The Assessment Accommodation Request
You administer a written pre-employment assessment for a clerical position. Two days before the test, a candidate emails requesting extra time and a quiet room, stating they have a documented disability. Your office has an accommodations coordinator, but the coordinator is on leave and returns the day after the test. The test is offered only quarterly, and the next administration is in three months. The candidate says they will 'try to manage' without accommodations if necessary. Your written policy says accommodation requests must be routed through the coordinator.
1. What should you do with the request given the coordinator's absence and the quarterly schedule?
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Do not let the candidate 'try to manage' by default, and do not deny the request because the coordinator is out. First, acknowledge the request promptly and ask the candidate to submit documentation through the normal channel so the file is complete. Then determine whether anyone is designated to act for the coordinator in their absence; if so, route it there immediately. If no backup exists, escalate to the coordinator's supervisor or your own manager to get an acting decision-maker. The quarterly schedule raises the stakes: a delayed decision effectively denies the accommodation, so the timeline itself is a reason to escalate, not to wait. The judgment is recognizing that administrative absence and a rigid schedule must not become a de facto denial, and that the request should be preserved and routed rather than informally resolved.
2. If the acting decision-maker approves the accommodations on the morning of the test, what must you do to protect fairness and the record?
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Implement the approved accommodations exactly as specified (extended time, separate quiet room) and document what was provided, by whom, and when. Ensure the alternate setting does not compromise test security-separate proctoring, secure materials, and the same instructions and timing rules except where modified. Record the approval and the accommodation in the candidate file so the decision is auditable. If the approval comes too late to implement fully, document the limitation and consult the decision-maker about a remedy such as a later administration at no disadvantage to the candidate. The judgment is that granting an accommodation is only half the obligation; you must also deliver it consistently and leave a record showing the candidate was not disadvantaged relative to other test-takers.