Claiming a disability on the SAT/ACT - have people been gaming the system?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Where is it an issue that smart kids are accepted at full tuition over another equal child who cannot pay. That's life. If you want your kid in a school that is $$$ start saving at birth like we do and live modestly. I am so tired of reading about oh, I need financial aid at $200-500K... you can do it but it means living in a lesser house, lesser vacations and cars...that's life that schools will always accept full pay.

Are you sticking by that absolute? Just checking.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well so for Pollyanna and similar posters, what do you make of the fact that many affluent students with little to no evidence of disability are getting accommodations in order to get higher scores? Previously posted articles and posts cited private schools where a third or a half of the kids got extra time. Shouldn’t it make you angry that they are giving accommodations a bad name?

It enrages me.

I think that for all their faults, the public schools have somewhat less of this version of abuse, solely because they are legally on the hook for more supports once a disability is documented.

Way back we sought a private school for our kid, seeking a smaller environment etc. We were asked if they’d ever had an IEP (yes), to submit a copy, and if so to submit a copy of his psych testing. He was denied at 6 different schools, including a couple that are far from selective.

For some these schools to suddenly have a cohort of kids with disabilities, when they screen out most applicants with them. adds some insult to injury for me.

Open to solutions. But I don’t think throwing out the baby with the bath water and eliminating accommodations or going to unlimited time is the solution. T

-Pollyanna mon

Thanks. I think a lot of us, with kids with disabilities or not, are enraged at the same things.

What is there to be enraged about? You seriously didn't think this kind of stuff was happening. People do crappy things because more time than not, they are not held accountable and get away with it. That's life, it sucks, but that's life.

It may be life but that doesn’t we should not want to right a wrong or an injustice. It’s called standing up for what is right and standing up for those who have no voice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well so for Pollyanna and similar posters, what do you make of the fact that many affluent students with little to no evidence of disability are getting accommodations in order to get higher scores? Previously posted articles and posts cited private schools where a third or a half of the kids got extra time. Shouldn’t it make you angry that they are giving accommodations a bad name?

It enrages me.

I think that for all their faults, the public schools have somewhat less of this version of abuse, solely because they are legally on the hook for more supports once a disability is documented.

Way back we sought a private school for our kid, seeking a smaller environment etc. We were asked if they’d ever had an IEP (yes), to submit a copy, and if so to submit a copy of his psych testing. He was denied at 6 different schools, including a couple that are far from selective.

For some these schools to suddenly have a cohort of kids with disabilities, when they screen out most applicants with them. adds some insult to injury for me.

Open to solutions. But I don’t think throwing out the baby with the bath water and eliminating accommodations or going to unlimited time is the solution. T

-Pollyanna mon

Thanks. I think a lot of us, with kids with disabilities or not, are enraged at the same things.

What is there to be enraged about? You seriously didn't think this kind of stuff was happening. People do crappy things because more time than not, they are not held accountable and get away with it. That's life, it sucks, but that's life.

It may be life but that doesn’t we should not want to right a wrong or an injustice. It’s called standing up for what is right and standing up for those who have no voice.

There are fare more pressing issues than rich parents buying their kids into college. How many times have you stood up for doing the right thing? Probably never. That is how our world has always been and always will be.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:From this wsj story from May:
More than a decade ago, the College Board, which administers the SAT and PSAT among other tests, stopped alerting colleges when students received extra time, and the numbers who requested it began to increase. From 2010-11 to last year, the number of accommodations requests jumped 171%, while the number of people taking the exams increased 22%. Last year, 94% of those requests were approved.

Sounds to me that the ultra rich weren't the only ones who knew this trick.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/colleges-bend-the-rules-for-more-students-give-them-extra-help-1527154200

This is why a college degree is no longer what it used to be. Just about anyone can get one. Nothing special anymore.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well so for Pollyanna and similar posters, what do you make of the fact that many affluent students with little to no evidence of disability are getting accommodations in order to get higher scores? Previously posted articles and posts cited private schools where a third or a half of the kids got extra time. Shouldn’t it make you angry that they are giving accommodations a bad name?

It enrages me.

I think that for all their faults, the public schools have somewhat less of this version of abuse, solely because they are legally on the hook for more supports once a disability is documented.

Way back we sought a private school for our kid, seeking a smaller environment etc. We were asked if they’d ever had an IEP (yes), to submit a copy, and if so to submit a copy of his psych testing. He was denied at 6 different schools, including a couple that are far from selective.

For some these schools to suddenly have a cohort of kids with disabilities, when they screen out most applicants with them. adds some insult to injury for me.

Open to solutions. But I don’t think throwing out the baby with the bath water and eliminating accommodations or going to unlimited time is the solution. T

-Pollyanna mon

Thanks. I think a lot of us, with kids with disabilities or not, are enraged at the same things.

What is there to be enraged about? You seriously didn't think this kind of stuff was happening. People do crappy things because more time than not, they are not held accountable and get away with it. That's life, it sucks, but that's life.

It may be life but that doesn’t we should not want to right a wrong or an injustice. It’s called standing up for what is right and standing up for those who have no voice.

There are fare more pressing issues than rich parents buying their kids into college. How many times have you stood up for doing the right thing? Probably never. That is how our world has always been and always will be.

DP

Ah, projection. I prefer Pollyanna poster, thanks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Where is it an issue that smart kids are accepted at full tuition over another equal child who cannot pay. That's life. If you want your kid in a school that is $$$ start saving at birth like we do and live modestly. I am so tired of reading about oh, I need financial aid at $200-500K... you can do it but it means living in a lesser house, lesser vacations and cars...that's life that schools will always accept full pay.

Are you sticking by that absolute? Just checking.

Students can qualify for loans. No law says it is the parents duty to pay

[Anonymous]

Oh, I thought you were claiming that schools will always accept any student who will full pay.

[Anonymous]

I tried to find research or reports to ascertain the percentages of different races/ethnicities are getting extra time, but couldn't find anything. My sister-in-law is a school psychologist in a high school and she said rich, white kids who are getting A's and B's in all honors/AP classes are showing up in droves with outside testing that claim they need a 504 plan for extra time. Once the school grants extra time, ACT/SAT are supposed to also grant extra time. She doesn't see Asian kids doing this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I tried to find research or reports to ascertain the percentages of different races/ethnicities are getting extra time, but couldn't find anything. My sister-in-law is a school psychologist in a high school and she said rich, white kids who are getting A's and B's in all honors/AP classes are showing up in droves with outside testing that claim they need a 504 plan for extra time. Once the school grants extra time, ACT/SAT are supposed to also grant extra time. She doesn't see Asian kids doing this.

Schools are under MO obligation to provide accommodations (504) to every student with a diagnosed disability.

The school is supposed to review the evaluation and determine whether the disability has an educational impact based on teacher input. Can’t obviously speak to your relative’s school, but they are misinterpreting the law or taking the east way out if they just hand them out.

At my kid’s public school, getting a plan is a serious process and not a rubber stamp.

[Anonymous]

WSJ article 3/18: College admission scandal relied on more students using SAT accomodation

Excerpts:

“The Number of students getting accommodations, which help them get more time on the SAT and ACT, has more than doubled from 2009 to 2016, according to a WSJ analysis of federal data. Students in affluent school districts are much more likely to get extended times than students in poorer districts, the data showed”.

“As many as 1 in 4 students at some elite US colleges are now classified as disabled, largely because of mental health issues such as depression or anxiety.”

“Among the 100 four year , not for profit colleges with the highest percentage of disabled students, 93 are private, according to a Journal analysis of federal data.”

It is time for a change in the structure of these tests - untimed for everyone

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:WSJ article 3/18: College admission scandal relied on more students using SAT accomodation

Excerpts:

“The Number of students getting accommodations, which help them get more time on the SAT and ACT, has more than doubled from 2009 to 2016, according to a WSJ analysis of federal data. Students in affluent school districts are much more likely to get extended times than students in poorer districts, the data showed”.

“As many as 1 in 4 students at some elite US colleges are now classified as disabled, largely because of mental health issues such as depression or anxiety.”

“Among the 100 four year , not for profit colleges with the highest percentage of disabled students, 93 are private, according to a Journal analysis of federal data.”

It is time for a change in the structure of these tests - untimed for everyone

Not disputing the stats. But depression does not get you testing accommodations. Anxiety can but it often doesn’t help a student with anxiety.

Anxiety plus ADHD —> more likely warranted and granted.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:WSJ article 3/18: College admission scandal relied on more students using SAT accomodation

Excerpts:

“The Number of students getting accommodations, which help them get more time on the SAT and ACT, has more than doubled from 2009 to 2016, according to a WSJ analysis of federal data. Students in affluent school districts are much more likely to get extended times than students in poorer districts, the data showed”.

“As many as 1 in 4 students at some elite US colleges are now classified as disabled, largely because of mental health issues such as depression or anxiety.”

“Among the 100 four year , not for profit colleges with the highest percentage of disabled students, 93 are private, according to a Journal analysis of federal data.”

It is time for a change in the structure of these tests - untimed for everyone

Not disputing the stats. But depression does not get you testing accommodations. Anxiety can but it often doesn’t help a student with anxiety.

Anxiety plus ADHD —> more likely warranted and granted.

In another WSJ article, an assistant dean of students and interim director of disability resources at Oberlin was quoted: “if I have anxiety and panic attacks during exams, extended time will give me a chance to check in with myself and calm myself down”. My kid has text anxiety - extended time will definitely help.

Another fact from this other article: since College Board stopped alerting colleges when students received extra time, the numbers who requested began to increase. From 2010-11 to last year, the number of accommodations request jumped 171% while number of people taking the exams increased 22%.

Another fact:”nationallly, white students receive 63% of accommodations while making up about 49% of the student population. Black students received 15% and make up about 15% of the population while Hispanics students received 21% and make up about 26% of the population”.

This is such blatant gaming and abusing of the system and creating a non level playing field

[Anonymous]

Yes people are gaming the system

Half the time a parent posts about a kid not applying themselves they are told to go get testing for the kid to be certified as having a disability so that the sometimes teen laziness gets masked to allow for testing privileges.

[Anonymous]

So doing the math:
% of population = white 49% + blacks 15% + Hispanics 26%= 90%

% accommodations = white 63% + blacks 14% + Hispanics 21% = 98%

So Asians and other races make up 10% of the student population and receive 2% of accommodations

This doesn’t cry out to anyone of the abuse of the system?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So doing the math:
% of population = white 49% + blacks 15% + Hispanics 26%= 90%

% accommodations = white 63% + blacks 14% + Hispanics 21% = 98%

So Asians and other races make up 10% of the student population and receive 2% of accommodations

This doesn’t cry out to anyone of the abuse of the system?

Yes, it does. White people are great at playing the game to benefit themselves.