Calculator Advisory

Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 / Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973

Accommodating Students with Learning Disabilities

Requests for Use of Calculators on Math Placement / Proficiency Exams

ISSUE: This office has been asked to clarify the responsibility of the university to permit students with learning disabilities to use calculators as an accommodation during math placement examinations or, alternatively, to waive mathematics proficiency requirements for such students.

The University has a legal duty to provide appropriate academic adjustments to students with disabilities under Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) and under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended (Section 504). Academic adjustments are not appropriate if they supplement the very skills which the test is intended to measure. For example, permission to use an electronic spell- checker when required to write an essay on English literature might be an appropriate adjustment; however, the same accommodation would NOT be appropriate if the student is taking a spelling test.

With respect to mathematics placement and proficiency exams specifically, students should not be allowed to use calculators as an accommodation to a learning disability if a primary purpose of the exam is to measure computation. If computation is not the primary skill that the test is intended to measure, then an appropriate calculator may be permitted to accommodate a disability. The judgment as to whether assessing computation skills is a primary purpose should be made by the faculty member(s) or academic department responsible for the examination in question. Such judgments may not be arbitrary and should be supported with reference to existing documents (e.g., course descriptions, catalog copy, course syllabi or test manuals) related to the basic skills requirements or courses designed to teach such skills.

Alternatively, it has been suggested that students with learning disabilities affecting the acquisition of skills in math should be allowed to waive out of proficiency testing in math altogether. To the extent the purpose of proficiency testing is to insure that post-secondary students have basic skills in various subject matters as required by state mandates, neither the ADA nor Section 504 requires that such requirements be waived for students unable to satisfy them on account of a disability. Some academic units at Rutgers have nevertheless entertained requests from their students with learning disabilities to substitute proficiency in different but related subject matters (e.g. a logic or computer-programming course as a substitute for a mathematics course) as an accommodation to a disability. A decision to grant or deny such a request is within the discretion of the appropriate academic body (usually a scholastic standing committee) in each degree-granting unit. Before considering such a request, units are strongly advised to first verify the nature and severity of the individual student's learning disability through their designated Coordinator for the Concerns of Students with Disabilities. These Coordinators have access to a committee of university staff with expertise in the assessment of learning disabilities.

NOTE: For questions related to course substitution requests not related to proficiency requirements but rather to degree requirements, please consult the Advisory on Course Substitutions [March 2001 Release date].

This advisory should not be read as a basis to deny other appropriate adjustments or accommodations on placement / proficiency tests. Several types of accommodations are likely to be requested and will usually be appropriate. Common accommodations include providing extended time to complete test questions and permitting the student to take the examination in an isolated distraction-free setting. Some students might also request someone to transcribe answers for them on to a scantron sheet (common for individuals with dyslexia), or to have no more than one or two questions printed per page (common for some visual processing deficits).

When accommodations are provided for placement examinations, students should be advised that they will not automatically qualify for or receive the same accommodations in their classes, regardless as to whether they received such accommodations in high school. All accommodations in Rutgers courses must be requested and approved through the student's designated Coordinator for Services to Students with Disabilities.

For more information on the name of the Coordinator of Services for Students with Disabilities in each unit, or for disability services generally, please visit the web site of the Office of Diverse Community Affairs at http://www.rci.rutgers.edu/~divcoaff/ and click on Disability Resources.

For questions or information about this advisory or Rutgers' compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, please contact the Office of Compliance, Student Policy, Research & Assessment at (732) 932-7109.

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Last updated: 01/22/2008

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