Picture a student with ADHD whose hallmark symptoms include struggling to sit still and focus for extended periods of time, especially when the subject holds little interest. Then picture that same student receiving extra time to complete a test or assignment—from low-stakes weekly math tests in elementary school to the high-stakes SAT that helps determine college admissions.
The practice seems counterintuitive. Some experts agree.
“For many kids with ADHD, that’s an absolutely absurd recommendation,” said Gregory Fabiano, a professor of psychology at Florida International University whose research focuses on effective assessments and interventions for children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. “They have a hard time paying attention for the typical time that they’re supposed to do the task. Why would giving them another 20 minutes to do that task be thought of as something that would help them at all?”
Yet, “extended time” has become one of the most commonly offered accommodations in K-12 classrooms designed to allow children with learning disorders to complete the same assignments as their classmates but with adaptations. Other such accommodations include preferential seating, in which teachers identify a seating arrangement for a student with ADHD believed to minimize distractions, the use of study notes created by a teacher or peer, and the use of handheld toys such as fidget spinners during class time.
The routine use of these and other accommodations in general education classrooms has burgeoned in recent years, spurred by the 2004 reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, as well as a greater awareness and acceptance of ADHD and other developmental or learning disorders. An estimated 11% of the nation’s children have ADHD.
But Fabiano and some other special education experts say that many of these practices, albeit well-meaning, found their way into classrooms with little to no proof that they actually worked.
Indeed, a growing body of evidence suggests that for many students with ADHD commonly used classroom accommodations—like extended time—don’t necessarily improve academic outcomes and, in some instances, may actually lead to worse ones.
How extended time became a fixture in classrooms, despite lack of evidence
More than 80% of students diagnosed with ADHD receive extended time, according to a 2021 systematic review of accommodations for students with ADHD.
Despite its prevalence, though, few studies have directly examined the effectiveness or appropriateness of extended time for students with ADHD, the researchers from Teachers College, Columbia University, and the University of Georgia, Athens, found. In two studies, middle and high school students scored better when given additional time—regardless of whether or not they had a diagnosis of ADHD.
Judith Harrison, an associate professor of special education at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, N.J., has spent the majority of her professional career researching effective ways to teach life skills to children with ADHD and behavioral disabilities. She’s skeptical of many commonly used classroom accommodations—and extended time in particular.
“Extended time for students with ADHD comes from the idea that they’re off-task—so if you give them more time, they’ll come back to focusing and complete the assignment,” Harrison said, “which we’re really finding out is not true.”
Research seems to bear this out. A 2010 study conducted by Fabiano and colleagues divided a group of 33 school-age children (ages 7 to 12) with ADHD into two groups: One group received the standard 30 minutes to complete seat work; the other received 45 minutes.
The students who received the standard amount of time completed significantly more problems correctly per minute than those who received extended time, the authors found. Further, the researchers observed that the behavior of the students in both groups declined the longer they spent on the assignment.
The researchers who conducted the systematic review of the research suggested that schools use extended time liberally because it’s easier and cheaper to implement than behavior-management plans and other evidence-based interventions.
Harrison agrees. An evidence-based intervention “takes longer than just giving students extra time,” she said.
Effective use of accommodations requires a nuanced understanding of learning disorders
Still, these accommodations have been found to work for certain groups of students. Experts say teachers may need more training to know which accommodations work for which students and why.
Take preferential seating, for instance—an accommodation commonly applied to students with ADHD.
“I’ve seen kids that are seated in the front of the class, and it’s a very poor placement for them, because they spend the whole class turning around and looking at things behind them,” Fabiano said. “On the other hand, I see kids in the back of the class for whom it’s problematic because if they’re shouting out a lot, that’s distracting all the other students around them.”
Preferential seating might be ill-advised for a student with ADHD. But it may work well for the student with ADD, another developmental disorder whose primary symptoms include inattention and distractibility. Though similar to ADHD, students with attention deficit disorder generally don’t exhibit hallmark signs of ADHD like hyperactivity and impulse control.
Similarly, while students with ADHD alone may gain little to no benefit from extended time, this accommodation may help students with anxiety perform better. (Some students have a dual diagnosis of ADHD and anxiety.) Eliminating the “timed” element of a test can help a student with anxiety to relax and focus better on the information presented, Harrison said.
Interventions over accommodations?
Instead of simply adopting these accommodations, some experts recommend interventions that provide skills that can benefit a wide berth of students—not just in the classroom but in all aspects of life.
That’s a key piece to learning at Bridges Middle School in Portland, Ore., which serves students in 5th through 8th grade with learning differences. Principal Carrie Hall estimates that 60% of the schools’ students have ADHD and that they can all benefit from learning how to identify and advocate for strategies that work for them, individually.
Unlike at some schools where teachers decide the timing of breaks for students with ADHD, Bridges aims to teach students to learn when they need a break from work, to advocate for themselves by requesting it, and to know when it’s time to get back to work.
“We have found that to be more successful than saying, ‘You have to do this. You can’t take a break until it’s time,’” Hall said.
Similarly, Harrison said that rather than organizing students’ school backpacks for them, which some accommodations call for, teaching all children ways they can organize their own spaces—be it a backpack or a locker—can serve them throughout their school and post-school livesaid.
“When we present these ideas at conferences, teachers get really excited,” Harrison said. “They agree that we need to teach students skills as opposed to continuing to try to remove barriers.”
