Reply to Criteria to be granted extra time on SAT

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]What school system are you in?[/quote]

I asked this question - I have a DC with ADHD and dysgraphia who has an IEP and had extra time on the SAT and ACT.  My DC also received multi-day testing on the ACT.  FWIW, DC had an IQ in the 99%île but a processing speed in the 70th percentile and a coding sub-score in the 63%ile. Those percentiles, while average or above average, are significantly discrepant from IQ and thus support accommodations.  Processing speed would not be the only criteria though - DC also had scores from the 50th percentile to the single digit percentiles in reading fluency, math fact fluency, certain kinds of verbal learning and memory, sentence writing fluency, reading rate, etc.

“Highly-functioning” is not a reason to turn someone down for a 504, IEP, or SAT/ACT accommodations.  You can be a duck swimming swiftly and serenely in the water but paddling furiously beneath the surface, unseen.  You can also be a high IQ individual who is able to perform “average” or “above average”, which may seem “highly functioning”, but in reality is functioning significantly below the level of your ability, i.e. IQ., because of “disorder” like ADHD and dysgraphia.

If you can answer a few more questions, I could be more helpful

Are you, OP, also the PP who said the neuropsych report recommended extra-time?  We’re you asking for extra time on the SAT/ACT as part of asking for an IEP or 504 plan?  Or were you just asking the school to ask SAT for extra time?  Who did you ask, an IEP or 504 team? His counselor? Just the staffer at school who submits the SAT accommodation request? How exactly were you turned down -

Do you see any similarly discrepancy patterns in your DCs neuropsych?  Look at IQ sub scores vs achievement scores or other memory or fluency testing.

TBH, what your school says is fishy to me - it would be inappropriate for your school to take a criteria from the College Board and apply it to students asking the school system for IEP or 504 plans.  In fact, I don’t believe that the school system even knows what the College Board’s criteria are - the school system is just asked to supply CB with certain documentation (neuropsych, 504 or IEP plan, etc.) and then CB makes the decision.  The school is not supposed to “pre-decide” the CB decision. The school is simply the conduit to make the application.

I hear all the time and have personally experienced this - schools turn down students for plans initially because a student has “good grades” (a version of “too highly functioning).  “Good grades” can be anything from straight As to something like Cs - which the school says are average and this your kid doesn’t need accommodations plan.  This is actually not legal.  “Good grades” are not the sole measure of whether or not a student needs more time or other accommodations.  “Good grades” is not synonymous with no “adverse educational impact” (one prong of the test for determining an IEP).  “Good grades” is also not synonymous with no “significant impact on activities of daily living” (the standard for a 504 accommodation plan). 
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OP here.  We are in a private school (not DC area) so our school doesn't do 504 plans.  They do it on their own.  Their criteria are very ambiguous and vague, and it's not something other parents really talk about either, so it's tough to know what others get.  We did actually apply to our public school district for a 504 (just so we could officially have it) and they basically interviewed the learning specialist at our school, who basically said he was doing much better in school since he started meds, wasn't failing anything, and was in some honors classes, so they denied the 504.  This is despite the neuropsych finding severe ADHD and recommending extra time.

Basically we are asking for extra time on tests at school, not specifically the SAT or ACT.  It's just that our school said they use the criteria that the SAT does because they don't want to grant a student extra time, but then not have it be granted on the SAT.  Sounds fishy, I know.

Discrepancies in his neuropsych are that some scores (particularly in writing) are lower, while others are really high.  Like a lot of his writing is in the 30-50% (there was even one optic/motor coordination task where he was below 8%). Other stuff like math/logic are 99%.  Working memory was 99%, and processing was around 75%.  He is really good at things like math, but because he has such poor focus, he gets the hard stuff right but makes careless errors.  Also, he does struggle with writing.

It's actually heartbreaking because he works so hard, and I feel like the school penalizes us because he's so smart.  It's like they make us feel guilty that he can do relatively well in honors math... how dare we ask for an accommodation, why not just move him out of honors instead of giving extra time?  For writing, even though he struggles, it's like they know he knows the answers and has good ideas, so think he must not be "trying" when his writing isn't up to par instead of accepting the idea that he has a disability (even though his neuropsych said he does).

If the criteria is "significant impact on activities of daily living"... I mean, holy cow, off meds, this criteria is met 1,000,000X over.  It's just that he's much better on meds, and this is how the rest of the world outside of our immediate family sees him.  I am intrigued by this criteria.  Is it really illegal to deny a 504 when this criteria is met?  Tell me more.[/quote]

I have a senior 2E kid at a top VA Highschool that has a 504. Is your public High school good with academics? It might be worth moving him there to get the 504. The “but he can make a C with no accommodations” in high school means their disability is really what is being tested, not what the kid really knows. Most companies doesn’t penalize you if you need an extra 5 minutes to write up some calculations, as long as you do a good job. But, how does a 2E kid get the opportunity for the training if they are always being judged on the fast timed race if they have a disability?
Optic/motor coordination is very low. Have you showed his eye doctor to get a recommendation for a specialist to test this? There can be eye problems other than just being near and far sighted and astigmatism.[/quote]

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