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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]

I would be reluctant to send a “terrible test taker” to college without finding out the reason for the terrible test-taking —- anxiety, depression, adhd, learning disability - I would want to discover and accommodate these before starting college. Many, many college classes consist of only test grades and often as few as 2 - a midterm and a final.  That is not great for a “terrible test taker”. [/quote]

Different poster here, but do you really think that a parent of a “terrible test taker” in high school is just now wondering why? And what, exactly, do you imagine can be done to solve it? My kid has learning disabilities in reading, math, and writing. He’s also very smart. All the accommodations in the world won’t change his testing abilities. But he can still benefit from college! He can still read great books and thing and write about them, do science experiments, and do projects of all sorts. And get a whole bunch of Bs, some Cs, and a flame out D here and there. College is still worth it, if the kid wants to go.[/quote]

I am PP whom you are addressing. I am the parent of an ADHD/LD kid who took the ACT w/accommodations. I am also a test prep tutor.

First, my comment “I would be reluctant to send a terrible test-taker to college without finding why,” was not at all meant to imply that terrible test takers should not go to college. In retrospect, I can see how you would read it that way.  I whole-heartedly agree that terrible test-takers should go to college and definitely benefit from doing so.

But, to answer your question — “do you really think that a parent of a “terrible test taker” in high school is just now wondering why?” — yes, I do.  I see it happen - All. The. Time.

As a test prep tutor, I have many, many students come to me in HS who have undiagnosed learning disabilities or other issues like depression or ADHD or who have diagnosed issues but who either don’t believe they qualify for accommodations or have been (illegally) rejected from such accommodations by their school.

Parents often misread the signs of diagnosable and treatable conditions meriting accommodation as - immaturity, stupidity, lack of motivation, disinterest, typical teenage rebelliousness, etc. And parents are often encouraged in this view by school officials.  They are not bad parents - they are just not knowledgeable about learning disabilities and/or mental health or disability rights.

There are so many accommodations and varieties of special instruction that can help these kids.  With proper prep and accommodations many, many kids can significantly improve and test scores can be helpful in their admission process.  I have many students with accommodations who have improved their scores to a point that they are competitive at a schools they would not have been competitive at before prep.  And, their college performance can be significantly improved with the right kind of accommodations and instruction.

That said, I also am the person who said, test scores are not necessary if you are comfortable with a handful of schools where your DC’s GPA was in the top 25% of admitted students at the college.

If the GPA is not in the top 25%, then you may be hampered by comparison with other students with similar grades who do have test scores.

This rough guide excludes kids who have some kind of demonstrable “fit” at a particular college - athletics, accomplishment, developed interest, etc.

If a family decides that other parts of the admissions package are strong enough and by comparison the time, effort or money for prep is too much, then that’s a legitimate choice based on consideration of the best way to spend those finite resources.

But, if a family is just saying “she’s a terrible test taker and always will be” without ever having explored why via a psycho-ed evaluation, I think that’s a big mistake. 
[/quote]

OP here and I really appreciate this perspective. DD has a 504 for anxiety. We had her tested in the 2nd grade for suspected dyslexia and ADHD. I am dyslexic and DH has ADHD. She didn’t meet the criteria for either disability and was denied an IEP. We retested her in 5th grade and anxiety was the diagnosis so we fought for a 504. She hasn’t been retested since and I’m wondering whether she should be. Her performance in school is markedly stronger than her performance on higher pressure tests like AP, ACT, or SAT. To me, this disconnect speaks to grade inflation, anxiety, undiagnosed learning disabilities, or a combination of the above.

I know she has the ability to succeed in college. She’s bright and a hard worker. Her teachers love her and she does well in school. I was the same way. I didn’t discover I was dyslexic until my last term in college when I had a near breakdown and left school during finals. I still graduated Phi Beta Kappa but the emotional burden of feeling stupid and overwhelmed took a toll.[/quote]

Op, PP here.  Has she had a full psychoed eval?  If not, that is definitely worth doing before Jr yr.

Does she have an extra-time accommodation?  If so, what other tools for managing anxiety does she have — behavior management learned during CBT therapy?  Medication? I find that a lot of my students with anxiety can make significant improvements over time, but it does take effort. The repeated practice desensitizes the anxiety. Data collection in practice often shows concretely that the student is improving, which also helps with anxiety.  And, having a plan to test more than once helps diminish anxiety.

OTOH, as a parent, I’m not wild about coping with anxiety by just deciding to avoid something.  I would rather my DC get used to figuring out how to cope and manage thru and still try even if the outcome isn’t an A.  Also - what if you want to go into a career that requires a licensing exam - lawyer, CPA, EMT, financial advisor, etc?

OTOH, I can understand that there is only so much time in the day, and we all make choices about the most effective use of time. [/quote]

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