To assist faculty in providing exam accommodations, the CAE operates a Testing Center. The most commonly accessed accommodations are extended time and a distraction-reduced environment. Students are expected to make their accommodation letters available via the Student Portal and book their exams during week one of each quarter (or no later than 7 days prior to first exam administration date).
What are CAE-approved Testing Accommodations?
Accommodations for tests mitigate the impact of barriers in the standard exam setting for students with disabilities, and allow students with disabilities to demonstrate their knowledge and skills. Exam accommodations might include assistive technology or auxiliary aids; additional time for the exam; or a distraction-reduced exam setting. In order to receive the testing accommodation once approved by a CAE Disability Specialist, students must make their requests for testing accommodations by releasing their accommodation letters via their CAE Student Portal. Any testing-related accommodations will be directly identified in the student's accommodation letter.
Important Considerations for Implementing CAE-approved Testing Accommodations
Faculty may have major questions about how to implement testing accommodations, particularly in circumstances where they may be responsible for parts or all of the implementation. Below are some common questions that we get that may help faculty looking for information on how to support the implementation of testing accommodations.
What Qualifies Under Extended Timing on Exams
The accommodation for “extra time on exams” is intended for assessments in the form of multiple choice, short-answer, and/or essay formats with a fixed time. This can apply to quizzes, midterms, and finals. The exam may take place physically in-person or remotely.
How Much Additional Time is Offered
The total time offered for every student in the class, regardless of the anticipated, expected, or average time of completion for all students, on an exam is the time that is used to determine the total time offered to a student with the extra time accommodation. As an example, a faculty member may design an exam to be completed in 2 hours, but they provide 3 hours total to the class to complete the exam. A student with 50% additional time in this situation should be provided 4.5 hours, not 3 hours, to complete the exam because everyone else in the class is offered 3 hours.
What Constitutes a Reduced-Distraction Testing Environment
The accommodation for "reduced-distraction testing environment" is usually interpreted to be a quieter room, with minimal movement or distractions both inside and outside the room. We often recommend that the room should have no more than 30 individuals in the room taking the exam and ideally would have 1/4 to 1/3 of the typical capacity of the room (7-10 students in a room that could typically hold 30 individuals). It's also critical to evaluate whether the room has the ability to produce further distractions despite all of these conditions, as typically is the case in a larger lecture hall. We always recommend that instructors consult with the Testing Center about whether the space they have in mind could facilitate reduced-distraction testing environment or rely on proctoring from the Testing Center directly.
What If Students Don't Sign-Up for Exams with the Testing Center and I Cannot Proctor the Exam in the Classroom
Students are required to schedule each individual exam with the Testing Center at least seven days in advance of . Though it is not advisable, instructors may choose to proctor accommodated exams in the classroom if they can ensure that all accommodations can be provided within that environment. However, an instructor that cannot proctor such exams may require that a student schedule their exams with the Testing Center and should emphasize that not scheduling within seven days of the exam day may prevent them from taking the exam at the Testing Center and consequently may prevent them from receiving their testing accommodations.
Instructors are not required to proctor accommodated exams for those students who failed to schedule exams in a timely manner upon their instruction to do so.
Guidance for Take-Home Assessments
If an exam is created as a take-home exam with an extended period of time to complete (e.g., a 24 hour window in which to initiate the exam), the extra time accommodation is not generally relevant. A take-home assessment that is structured to take place over multiple days will need to be assessed for accommodation needs on a case-by-case basis. Please contact the CAE counselor to ensure the student is adequately accommodated.
How Do I Implement Accommodations for an Online or Remote Exam
There are a variety of considerations an instructor should take into account when choosing an online modality for exams in the course and implementing accommodations:
Adding Additional Time to an Online Exam
Faculty are able to adjust times for students with an extra time accommodation in BruinLearn. Written instructions can be found at the following link: How to provide extra time on quizzes or, watch the video tutorial.
Administering Remote Exams:
For remotely administered exams, please visit our Guidelines for Extra Time Accommodation in the Remote Exam Environment for more information. If you have questions after reviewing these guidelines, please follow up with the student’s CAE Disability Specialist directly.
Important Considerations for CAE-Proctored Exams
While it is an instructor's responsibility to provide the student's approved testing accommodations, CAE does offer a Testing Center where staff may administer and monitor students' accommodated exams for your course. Below are some important considerations to effectively schedule and facilitate exams through the CAE Testing Center.
Scheduling Exams with the Proctoring Center
As of the Fall 2023 quarter, CAE requires that all students that require exam proctoring support book their own individual exams through CAE’s Student Portal. No longer will faculty be required to request testing assistance on behalf of their course/students. However, once our Testing Center receives an exam request from one of your CAE students, you will be notified via email with a link to our faculty portal, where you’ll need to confirm the exam booking, upload your exam and corresponding instructions. For assistance, please utilize the following online tutorial (Faculty Portal Tutorial).
Please note all CAE students must submit their exam requests no later than 7 days prior to each exam date.
Any booking attempts outside of this notice generally will NOT be accepted online and are not guaranteed to be accommodated by CAE as testing space is extremely limited. In preparation of the extreme volume of Final Exam requests, the link to book exams will be deactivated on Sunday, November 26th at 11:59pm. Should students miss this deadline, they have been notified they may need to make alternative arrangements with you.
How Faculty Can Ensure a Equitable Testing Experience for Students with Disabilities
Provide accurate exam dates in advance.
Discuss with CAE students how pop quizzes might be handled. CAE staff can assist with options that will meet your learning outcomes.
Provide exams in a timely fashion.
All exams & testing instructions should be provided as far in advance as possible. This ensures that CAE students are able to start their exams on time, without delays caused by retrieving exams at the last minute. If changes are made after uploading an exam, please notify the Testing Center immediately to ensure your student has the correct version of the exam. Please note that the CAE Testing Center does not receive exams via email, nor will CAE staff pick up exams from the classroom.
Provide access to information during exams.
If students in the classroom can ask the professor or TA questions during the exam, CAE students must have the same access during their exams in the Testing Center or other locations. Please provide contact information with your instructions in the Faculty Portal.
Instructors are responsible for implementing CAE-approved accommodations.
As instructors, faculty share responsibility for providing students with disabilities equal access to educational opportunities. The Testing Center assists UCLA faculty in fulfilling this mandate. Whenever possible, professors are encouraged to provide exam accommodations.
If you choose to have your department proctor the exam:
You may elect to provide the exam accommodation or to have personnel in your department provide the accommodation. Please refer to your student’s Letter of Accommodation to ensure that they receive the adjustment for which they have been approved. If you have any questions about exam proctoring, please contact the CAE Testing Center.
It may be appropriate to consider alternative assessments.
We also want to continue to encourage faculty, when possible, to consider implementing alternative exam formats that do not involve proctoring. Please review UCLA’s Alternative Assessment Recommendations for more information about alternative assessment ideas.