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49 Seton Hall L. Rev. 679 (2018-2019)
Test Validity: Faster Is Not Necessarily Better

handle is hein.journals/shlr49 and id is 679 raw text is: Test Validity: Faster is Not Necessarily Better Ruth Colker* This Article argues that we should change the default rule for standardized testing: Test developers should not be allowed to implement speeded exams that adversely impact individuals with disabilities unless test developers can validate the time limits. Applying principles developed under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to the Americans with Disabilities Act, test developers should need to demonstrate that a speeded, standardized exam is a valid predictor of the desired skills and abilities, and that no less-impactful alternative, such as a non-speeded exam, is available to measure those skills and abilities. The shifting of the default rule to non-speeded exams would mark the implementation of a new, universal design principle that would make standardized testing more equitable for a range of people, including racial minorities, women, people with low socio-economic status, older applicants, and individuals with disabilities. Testing entities should devise non-speeded exams that can validly measure the skills and abilities of the entire applicant pool, rather than continue to place the burden on people with disabilities to meet onerous and expensive standards to request extended time. This solution is novel, simple, and fair. * Distinguished University Professor and Heck-Faust Memorial Chair in Constitutional Law, Moritz College of Law, The Ohio State University. I would like to thank Moritz Law Librarian Stephanie Ziegler for her assistance in collecting some of the sources cited in this Article, Ric Simmons, Jasmine Harris, Dan Tokaji, Dakota Rudesill, Sasha Samberg- Champion, Nancy Mathers, and David Levine for their helpful feedback on an earlier draft, and Professor Guy Rub for administering a survey to our students about their experiences taking the LSAT. I would also like to thank the faculty at University of California, Davis, and the Moritz College of Law for their helpful comments at a faculty workshop. Finally, I would like to thank the staff at the Law School Admissions Council who met with me on June 20, 2018, to discuss many of the ideas presented in this Article and are currently considering a grant proposal to assess the validity of the speeded aspect of the LSAT.

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