LSAC Resources - Research

Accommodated Test-Taker Trends and Performance for the June 2007 Through February 2012 LSAT Administrations (TR 12-01)

by Laura A. Lauth, Andrea Thornton Sweeney, and Lynda M. Reese

Executive Summary

The Law School Admission Council provides accommodated testing conditions for each administration of the Law School Admission Test (LSAT) for those test takers with documented disabilities who are unable to take the test under standard testing conditions. The accommodations granted are tailored to the needs of the individual test taker. This report describes trends with regard to accommodated testing for the LSAT and summarizes the performance of accommodated test takers for the 2007–2008 through 2011–2012 LSAT testing years. Specifically, the most recent data with regard to the number and types of LSAT accommodations being requested and granted, as well as the distribution of accommodation requests across the various disability classifications represented, are summarized. In addition, the composition of the sample of accommodated test takers is described with regard to gender, race/ethnicity, and age, and where appropriate, compared to the standard test-taking population. The LSAT performance of accommodated test takers is also summarized and compared to the performance of the standard test-taking population. Finally, the performance of repeat accommodated test takers is summarized and discussed. In some analyses, accommodated test takers are categorized in terms of whether they did or did not receive extra testing time—those with accommodations who received extra testing time (Accommodated/Extra Time subgroup) are considered separately from those with accommodations who did not receive extra testing time (Accommodated/Standard Time subgroup).

Some of the most relevant trends observed with regard to accommodated test takers for the 2007–2008 through 2011–2012 testing years are summarized below.

Trends With Regard to the Request and Approval of LSAT Accommodations

• The number of requests for accommodated testing conditions varied across the 5 testing years, peaking at 2,479 in 2008–2009 and declining to 1,827 in 2011–2012.
• The number of approved accommodation requests remained fairly stable across the 5 testing years, averaging around 1,125 per year and representing between 48% and 55% of the accommodation requests received. The proportion of those who received an approved accommodation request and who then took an accommodated LSAT remained stable, ranging between 65% and 72% across the study years.
• The Learning Disorder classification comprised the largest number of test takers for all testing years included in this sample.
• Most accommodated test takers (90%) used the standard test booklet rather than the large-print or Braille test booklet formats.
• The most common accommodations granted were extra testing time, extra rest time, and use of a computer for the writing sample of the LSAT.
• For both the multiple-choice and writing sample sections, Time-and-a-Half (i.e., 53 minutes per multiple-choice section) was the accommodation category most frequently approved for all test administrations in this study, steadily rising across the 5 study years.
• For all 5 years covered by this report, accommodated test takers had enough time on average to finish the multiple-choice sections and writing sample.

Demographic Trends

• There were more male than female accommodated test takers in the sample analyzed here, whereas male and female test takers tended to be approximately equally represented in the standard test-taking population in the same study period.
• The proportion of Caucasian test takers was higher in the accommodated group than in the standard test-taking population, while African American, Asian, and Hispanic/Latino accommodated test takers were underrepresented in this group compared to the standard test-taking population.
• There was a greater proportion of older age categories in the accommodated testing group than is typically observed in the standard test-taking population.

Performance of Accommodated Test Takers

• Accommodated/Extra Time test takers tended to have slightly higher LSAT scores than the standard test-taking population, while Accommodated/Standard Time test takers tended to have lower LSAT scores than the standard test-taking population.

Repeat Accommodated Test Takers

• Test takers who tested twice under Accommodated/Extra Time testing conditions exhibited slightly higher score gains on average than is typically observed for the standard test-taking population, while those who switched from standard to Accommodated/Extra Time testing conditions exhibited very high score gains on average.

Note that the trends presented in this report are purely descriptive in nature. While trends with regard to the accommodated test-taking population have been described and compared to the standard test-taking population, the explanation of the underlying causes of any differences observed is beyond the scope of this report. More specifically, those included in the sample of accommodated test takers being analyzed are, in several respects, self-selected. These test takers chose to take the LSAT and to request accommodated testing conditions, and then self-reported their group membership with regard to such factors as gender, race/ethnicity, and age.

• Full Research Report (PDF)