College Testing
High Stakes Test Accommodations
and College and University Disciplinary Disputes
About
About Our College Testing Practice Area
Our practice has experience dealing with a variety of problems encountered by students applying for or enrolled in college or university. Some of these problems are related to students that are in disciplinary trouble for academics, such as being put on academic probation, or non-academic reasons, such as being accused of a conduct violation or plagiarism, or have a dispute with the school about credit or their enrollment status. These cases are typically handled through a combination of the college or university’s grievance/appeal procedures or through direct appeal to the administration to work out the problem.
Many of our higher education cases relate to students with disabilities. We handle many cases involving students with disabilities that have been denied accommodations on college or graduate school entrance exams, such as the ACT, SAT, LSAT, GMAT, or MCAT exam. We also have represented individuals with disabilities that have been denied accommodations on various licensing exams, such as the USMLE exams or the bar exam.
Equally important, we assist many students with disabilities that require reasonable accommodations from their college or university. In some instances, this occurs where the student has not yet disclosed their disability and needs advice as to whether to do so. In other cases, the student has applied for accommodations and been denied or has been given accommodations and they weren’t implemented or weren’t sufficient. At times, this can result in the student being subject to probation or dismissal. In some instances, students with disabilities are diagnosed late. We offer advice on what documentation is needed to substantiate the presence of the disability and evidence that it substantially limits one or more major life activities and whether the individual has a realistic chance of proving their claim for accommodation. We have utilized a variety of strategies and legal procedures to assist students in all these situations.
Depending on the nature of the case and the school involved, these cases may involve advocacy using the Americans with Disabilities Act, Section 504, the school’s own policies, procedures, contract and marketing material, or provisions of state law.
In some instances, we also can provide assistance to students with disabilities and their families in identifying reasonable accommodations or in finding schools that have programs that have more intense or specialized support for students with disabilities or in connecting them with clinical or educational professionals that can assist with the process.