Jump to section menu Jump to page content
Jump to page content
Home > College Board Tests > Services for Students with Disabilities > Diagnosis & Functional Limitations

Diagnosis and Functional Limitations

The College Board considers a specific diagnosis of a disability and description of functional limitations (impact on learning resulting from the disability) as fundamental components in determining that you are eligible for accommodations on College Board tests, and what accommodations appropriately meet your individual needs. The following are answers to questions about the components of a specific diagnosis and of functional limitations.

What is expected to be included in a specific diagnosis?

A specific diagnosis is made by a person with professional credentials/certification appropriate to make the diagnosis(es) (e.g., psychiatric disability: psychiatrist/ psychologist; LD: educational/neuro/clinical psychologist; visual disability: ophthalmologist). The diagnosis is specific and, when appropriate, relates the specific disability to the applicable professional standards (e.g., DSM-IV TR for AD/HD and psychiatric diagnoses).

What are functional limits that need to be part of my disability documentation?

Your functional limitations in learning must result from your disability. They address, specifically, how your daily academic functioning is impacted. Historical information (developmental, educational, and/or medical history) and standardized tests using national norms support both the diagnosis and functional limitations. Also, your teachers' observations support the functional limitations in the academic progress you make in the classroom.

What are some of the most commonly used tests/measures to help understand a student's disability and functional limitations?

Any one of the following to measure a student's cognitive abilities:

  • Weschler Adult Intelligence Scale-III (WAIS-III) or Weschler Intelligence Scale for Children-IV (WISC-IV)
  • Woodcock Johnson Psycho-educational Battery-III (WJ-III): Tests of Cognitive Ability
  • Stanford Binet Intelligence Scale - 5th Edition
  • Kaufman Adolescent and Adult Intelligence Test

Any one of the following to measure a student's academic achievement:

  • Reading
    • Woodcock-Johnson-III: Tests of Academic Achievement (General and Extended batteries that include fluency measures)
    • Scholastic Abilities Test for Adults (SATA)
    • Stanford Diagnostic Reading Tests (SDRT)
    • Wechsler Individual Achievement Test (WIAT II) with reading rate measure
  • Mathematics
    • Woodcock-Johnson-III: Tests of Academic Achievement (General and Extended batteries including fluency measures)
    • Scholastic Abilities Test for Adults (SATA)
    • Wechsler Individual Achievement Test II (WIAT II)
  • Written Language
    • Woodcock-Johnson-III: Tests of Academic Achievement (General and Extended batteries including fluency measures)
    • Scholastic Abilities Test for Adults (SATA)
    • Wechsler Individual Achievement Test (WIAT II)
    • Test of Written Language III (TOWL-III)

Any one of the following to measure a student's academic skills in timed testing settings:

  • Nelson Denny Reading Test with normal time and extra time measures
  • Gray Oral Reading Test IV (GORT IV)
  • Gray Oral Silent Reading Test (GRST)
  • Stanford Diagnostic Reading Test (SDRT)
  • Stanford Diagnostic Math Test (SDMT)
  • Woodcock-Johnson III Fluency Measures

When the above timed achievement tests are administered under standardized conditions, and when the results are interpreted within the context of other diagnostic information, they provide useful diagnostic information regarding testing accommodations such as extended testing time. A low processing speed score alone, however, usually does not indicate the need for testing accommodations. In this instance, what would be important is to include in the documentation how the low processing speed impacts your overall academic skills under timed conditions.

Note: The Wide Range Achievement Test-3 (WRAT-3) is a screening tool only and does not meet the psychometric criteria to diagnose a disability and/or establish functional limitations.

Any one of the following to measure a student's information processing:

  • Detroit Tests of Learning Aptitude-3 (DTLA-3) or DTLA-A (Adult)
  • WISC IV
  • WAIS-III
  • WJ-III - Tests of Cognitive Ability

Depending on your disabling conditions, other measures such as personality tests, ADHD rating scales, speech and language testing, occupational therapy evaluations, etc. may be indicated.

What is a good format for documenting my disability diagnosis and functional limitations should the College Board ask to review my supporting documentation?

Formats vary; however, most effective are those that summarize and clearly discuss, in a summary report/individual plan/program: 1) your specific diagnosis and rationale for the diagnosis supported by the diagnostic battery; 2) the historical information including patterns in your background that reflect the presence of a disability; 3) when appropriate, evidence that alternative explanations are ruled out (e.g., environmental stressors; motivation; personality issues); 4) evidence of the current substantial functional limitations resulting from the disability, especially as impacting academic progress in the classroom; and 5) actual score summaries of standard or scaled scores and percentiles for all sub tests, index, and cluster scores of the cognitive and achievement tests are appended.

How current should the diagnosis, functional limitations, and supporting documentation be?

Since reasonable accommodations are based on the present impact of the disability, current documentation is important, preferably within the last 5 years. The College Board will accept cognitive testing that is more than 5 years old if there is a long-standing disability and complete cognitive testing was administered when the disabling condition was first diagnosed. The Guidelines do state that to be current, your academic testing needs to have been within the last 5 years. Additionally, qualitative input from your teachers can verify current functional limitations in learning. For psychiatric disabilities, please include an annual update within 12 months of the request for the accommodations (for content of an annual psychiatric update, see page 5 of the Instructions for Completing the Student Eligibility Form (see Eligibility)).