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The Effects of Extended Time on the Writing of Students with Learning Disabilities: Maximum Potential or Differential Boost?

Extended time is the most common accommodation requested by post-secondary students with learning disabilities (LD; Lovett, 2010; Ofiesh, 2000; Zuriff, 2000). However, this accommodation has been the topic of much debate (see: Lovett, 2010). Two theories have emerged on this topic, the Maximum Potential Thesis and the Differential Boost Hypothesis (Sireci, Scarpati & Li, 2005; Zuriff, 2000). The current study examines these theories within the context of writing to investigate the performance of students with LD and their non-LD peers. The results do not show support for either theory, when it comes to essay writing across a qualitative dimension (WIAT-II Essay Composition). However, there does appear to be some evidence for the Differential Boost Hypothesis in the areas of word count, which could be considered a quantitative measure of performance. Compared to their performance under regular time conditions, with extended time students with LD wrote more than twice as many additional words compared to their non-LD peers. This research is important so that empirically-informed accommodations for students with LD can be implemented. Recommendations for future research are provided. / Graduate / 2015-11-20 / 0525 / goeganld@gmail.com

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:uvic.ca/oai:dspace.library.uvic.ca:1828/5794
Date22 December 2014
CreatorsGoegan, Lauren D.
ContributorsHarrison, Gina
Source SetsUniversity of Victoria
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeThesis
RightsAvailable to the World Wide Web

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