Examining How Students With ADHD Use an Extended Time Accommodation on a Low-Stakes Math Assessment

Students with ADHD are often provided with an extended testing time accommodation due to various skill deficits. However, little empirical work has examined the ways in which students use their extra time, if at all, and how use relates to overall performance. Further understanding of how students use this accommodation in practice can help to inform accommodation decision-making procedures so that students with disabilities recieve the appropiate support to be able to demonstrate their underlying knowledge and skills on tests.

The current study utilized the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) 2017 eighth-grade process data to examine the use and nonuse of extended time accommodations among students with ADHD as well as among comparison groups.

Less than half of students with ADHD who were eligible for an extended time accommodation used it. Access to the accommodation, rather than actual use, corresponded to higher rates of test completion. Those students who spent more time on the final five items of the test performed better overall when compared to their peers.

Findings raise questions about the underlying needs of students with ADHD during testing and whether mere access to extended time sufficiently addresses those needs. Additional critical analysis of the provision and use of extended time for students with attention problems appears warranted. Implications for future research and practice are offered.