Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:A few thoughts.
1) extra time is not an advantage if it is proportional and legit to a dress a learning disability. It is supposed to be compensation for a deficit. But, I agree the system needs reform. Kids usually get a round block od extra time without proof that it is proportional to the need - in other words, if a deficit warrants an extra 10 minutes that kid likely will get 30 min or 60 min more- or no extra time at all.
2) but OP's point that privates stack their schools with students with hooks is well taken. It is one way they try to ensure that their college placements exceed averages. Of course, the best advantage is just an inredibly self-motivated student with insane talent and supportive parents with an interest and means of suportting the child in any way possible.
The other problem is that many parents have seized unfair timing advantages for their non-disabled kids by paying a "specialist" to label their kid with some specious disorder. It throws the whole practice into disrepute - too many aggressive parents gaming the system.
My high-IQ kid has a language-based learning disability that interferes mightily with her ability to demonstrate what she knows. I would give just about anything to make it go away, but it never will. Some extra time on a test allows her to come closer to her potential and helps her not dissolve into a puddle of anxiety and self-loathing. But that in no way affects your kid.
+1 Exactly! The people complaining about "aggressive parents" have no idea what it is like to have a child with difficulties in learning. We have worked long and hard to get our kids to a place where they can live up to their full potential. I will never understand why this upsets parents. At the same time I'm more than confident that they wouldn't care if our kids were left out in the cold with their problems as long as their precious little snowflake was able to get ahead….my child being given an accommodation (after extensive and expensive testing) should in no way affect your child's ability. Besides, my child's private will not allow any accommodations unless they are fully diagnosed by a licensed professional after a series of tests and any private that is allowing parents to make the rules should be in question - maybe that is the bigger issue.
But it does affect the grades other kids get. There are curves, and when some students are required to think and articulate quickly, and others are not, they aren't competing on a level playing field. And part of performance and learning in high school is competing with your classmates, much as we hate to say that out loud. Just like I have colleagues I adore but with whom I am also in competition. What child would not benefit greatly from extra time to think and organize his to present his of her analysis. Your dd may want the time due to whatever her issue may be, but in the meantime she Leo gets a benefit that other kids do not. Part of timed tests is the ability to perform under pressure and time constraints. When those constraints evaporate, all students would be expected to perform better.