Department of Justice Seal

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CR

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 1999

(202) 514-2007

WWW.USDOJ.GOV

TDD (202) 514-1888


STANDARDIZED TESTING AGENCIES TO SETTLE ALLEGATIONS OF ADA

VIOLATIONS, UNDER JUSTICE DEPARTMENT AGREEMENT


WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Two national standardized testing agencies will now be required to provide test takers with vision impairments with qualified readers, under an agreement reached today with the Justice Department.

The out-of-court agreement resolves allegations that the American Association of State Social Work Boards (AASSWB) and Assessment Systems, Inc. (ASI) violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and ensures that people who are blind or have other vision impairments have a fair opportunity to demonstrate their knowledge and ability on critical examinations. AASSWB and ASI will also pay $3000 to the original complainant.

The Justice Department began investigating the companies after receiving a complaint from Douglas Elliott, of Grinnell, Iowa, who had been a social worker for more than 20 years. The man moved to a state that required him to take the social work license examination offered by AASSWB and ASI. On the day of the exam, the man was told he could not use the reader who came with him to the exam. Instead, AASSWB and ASI said he had to use a college student who had been hired to work at the registration table and had never before read for a person with a vision impairment. During the exam, she stumbled over technical terms, made mistakes in marking and recording his answers, and became exhausted during the latter stages of the examination.

"This is a landmark agreement that should serve as a model for all testing agencies," said Bill Lann Lee, Acting Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights. "Given the wide-spread use and importance of standardized testing, it is vital that people with disabilities be given a fair opportunity to demonstrate their knowledge and ability." Under the agreement, AASSWB and ASI will:

  • adopt written policies to ensure that readers are proficient in reading for people with vision impairments, familiar with the examination, and have worked with the test-taker prior to the examination;

  • pay for the reader and test-taker to work together to establish personal familiarity and to allow the reader to become acclimated to the test-taker's style of receiving information;

  • work with the test-taker if there are reasonable grounds for believing that the reader will not be satisfactory;

  • appoint an ADA Coordinator to answer questions from people with disabilities who register for examinations and from employees within the company;

  • train all employees regarding the new policies, and publicize the policies so that test-takers with disabilities will clearly know their options; and,

  • pay $3000 to the complainant.

The agreement also makes clear that the testing entities may also simply choose to allow test-takers with vision impairments to supply their own reader.

AASSWB is the association of state bodies that regulate the practice of social work. It has developed a social work licensing examination, and had hired ASI to administer the exam. ASI provides test development, assessment and administration services for over 160 clients in 50 states, administering more than 1.5 million examinations annually to certify people seeking to work in areas such as nursing, insurance, real estate and cosmetology.

Title III of the ADA, which was passed by Congress in 1990, requires places of public accommodation to offer their programs and services in a manner that does not discriminate against people with disabilities. Title III contains a specific provision requiring that testing entities offer examinations in a manner that is accessible to people with disabilities.

People interested in finding out more about the ADA or today's agreement can call the toll-free ADA Information Line at (800) 514-0301 or (800) 514-0383 (TDD), or access the ADA home page at: http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/ada/adahom1.htm



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