Guidelines
Basic requirements for disability documentation
The College Board Guidelines for Documentation lists the information that it considers fundamental in determining eligibility. Without the information, it is extremely difficult to determine if a student has a disability that requires accommodations, and whether specific accommodations meet a student's needs on our tests.
Seven guidelines for documentation
Documentation must:
- State the specific disability, as diagnosed. Diagnosis should be made by a person with appropriate professional credentials, should be specific, and, when appropriate, should relate the disability to the applicable professional standards, for example, DSM-IV.
- Be current. In most cases, the evaluation and diagnostic testing should have taken place within five years of the request for accommodations. For psychiatric disabilities, an annual evaluation update must be within 12 months of the request for accommodations. For visual disabilities, documentation should be within two years, and for physical/medical, an update must be within one year from the time of the request.
- Provide relevant educational, developmental, and medical history.
- Describe the comprehensive testing and techniques used to arrive at the diagnosis. Include test results with subtest scores (standard or scaled scores) for all tests. See Documenting Specific Disabilities for a listing of frequently used tests and what they measure.
- Describe the functional limitations. Explain how the disability impacts the student’s daily functioning and ability to participate in the test.
- Describe the specific accommodations being requested on College Board tests, including the amount of extended time required or the maximum amount of time the student can be tested in a day, if applicable. State why the disability qualifies the student for such accommodations on standardized tests.
- Establish the professional credentials of the evaluator (for example, licensure; certification; area of specialization).
For more information, see:
