NYT article - DCUM board menttioned

[Anonymous]

Look, put 2 and 2 together.

1) College admissions are becoming increasingly competitive.
2) UMC parents have proven themselves capable of going so far as to *give up guardianship of their children* to gain college advantages
2) ADHD is increasingly over-diagnosed
4) Wealthy suburbs show disproportionate percentages of 504s with testing accommodations

= zero question that 504s are being abused to get kids more time on the ACT/SAT than they deserve

There may be some parents (some on this thread even) who naively don't believe they fit this scenario, because they can't accept that the SAT/ACT by nature are supposed to test processing speed and focus, so they think their kid with slow processing speed and reduced focus deserves extra time.

[Anonymous]

Schools aren't bringing learning issues to parents' attention (and teachers are often prohibited from saying anything) unless the kid is a real outlier. My son had struggled since preschool but school could do nothing for him without a private diagnosis because his test scores are good. When I was in school, kids would just learn to adapt. There's a lot to be said for adapting, but the struggle to complete work and hatred of school was making our lives miserable. (inattentive ADHD, 2e kid). Though my son doesn't need extra time on tests, his school automatically put it into his IEP. We were advised to keep it in in case it becomes a problem. I am going to bet a lot of kids who have access to extra time don't need it and won't use, but it's a standard accommodation. I am fully aware that if we didn't have the financial means, my son would be muddling through. It is heartbreaking for the kids who don't have access to these supports.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Schools aren't bringing learning issues to parents' attention (and teachers are often prohibited from saying anything) unless the kid is a real outlier. My son had struggled since preschool but school could do nothing for him without a private diagnosis because his test scores are good. When I was in school, kids would just learn to adapt. There's a lot to be said for adapting, but the struggle to complete work and hatred of school was making our lives miserable. (inattentive ADHD, 2e kid). Though my son doesn't need extra time on tests, his school automatically put it into his IEP. We were advised to keep it in in case it becomes a problem. I am going to bet a lot of kids who have access to extra time don't need it and won't use, but it's a standard accommodation. I am fully aware that if we didn't have the financial means, my son would be muddling through. It is heartbreaking for the kids who don't have access to these supports.

Well that's a problem. It shouldn't be a "standard accommodation" if it's not needed. That's not fair if he eventually gets to use it for an advantage over other kids. My DS also has extra test time in his IEP that we are actually going to have removed, because he doesn't need it, and we want him to develop test-taking skills.