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All around the country, deaf and hard of hearing individuals are increasingly reporting difficulties passing professional licensure tests for teaching, counseling, therapeutic recreation, and a variety of other fields. Also presenting a roadblock to academic and professional advancement are competency tests which may be required for college exit or used in lieu of or along with discipline-specific licensing exams. In both cases the use of a single, high stakes measure is prohibiting many deaf and hard of hearing adults from demonstrating what they know and can do. Unfortunately, there has been no single breakthrough or precedent for resolving this situation, although a number of cases, including potential litigation, are in process at this time in several states. Until those are resolved, the recommended strategies for coping with this situation individually fall into two categories: (1) demanding appropriate accommodations for the existing test, and (2) demanding an alternative approach to testing.

Test Construction Issues

It is useful first, however, to .educate. licensure officials about the potential problems with standardized tests in relation to deaf and hard of hearing candidates, of which there are at least five:

• The use of words in ways that are not used frequently in other non-testing contexts,
• The use of rhyme or references to music, or items that presume full access to auditorially-based experiences, unless those are the constructs specifically being measured)
• The excessive use of figurative and colloquial English, particularly when there is insufficient redundancy to discern meaning from context, and when such language is irrelevant to the constructs being measured.
• The excessive use of complex sentences with multiple embedded dependent clauses, primarily for the purpose of increasing item difficulty and when irrelevant to the constructs being measured.
• Insufficient detail in the stem or stimulus of a multiple choice item to allow candidate to determine the correct answer from a several possible choices.

Two Strategies

(1) In the accommodations category, the common ones requested are additional time (to compensate for the extra effort needed by the deaf and hard of hearing test-taker to figure out meanings, given their lack of full access to English), and a sign language interpreter for test instructions as well as being present throughout the examination for any other questions that come up between the test-taker and the examiner that is monitoring the examination.

(2) However, for some deaf and hard of hearing persons, such accommodations are insufficient for providing an equitable testing situation. A multiple measures approach may level the playing field for deaf and hard of hearing candidates. This would entail states, academic institutions, and/or licensing bodies approving the use of other measures in addition to or instead of a high stakes standardized test. Such measures might include: (a) a portfolio of documents and artifacts that demonstrates teaching or professional competence in a variety of areas such as lesson planning and student assessment, and/or (b) observation on-the-job by a trained observer using a recognized classroom observation protocol in order to determine that the candidate is skilled at instruction with students or clients. Such alternatives have been proposed in several states.

Temporary Waivers

In either case, in order to achieve the time needed for agreement on either of the above approaches, the deaf and hard of hearing test-taker should immediately request a temporary waiver of the test requirement from the appropriate licensure agency or department. This strategy provides valuable time for attempting to work out a mutually agreeable solution and has been granted in Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts, among others, thus far. However, it should be stressed that such waivers are only temporary measures, while working on a true solution.

This Website will communicate further any developments which provide breakthroughs in this very important area, and would welcome further information on cases involving potential unfair discrimination.