LSAT accommodations question- Test construction

[RyanM12]

Hello,

I had a question as I will be seeking accommodations on the LSAT. (Hopefully I can get an answer from someone who is familiar with LSAC's new updated policies on accommodated testing).

Have there been any recent changes/or do you foresee any test design changes in the future( even slight ones) because of the lawsuit settlement and LSAC making it slightly easier to gain accommodations?

The new policy can make things a bit complicated because standardized tests measure different things: for example the GRE there is a high emphasis on vocabulary and math and if you don't know the words or know how to solve the problems granting a test taker extra time isn't going to help but on the LSAT granting extra time makes the problems easier to solve as time is a major issue for people with or without disabilities. (So I can understandably see why LSAC was tougher than the GRE makers on granting accommodations since the goal in the accommodations process is to make an even playing field for all test takers).

But LSAC currently has their hands tied behind their back in the sense that if a student gets double time on the GRE they will automatically receive double time on the LSAT because the new policy states that equivalent accommodations will be given on the LSAT as other standardized exams (which can be problematic as listed in the last paragraph)

I have noticed on recent LSATs there have been less inferences in LG's, a few rare games in LG; the conditional logic is still present but hidden in a subtler format...in these instances extra time has less of an effect on performance.....(I don't want to be guilty of a correlation/casuation error there because those changes could only merely be a part of the small tweaks the exam undergoes every few years....but I'm curious of if and how LSAC will respond to a higher % of test takers receiving accommodations)


Thanks as always for the great advice. ( I apologize in advance but my curiosity got to me when thinking about it)

[Jon Denning]

Hey Ryan,

That's certainly an interesting question, and I'm sure it's no surprise to learn that we've (as have many others) wondered the same thing since the new policies went into place.

However since they don't, perhaps can't in fact, at least as I understand it, release a ton of data on accommodated testers it's guesswork at best to say whether they're making the test harder to offset some perceived "advantage." And I put that word in quotes because the entire point of accommodated testing is that it doesn't advantage the extra-time student, but rather makes things more equitable due to the nature of what qualified them in the first place.

I'll still wager a guess though, and others may disagree (or even know truths on this that I don't): no, I don't think they're making the LSAT harder in order to combat against a larger number of accommodated students.

Instead I think what you're seeing is that the test is getting more subtle and in many cases obscure--as you note--to combat against a larger number of informed students. That's a tough thing to prove, but there's no denying that the amount of quality prep out there, much of it free these days, has skyrocketed in recent years, and if you're LSAC that's a concern.

So how do you fight back against an audience more aware of your typical patterns? Make the test a touch less obvious, or marginally less predictable (within the bounds of it still being reliably standardized). So I imagine that's what accounts for any increased difficulty people are facing.

In fact, I can go one further and say that at the very least I know LSAC routinely reads the advice that's out there and takes step to duck it. A very cat and mouse situation, which can be equal parts frustrating and fun

On a final, and more reassuring note: the good news in all of this is that the past several years’ worth of tests are still an entirely accurate reflection of what you’re certain to face. No significant changes or departures will occur without a huge window of prior notice from LSAC, so trust that what you're studying, and what you've been seeing, are wholly applicable to your upcoming test day.