Reply to Wall Street Journal on rampant growth in percentage of college students with “disabilities”

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Based on reading this, the only accommodation that people seem up in arms about is the extra time. For those of you who are against it, are you against for all students or is it that you feel that too many have been granted the accommodation?  [/quote]

Too many have been granted the accommodation and it is due to wealthy parents gaming the system. The kids who are cheating the system - they know they are gaming the system are getting higher scores that make them competitive for scholarships and better schools. Just level the playing field - give everyone the extra time. The extra time given can range from an extra 30 minutes to 2 hours...like previous poster said, if my kid can get the extra time to double check their work, they could score an 800 also.[/quote]

Sorry, it doesn't work that way.  If you gave the extra time, the scores would be wacky and a perfect score would mean nothing.  A perfect score could mean someone was in the 70th percentile.  Is that what you want?[/quote]

Except having more time doesn't magically mean you know the material.  Give a student who doesn't know the answer more time and they're just as likely to lower their grade.  Even on take home tests you get the usual striations between high performers who know the material and those who dont.  Eliminating extra time accommodations creates barriers for those who require extra time just to access the arbitrary format of the exam and answer sheet.  Like I said, forcing someone with a learning disability to deal with only written material is as arbitrary as forcing a natural reader to take the test just by listening.  Forcing someone with autism to take the test in a classroom with 60 other people is like forcing a typical to take it in a busy cafeteria.  Forcing someone with dus graphic to hand write an essay in the same amount of time turns into an exercise of their handwriting speed rather than their ideas and composition skills.  The test formats and time limits are designed to give enough time for people who are not handicapped by arbitrary elements of the test itself that have nothing to do with how well you know the material.[/quote]

Nope. Everyone should get more time. I'm positive my LSAT score would have been 10 points higher with extra time for the logic problems. The whole POINT of that section is to see *how fast your brain works.*[/quote]

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