't graduate them in any proportion to the numbers they accept.
>>>>
>>>> James Pepper
>>>> _______________________________________________
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>>>>
>>>
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>>
>>
>>
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