California High School Proficiency Examination

Requesting Special Arrangements

Physical Needs (e.g., Access, Monitoring Blood Sugar)

Most test sites and testing rooms are physically accessible to all examinees. To help ensure that your needs are met, however, if you use a wheelchair or crutches, have a cast, or for some other reason have needs related to seating and/or physical access to the test site or testing room, or if you will need to monitor and maintain your blood sugar using diabetic monitoring equipment, insulin, or food that you will bring, please submit:

1. Completed Registration Form (Online or Printed)
2. Money order or bank-issued cashier’s check in the appropriate amount
3. Proof of eligibility
4. A letter that states your need

Testing with Accommodations

An accommodation is a change in how a test is presented, how a test is administered, or how an examinee responds that is necessary to allow the examinee to participate in the test but does not fundamentally alter what the test measures or affect the comparability of examinee scores. Accommodations are possible only if (a) you have a disability, are regularly provided accommodations in the classroom, or are a designated English learner (defined below), and (b) you provide specified documentation that this is the case.

Because all accommodations may not be available in all test areas, if you are approved for testing with accommodations, you may be assigned to an alternate test area.

Available Accommodations

Several types of accommodations, listed below, are available. To be eligible for an accommodation, you must submit supporting documentation.

• Testing in a small group.
• Testing in a hospital or other institutional setting.
• Use of noise buffers or headphones (brought by the examinee) to minimize distraction.
• Frequent supervised breaks. (Testing time does not stop during breaks.)

• Braille or large print (18-point font) test materials.
• Sign language interpreter to present directions. (Does not apply to test questions.)
• Use of audio amplification or visual magnification equipment (brought by the examinee).
• Use of colored overlay, mask, or other means (brought by the examinee) to maintain visual attention.
• Test questions and answer choices read aloud to the examinee (available for the Mathematics section and the Language subtest only).

• Mark responses in the test booklet. (Responses are transferred to a scorable answer document by the test contractor.)
• Use of a scribe for multiple-choice questions. (Examinee indicates answers to the scribe, who marks them on the scorable answer document.)
• Use of a scribe for the writing task. (Examinee dictates response to the writing task, providing all spelling and language conventions.)
• Use of a computer (provided at the test site) to type essay. All spelling and grammar tools will be disabled.

• The standard testing session is 3 ½ hours. You may request extended time (up to 5 hours and 15 minutes) or double time (up to 7 hours). The documentation you submit must support the amount of time, extended or double, you are requesting.

• Use of an English-to-primary language and/or primary language-to-English translation glossary or word list (brought by the examinee) that does not include definitions or formulas.

Other accommodations may be available. If you need an accommodation other than the ones listed above and have documentation to support your need (other than a school accommodation letter), submit your request and documentation with your registration materials.

Requesting Accommodations

To request accommodations, you must submit all of the following by the regular registration deadline:

1. Completed Registration Form (Online or Printed)
2. Money order or bank-issued cashier’s check in the appropriate amount
3. Proof of eligibility
4. Accommodations Request Form
5. Supporting documentation (described below.)

If you have previously taken the CHSPE with accommodations for which your supporting documentation is dated within 36 months prior to the testing date for which you wish to register, and you want the same accommodations provided previously, you do not need to resubmit supporting documentation because it is on file at the CHSPE Office. In this case, complete the Accommodations Request Form, indicating the accommodations you are requesting and indicate that you have previously been given these accommodations on the CHSPE.

All requests and documentation must be postmarked by the regular registration deadline. The CHSPE Office will review your request and documentation. Though the review process rarely takes more than three weeks, you are strongly encouraged to submit your registration and request for accommodations as early as possible. You will be notified by mail of the accommodations that have been approved. If you have not been notified two weeks prior to the test administration date, contact the CHSPE Office.

You must provide proper documentation for accommodations as described below. Requests for accommodations that are not supported by the required documentation will be denied.

Required Supporting Documentation

To support your request for accommodations, you must complete the Accommodations Request Form on page 28 and attach the required documentation. Five acceptable types of supporting documentation are described below. Any of the five types are acceptable for any accommodation except the school accommodation letter, which is only acceptable for certain accommodations as shown on the Accommodations Request Form. Only one type of document is needed to support a requested accommodation, and one document could be used to support more than one accommodation. Any documentation you submit must be dated within 36 months prior to the testing date for which you wish to register.

School Accommodation Letter

A letter from your school that meets all of the following criteria:

• Is on school letterhead or an official school computer-generated printout that shows the school’s name, address, and phone number.
• Includes your name.
• Lists the requested accommodations for which the letter is being used for supporting documentation and states that each of these accommodations is regularly provided to you in the classroom during instruction and/or testing.
• If you are requesting frequent supervised breaks, states that you are a designated English learner (defined below). (Only English learners can use this documentation to support the need for frequent supervised breaks.)
• Is signed by one of the following officials at your school: principal, director, vice principal, counselor, school psychologist, or site administrator identified on your school’s Private School Affidavit (R-4) or statement in lieu of the Affidavit filed with the California Department of Education. The school official may not be a relative unless your school has a current R-4 or statement in lieu of the Affidavit.
• Has the school’s official seal affixed.

A template for a school accommodation letter is available here.

A school accommodation letter is acceptable documentation for only some accommodations. See the Accommodations Request Form on page 28. In the table on that form, accommodations for which the school accommodation letter cell is blacked out require supporting documentation other than a school accommodation letter.

A copy of your current IEP or Section 504 Plan that documents your need for the accommodations being requested. The IEP or Section 504 Plan must include the required signatures. Submit the complete document.

A current and properly completed copy of an educational plan developed for you by a community college that documents your need for the accommodations being requested.

A copy of a letter from the College Board granting you the accommodations on a College Board test (e.g., SAT, PSAT) that you are requesting on the CHSPE.

A letter from a qualified professional whose license or credentials are appropriate to diagnose your disability or to make appropriate recommendations for accommodations based on a qualified professional’s previous diagnosis. The letter may not be written by a family member. The letter must be on the writer’s professional letterhead, and must clearly specify:

• the disability(ies) for which an accommodation is being requested;
• the accommodation(s) requested; and
• the professional’s current profession and type of license or certification, including the state of issuance, license or certification number, and expiration date.

Attach any supporting documentation that will substantiate your request. The chart below shows types of licensed or certified professionals who can write your letter. This is not an exhaustive list, but rather a list of the most commonly encountered professionals. If you have questions about who can write your letter, please call the CHSPE Office.

As indicated above, designated English learners (and only they) can (a) use a school accommodation letter to support a request for frequent supervised breaks and (b) request the use of an English-to-primary language and/or primary language-to-English translation glossary or word list. According to the California Department of Education, an English learner (sometimes referred to as a limited English proficient, or LEP, student) is a K-12 student who, based on objective assessment, has not developed listening, speaking, reading, and writing proficiencies in English sufficient for participation in the regular school program. Students are initially identified as English learners based on their performance on the California English Language Development Test (CELDT). For more information about the CELDT, please call the California Department of Education at 916-319-0784.