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'Level the playing field'
Levelling the playing field means that changes are made to assessment practices so that a student with a disability can compete on an equal basis with other students.
The emphasis is on minimising disadvantage without compromising standards or essential components of the program.
The institution provides opportunities for effective learning and demonstration of abilities to enable the person with a disability to succeed on their own merits. For example, if examinations are seeking to assess how well students know their subject knowledge and not how well they cope with a timed, speed- of- writing test, it is unfair for a student with a disability not to be given extra time so that they can relay the same amount of information as their peers.
The institution takes responsibility (under the Disability Discrimination Act (1992http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/cth/consol_act/dda1992264) and the Disability Standards for Education 2005) for adopting a proactive approach to curriculum design and assessment, instead of expecting the individual student to initiate alternative arrangements at the time of assessment. Thus all aspects of teaching are considered:
- planning and programme (objectives, learning outcomes, assessment)
- methodology (eg. teacher centred, interactive, experiential)
- learning tasks
- materials
- the teaching and learning environment
It does not mean 'dumbing down' the curriculum or compromising academic standards.
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