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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I'm not a big fan of accommodations.[/quote]

So, my kid with 13th percentile processing speed shouldn't get more time on tests? Why, exactly? 
[/quote]

For the same reason my kid with 13th percentile sprinting speed shouldn't get a 40-meter head start in the 100 meter dash.[/quote]

That's a stupid analogy.

The 100-meter dash is a competition to run the fastest. Speed is the point.

The SAT is an assessment of knowledge. If you know geometry, it doesn't matter if it takes you 30 minutes to answer a series of geometry questions and not 15. There are lots of areas of study (and professions) that don't require speed.[/quote]

Then why is the test timed at all? Everyone deserves the chance to take as much time as they need.[/quote]

A kid with 13th percentile processing speed needs more time that a kid with median (or above median) processing speed.

Why does this bother you so much? Do you actually think that a kid with processing speed is going to have an advantage over a kid with median processing speed, or do you think that a kid who knows the subject matter, but has slow processing speed, is dumb?
[/quote]

You keep asking this as if to dare us to call your kid dumb.  So, I will accommodate you and say yes, I think your kid is dumber than an otherwise identical kid that but with 50th percentile processing speed.[/quote]

Why do you think that?[/quote]

Because they are slow.[/quote]

I say this as someone who went to a stop state flagship on a full scholarship because of her ACT score.

That makes no sense.

My kid gets very good grades and is an excellent writer, with accommodations. There are plenty of careers that are intellectually demanding but do not require a quick processing speed--for example, science research. Even in the medical profession, she could be a pathologist or a radiologist. One of the best brief writers I've ever worked with never argued cases (because he processed slowly) but those who argued them on his behalf were grateful, because they gave us a 40-meter head start in the 100-meter dash. The problem with *not* providing accommodations, like extra time, is that you are potentially missing people who are bright enough to succeed in intellectually challenging fields/positions that do not require speed. [/quote]

But if they keep getting extra time and accommodations, how will they actually get funnelled into those careers that can accommodate lower processing speed? With the system we have today, they'll continue to be given ways to get around situations where speed IS a key factor and end up in a profession where they are in either over their heads, or - worse - putting others at risk. [/quote]

That's not true at all. These kids only get *reasonable" accommodations. Same with adults. I've actually worked on reasonable accommodation cases. A school or an employer can deny an accommodation if it's unreasonable. Extra time on the SAT: reasonable. It's not harming anyone. Preferential seating in a lecture hall: reasonable. Extra time to treat patients in an emergency room: unreasonable (and impossible). They get funneled into those careers the same way that anyone else does: based on their qualifications. You can graduate from law school, but no one is going to hire you to an appellate lawyer if you are a crappy writer. You're not getting that job as a surgeon if you need extra time to treat patients, but you could get a job as a pathologist. What do you think is going to happen? Someone with slow processing speed with accommodations is going to slip through the cracks and end up killing someone in an ER? If the accommodations are unreasonable in the circumstances, they will be denied. The problem with denying accommodations is that you are preventing kids who could become pathologists because they can't be ER doctors.

Do you think accommodations are work or something?[/quote]

What is an example of an unreasonable accommodation in education?

If the test is burden on the school then you are entirely missing the point.  Nobody is upset that the schools have to deal with logistics of accommodations.  They are concerned with the fairness of using two different standards for testing and calling the test standardized or treating a test score achieved in 1 hours the same as the same test score achieved in 2 hours.

It's a fairness argument, not a burden argument.[/quote]

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