Resource: Breimhorst v. ETS

This case received major national attention as it challenged the practice of “flagging” test scores for students with disabilities who ask for accommodations. Flagging is the practice by which administrators of standardized tests place notations on the score reports of people with disabilities who take the exams with accommodations for their disabilities. Since its implementation decades ago, the practice of flagging has been controversial (the federal judge in our case called it a “scarlet letter”) with disability groups pointing out that the flag is discriminatory and that the flag has a chilling effect that discourages students from even asking for appropriate accommodations.