WSJ article on more students especially the affluent get extra time on SAT

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Several times teachers have encouraged us to seek an accommodation for one of our kids just because they were sometimes inattentive in class and slow on tests -but they were clearly in the range of normal and generally do quite well in school. Many other parents seemed to jump at the chance to give their kids extra time - I'm stunned by the number of kids we know who get extra time - cannot be a coincidence. The pattern is clear - get your kids extra time, have them take the ACT where that really matters. These kids are getting 34+ and into Top 50 schools with this strategy. I'm not that bothered by this because nothing in college admissions is "fair" - this is a drop in the bucket, but I'm stunned at the rationalization and lack of self-awareness I've seen from other families about how they are using the system. As my kid is struggling through test prep and learning to go faster to get the score they need, I'm telling myself I'm doing the right thing by my kid by encouraging them to learn to compensate for a weakness that will help them in the future.

I feel badly for your kid. The teachers recognize the disability but the parents are in denial. Sad.

+1 I'm a PP with a DC with reading issues.

I, too, fought it for over a year. My kid kept telling me they couldn't do it, and I was sure it was just because they weren't applying themselves, and by me pushing them harder to try, I was doing them a favor by developing their grit.

Oh, boy. I got my a$$ handed to me when DC was diagnosed not just by a therapist but even the school psychologist said there's clearly something there. I googled the symptoms DC said they were having, and it turns out, this sh*t is real.

I feel so badly that I did not listen to DC for over a year. I let their grades and test scores suffer because I thought I was doing right by them.

And honestly, I really should've been more aware of this because years ago, I noticed my niece having some speech issues and kept telling my sibling to get them tested. My sibling fought me on it for years, until finally, the teacher said the same to my sibling, and they finally got speech therapy.

Parents are usually the ones in denial about their kids. I learned that the hard way.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Several times teachers have encouraged us to seek an accommodation for one of our kids just because they were sometimes inattentive in class and slow on tests -but they were clearly in the range of normal and generally do quite well in school. Many other parents seemed to jump at the chance to give their kids extra time - I'm stunned by the number of kids we know who get extra time - cannot be a coincidence. The pattern is clear - get your kids extra time, have them take the ACT where that really matters. These kids are getting 34+ and into Top 50 schools with this strategy. I'm not that bothered by this because nothing in college admissions is "fair" - this is a drop in the bucket, but I'm stunned at the rationalization and lack of self-awareness I've seen from other families about how they are using the system. As my kid is struggling through test prep and learning to go faster to get the score they need, I'm telling myself I'm doing the right thing by my kid by encouraging them to learn to compensate for a weakness that will help them in the future.

I feel badly for your kid. The teachers recognize the disability but the parents are in denial. Sad.

DP. Oh please! There’s a no disability there. Arguably there does come a point when you need to game the system if everyone else is. But I feel the same as PP - how is my kid ever going to learn to push himself and focus if he never has any timed anything?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Several times teachers have encouraged us to seek an accommodation for one of our kids just because they were sometimes inattentive in class and slow on tests -but they were clearly in the range of normal and generally do quite well in school. Many other parents seemed to jump at the chance to give their kids extra time - I'm stunned by the number of kids we know who get extra time - cannot be a coincidence. The pattern is clear - get your kids extra time, have them take the ACT where that really matters. These kids are getting 34+ and into Top 50 schools with this strategy. I'm not that bothered by this because nothing in college admissions is "fair" - this is a drop in the bucket, but I'm stunned at the rationalization and lack of self-awareness I've seen from other families about how they are using the system. As my kid is struggling through test prep and learning to go faster to get the score they need, I'm telling myself I'm doing the right thing by my kid by encouraging them to learn to compensate for a weakness that will help them in the future.

I feel badly for your kid. The teachers recognize the disability but the parents are in denial. Sad.

+1 I'm a PP with a DC with reading issues.

I, too, fought it for over a year. My kid kept telling me they couldn't do it, and I was sure it was just because they weren't applying themselves, and by me pushing them harder to try, I was doing them a favor by developing their grit.

Oh, boy. I got my a$$ handed to me when DC was diagnosed not just by a therapist but even the school psychologist said there's clearly something there. I googled the symptoms DC said they were having, and it turns out, this sh*t is real.

I feel so badly that I did not listen to DC for over a year. I let their grades and test scores suffer because I thought I was doing right by them.

And honestly, I really should've been more aware of this because years ago, I noticed my niece having some speech issues and kept telling my sibling to get them tested. My sibling fought me on it for years, until finally, the teacher said the same to my sibling, and they finally got speech therapy.

Parents are usually the ones in denial about their kids. I learned that the hard way.

I mean if you ignored your child’s dyslexia for literally years then yes, that’s an issue. But they push extended time for *everything* now, with zero thought as to whether it actually helps the kid or not and whether it is fair to others.

[Anonymous]

So many kids with an adhd label. Parents are shameless.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Several times teachers have encouraged us to seek an accommodation for one of our kids just because they were sometimes inattentive in class and slow on tests -but they were clearly in the range of normal and generally do quite well in school. Many other parents seemed to jump at the chance to give their kids extra time - I'm stunned by the number of kids we know who get extra time - cannot be a coincidence. The pattern is clear - get your kids extra time, have them take the ACT where that really matters. These kids are getting 34+ and into Top 50 schools with this strategy. I'm not that bothered by this because nothing in college admissions is "fair" - this is a drop in the bucket, but I'm stunned at the rationalization and lack of self-awareness I've seen from other families about how they are using the system. As my kid is struggling through test prep and learning to go faster to get the score they need, I'm telling myself I'm doing the right thing by my kid by encouraging them to learn to compensate for a weakness that will help them in the future.

I feel badly for your kid. The teachers recognize the disability but the parents are in denial. Sad.

+1 I'm a PP with a DC with reading issues.

I, too, fought it for over a year. My kid kept telling me they couldn't do it, and I was sure it was just because they weren't applying themselves, and by me pushing them harder to try, I was doing them a favor by developing their grit.

Oh, boy. I got my a$$ handed to me when DC was diagnosed not just by a therapist but even the school psychologist said there's clearly something there. I googled the symptoms DC said they were having, and it turns out, this sh*t is real.

I feel so badly that I did not listen to DC for over a year. I let their grades and test scores suffer because I thought I was doing right by them.

And honestly, I really should've been more aware of this because years ago, I noticed my niece having some speech issues and kept telling my sibling to get them tested. My sibling fought me on it for years, until finally, the teacher said the same to my sibling, and they finally got speech therapy.

Parents are usually the ones in denial about their kids. I learned that the hard way.

I mean if you ignored your child’s dyslexia for literally years then yes, that’s an issue. But they push extended time for *everything* now, with zero thought as to whether it actually helps the kid or not and whether it is fair to others.

Maybe, but I was addressing the ^^PP who said the teacher said their kid needed accommodation, but the parent is in denial and refused. I was giving an example in my own life where both my sibling and I refused to believe our kid had some kind of ld.

Also, my kid will probably be going to a T100 below school. They aren't using the accommodation to get a 1500 and go to a t50 school, that's for sure.

[Anonymous]

I'm the PP who said the school recommended an accommodation for one kid that we have not taken.

My kid does not have a disability - Kid has an SAT score in the top 3% of students, but is looking for a few extra points. What i think is nuts is that there is a clear trend of kids testing in the top 5% of students who are getting extra time so they can try to get a top 1% score so they can get into one of a tiny number of schools where that is average. These kids are not dyslexic, they don't have ADHD. They are doing this to give themselves an advantage for a handful of top schools. If my kid can't get the extra points they need maybe they don't get into a school where all the kids have tippy top scores and I am fine with that. There are a lot of great schools they can go to. I actually think that's the way it's supposed to work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No one should get extra time. It is just a scam for the wealthy to push their kids above the others.

In real life you don't get extra time.

Really? My kid with ADHD got 1030 on the PSAT with a 504. Is this a score of a scam??

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No one should get extra time. It is just a scam for the wealthy to push their kids above the others.

In real life you don't get extra time.

Really? My kid with ADHD got 1030 on the PSAT with a 504. Is this a score of a scam??

Our friend’s son got a 1550 with extra time and the kid was thrilled, as was the mom. She directly said it was a boatload of work for the accommodations and now that they got them, the kid stopped all meds and all therapy. Kid posted about it on Instagram. So just bc your kid didn’t benefit from it, doesn’t mean others don’t and 100% people scam the system.

[Anonymous]

Adult who had undiagnosed ADHD for all of childhood. I was smart enough to get by in school, and I did reasonably well on the SATs without extra time (which wasn’t even an option as far as I knew), but I was also smarter than my test scores and grades would imply, and I do wish I’d known that as a kid.

Once I finally understood as an adult that my brain worked differently than some of my peers’ — that I wasn’t less intelligent or afflicted with some character flaw, it was merely a difference in how I processed the information I took in — I was able to retrofit my work life accordingly. Only then did my career and life satisfaction really take off.

To the parents who don’t want to get the extra time because you want your kids to learn to focus all on their own, I respect what you are doing, and I think it’s absolutely fine to not want your kids to get accommodations. But please make sure your kid knows how their specific mind works, that they may be smarter than their record implies, and that different jobs and circumstances create varying levels of “friction” to their individual success.

Good luck to all still reading this 5-year-old thread.

[Anonymous]

I am an undiagnosed ADHD adult with one diagnosed ADHD kid and one undiagnosed (in denial) ADHD kid. The one with the diagnosis got it when we were trying to address anxiety, not find a “cheat”. It was very frustrating to not understand why my clearly brilliant child was not succeeding in school or social environments.

Knowing that your brain works differently is actually life changing as compared to years of frustration and misunderstanding.

Maybe the societal problem is not over diagnosis, it is that our educational system is set up to help a certain kind of kid succeed and the kids that do not fit that mold are either deemed smart but lazy when they fail or gaming the system for seeking out equalizing treatment - meaning accommodations - when they succeed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No one should get extra time. It is just a scam for the wealthy to push their kids above the others.

In real life you don't get extra time.

My kid was vomiting from stress/anxiety during tests. Extra time was the necessary release valve. She is a smart kid but even with extra time, not a great test taker.

[Anonymous]

Why can't it just be an untimed test? Or everyone gets up to the extra time?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why can't it just be an untimed test? Or everyone gets up to the extra time?

+1
I think it is deeply unfair to give some kids more time than others. If some need more time that additional time should be available to anyone that wants it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm the PP who said the school recommended an accommodation for one kid that we have not taken.

My kid does not have a disability - Kid has an SAT score in the top 3% of students, but is looking for a few extra points. What i think is nuts is that there is a clear trend of kids testing in the top 5% of students who are getting extra time so they can try to get a top 1% score so they can get into one of a tiny number of schools where that is average. These kids are not dyslexic, they don't have ADHD. They are doing this to give themselves an advantage for a handful of top schools. If my kid can't get the extra points they need maybe they don't get into a school where all the kids have tippy top scores and I am fine with that. There are a lot of great schools they can go to. I actually think that's the way it's supposed to work.

if they take the test with extra time it's reported. My son is autistic and took the text with extra time the first time but then took it the second time without extra time in case the extra time became an issue. The difference in grade was marginal and he had no interest in attending a high stress school. At any rate, it should give you some comfort that extra time is reported as part of the test score.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm the PP who said the school recommended an accommodation for one kid that we have not taken.

My kid does not have a disability - Kid has an SAT score in the top 3% of students, but is looking for a few extra points. What i think is nuts is that there is a clear trend of kids testing in the top 5% of students who are getting extra time so they can try to get a top 1% score so they can get into one of a tiny number of schools where that is average. These kids are not dyslexic, they don't have ADHD. They are doing this to give themselves an advantage for a handful of top schools. If my kid can't get the extra points they need maybe they don't get into a school where all the kids have tippy top scores and I am fine with that. There are a lot of great schools they can go to. I actually think that's the way it's supposed to work.

if they take the test with extra time it's reported. My son is autistic and took the text with extra time the first time but then took it the second time without extra time in case the extra time became an issue. The difference in grade was marginal and he had no interest in attending a high stress school. At any rate, it should give you some comfort that extra time is reported as part of the test score.

This is incorrect. Accommodations are not reported to schools.