Do “Universal Accommodations” level the playing field for dyslexic students?

[Anonymous]

Privates aren’t bound by IEPs. If you want individualized accommodations, you’re going to have to go public.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:But doesn’t extra time writing an essay allow non-LD kids that much more time to proofread and edit? They can use the extra time to their advantage in a way that LD kids cannot.

This is unseemly, op. If he needs extra time be happy with extra time.

Not op. Unseemly? You are clueless about disabilities and accommodations. They are there to provide a level playing field for the student with disabilities.

I think kids who need extra time should get it. In this case the child (and all others) are getting extra time. I think that benefits more kids, especially those whose parents don’t have the resources or wherewithal to get them the accommodation but nevertheless do better with more time. I think that goes further in terms of leveling the playing field.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:But doesn’t extra time writing an essay allow non-LD kids that much more time to proofread and edit? They can use the extra time to their advantage in a way that LD kids cannot.

Yes, it's an unacceptable way to provide the accommodation. If a student had the accommodation of extra time and the teacher gave it to the whole class, that would be a violation of the IEP. My dc had several hs teachers pull this bs.

This post is unseemly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You need to ask what your motivation is - to give your child the same chance to do well at the tests, or to always have advantages that nobody else has. It should be the former, but it sounds like it’s not, and honestly this thread probably makes other families feel like accommodations are an unfair idea.

My take is that typical students won’t benefit much from all that extra time but your child (and others with disabilities) will, so yes I do think that it should be enough. And I agree with a previous comment that some kids are undiagnosed or refuse their accommodations so this is a way to even the playing field for everyone. Surely you want that?

+1
30 minutes is 30 minutes and especially if you're at a private I'd just be happy with that since they really don't have to give anything extra.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:But doesn’t extra time writing an essay allow non-LD kids that much more time to proofread and edit? They can use the extra time to their advantage in a way that LD kids cannot.

Yes, it's an unacceptable way to provide the accommodation. If a student had the accommodation of extra time and the teacher gave it to the whole class, that would be a violation of the IEP. My dc had several hs teachers pull this bs.

My guess is since it's a private and not bound by an IEP (and therefore not required to have a special education teacher available to provide the extended time accommodation), this was the teacher's workaround to make sure the child had the extra time. In a typical classroom the gen ed teacher goes ahead with whatever lesson is next with the class while the special education teacher continues to administer the extended time. If that's not available, then the teacher giving everyone extended time may have seemed the best resolution to her.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Dyslexic DS is in rigorous independent school, but the teachers are willing to make accommodations. One teacher claims that DS was given the “extra time” accommodation because even though the entire class was given 80 minutes to complete the test, it was designed to take only 50 minutes. This “universal accommodation” is common and meets the needs of the LD students, claims the teacher. Agree?

It's enough if they were able to finish at the same rate of completion as the other students. If the other students were able to finish and DS wasn't, then no, it wasn't enough and didn't meet his needs.

[Anonymous]

Some people seem to think the purpose of accommodations is to "level the field." It's not. The purpose is to provide a student with disabilities with working conditions in which they can learn and demonstrate their knowledge in spite of their disability. It isn't mean to be looked at as a competition where the teacher is supposed to make sure that other students don't get too many advantages. It is not related to the performance of other students, so as long as the student is able to meet the goals of his/her IEP, then which what other students get doesn't matter. Untimed tests for everyone means that the student doesn't need an extra time accommodation at all - the teacher doesn't have to make sure that other students are timed just to make sure they don't score as well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Some people seem to think the purpose of accommodations is to "level the field." It's not. The purpose is to provide a student with disabilities with working conditions in which they can learn and demonstrate their knowledge in spite of their disability. It isn't mean to be looked at as a competition where the teacher is supposed to make sure that other students don't get too many advantages. It is not related to the performance of other students, so as long as the student is able to meet the goals of his/her IEP, then which what other students get doesn't matter. Untimed tests for everyone means that the student doesn't need an extra time accommodation at all - the teacher doesn't have to make sure that other students are timed just to make sure they don't score as well.

Well said.
There are often quite a few children in a class that need extra time (it is an accommodation psychologists love to recommend) and if the child is in private school with multiple teachers and 1 special educator responsible for all children with learning differences, it is a good way to make sure the dyslexic child gets what they need while meeting the needs of children with anxiety, ASD, and ADHD as well. Good for them.

If your child needed read aloud or other support, they may have not gotten what they needed.

My child got extra time on the SAT and hated it. It increased their fatigue and anxiety. It is important to think long and hard about why your child needs something.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Dyslexic DS is in rigorous independent school, but the teachers are willing to make accommodations. One teacher claims that DS was given the “extra time” accommodation because even though the entire class was given 80 minutes to complete the test, it was designed to take only 50 minutes. This “universal accommodation” is common and meets the needs of the LD students, claims the teacher. Agree?

If it’s something given to everyone, then it’s not an accommodation.

[Anonymous]

It is a fallacy that all student outcomes will be identical, yet that seems to be the misguided goal with these efforts to "level the playing field."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Dyslexic DS is in rigorous independent school, but the teachers are willing to make accommodations. One teacher claims that DS was given the “extra time” accommodation because even though the entire class was given 80 minutes to complete the test, it was designed to take only 50 minutes. This “universal accommodation” is common and meets the needs of the LD students, claims the teacher. Agree?

If it’s something given to everyone, then it’s not an accommodation.

It doesn't harm the dyslexic student to give the accommodation to other students as well as the dyslexic one. It doesn't somehow "un-accommodate" it, either.

[Anonymous]

My high school son has extra time on a 504 plan. It’s frustrating for him when the teacher says the test is allegedly untimed but it is given at the beginning of class and the teacher says to close your chrome book when you are done and read a book. My son then looks up and sees everyone else has a chrome book closed and then looks that there is an agenda in the board so he realizes he is holding the class up. He gets stressed so just guesses or doesn’t answer the last question or prompt.

[Anonymous]

It's pretty common to just give everyone the extra time since usually over half the class has these accommodations these days.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If the purpose of the test is to assess mastery of the subject, then giving all kids the amount of time it takes for your kid to complete is a good thing. It levels the playing field for everyone who has a disability, diagnosed or not,’and everyone who is otherwise slower than others.

I was always the student that could accurately complete all tests in less than 25% of the allotted time getting maximal points. You wouldn’t want the time limit to be that of the fastest kid because you want all students to be able to demonstrate mastery of the subject not accuracy of speed test taking. But for some reason OP thinks that only her kid whose disability has been diagnosed should get extra time and that doesn’t level the playing field.

No, in that case every student would have unlimited time.

If the test is designed for 50 minutes, every student without an accommodation would finish in 50 minutes, even in an 80 min session. If those students are taking longer than 50 min, then the test was poorly designed for that time (or there are undiagnosed students who need an accommodation). Universal accommodations are not accommodations at all, and I hate that teachers now have a fancy name for denying accommodations.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If the purpose of the test is to assess mastery of the subject, then giving all kids the amount of time it takes for your kid to complete is a good thing. It levels the playing field for everyone who has a disability, diagnosed or not,’and everyone who is otherwise slower than others.

I was always the student that could accurately complete all tests in less than 25% of the allotted time getting maximal points. You wouldn’t want the time limit to be that of the fastest kid because you want all students to be able to demonstrate mastery of the subject not accuracy of speed test taking. But for some reason OP thinks that only her kid whose disability has been diagnosed should get extra time and that doesn’t level the playing field.

No, in that case every student would have unlimited time.

If the test is designed for 50 minutes, every student without an accommodation would finish in 50 minutes, even in an 80 min session. If those students are taking longer than 50 min, then the test was poorly designed for that time (or there are undiagnosed students who need an accommodation). Universal accommodations are not accommodations at all, and I hate that teachers now have a fancy name for denying accommodations.

I just don't understand this viewpoint.