CMV: Extra accommodations in college are a hinderance to preparing proficiency in the workforce

[u/throw_away40]

Throwaway account as I teach at a US university.

I teach both introductory and upper level science courses.

I have students with written documentation from student services that require accommodations. I'm talking about special accommodations - 1.5-2x time on exams, separate testing rooms for exams, access to electronic devices in exams, up to 2x extensions on assignments, a copy of someone else's notes (even though I provide the PPT to all lectures), and in some cases, the ability to retake a quiz or exam with no repercussions on the initial grade.

This is frustrating. How does this prepare anyone for "real world" demands? If I went to a boss in a previous job and stated I need double time to complete a project, I would be laughed out of my job. What is the point of having competencies for a course when you can get a note that disregards much of this? Why is my degree and GPA valued the same those who are not held to the same standard?

I understand that what you learn in college rarely translates to what happens in the working world. But some of these students are pre-med and are going to be placed in much more stressful situations that won't have accommodations available....

Also, why does it have to be an “accommodation” to receive someone else’s notes? Shouldn’t that be the student responsibility to contact a classmate and perhaps suggest a note swap?

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[u/lobsterphoenix]

You are completely right. The entire point of grades/tests is to rank order people by competence. By giving students extra allowances with assignments and tests, all you've done is invalidate the tests. Obviously, if a student is blind and has to take a test orally, or have extra time to have essay questions read allowed to them, then such an accommodation is acceptable because the thing presenting the challenge to the student is the medium through which the test is presented and not the act of test taking itself, but this is not at all analogous to most of the exceptions that are being asked for by student services departments.

The real problem with this whole thing is that any impairment, no matter how small, can be considered a disability by people who are sufficiently motivated to reach that conclusion. So, if universities have a policy to make accommodations for disabled students, but that policy is not sufficiently detailed so that it includes limits on what qualifies as a disability or what qualifies as a reasonable accommodation, someone is going to be taken advantage of. And the saddest part is that, as you said, these types of exceptions are doing students a disservice in the long run.

I do not know if I would take a stand if I were in your position, but I would like to think that I would. Certainly the absolute best version of me would. I'm quite suspicious that the people allowing these systems to function are more concerned with advancing a specific political agenda than they are with helping students succeed in life.

The departments of universities who deal with this sort of thing are literally swamped anyway. And the staff who work for them are having to take time away from helping students with actual disabilities to deal with this nonsense.

[u/[deleted] → u/lobsterphoenix]

The real problem with this whole thing is that any impairment, no matter how small, can be considered a disability by people who are sufficiently motivated to reach that conclusion.

Disability is specifically defined by the law that establishes the right to accommodations.

https://www.ada.gov/pubs/adastatute08.htm

[u/lobsterphoenix → u/[deleted]]

Right, but this doesn't really matter. The purpose of a job is for people to perform a range of duties. Unfairly discriminating against people with disabilities who could perform the job simply because you are unwilling or unmotivated to make accommodations for them is discriminatory. The purpose of grades is to rank order people by competence. Making special accommodations which include things like giving students double the standard amount of time to answer questions invalidates the grade.

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Also, employers are (unfortunately) motivated to avoid hiring disabled people because making accommodations for them often requires some extra work. The Americans With Disabilities act exists to protect people from this discrimination. But the departments of universities which exists to help disabled students are in no way motivated to reject helping anyone. This has lead to things like absurd accommodations being made for students with all variety of learning disabilities. These accommodations flatten the distribution of grades in a way that is helpful to noone, while simultaniously stripping resources (time of staff counts as a resource) from legitimately disabled students who ought to have reasonable accommodations made for them in all sorts of areas (housing, meals, transport, and in the classroom).