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

Forum Index » College and University Discussion

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

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Why do we have accommodations at all, except in severe cases? I understand if you're blind and need the test read to you, or you have a phsyical disability and can't easily fill in the circles on the sheet -- then extra time seems warranted.

But isn't the goal of the test to measure against other students? Why not have the same testing environment for all then? I realize some will score poorer than others, but isn't that exactly what it's trying to measure?

As an employer, if an aptitude test reflects your job duties, then it's useful to know how much you can accomplish within a fixed amount of time, because that's part of the job.[/quote]

Processing speed is a significant part of the intelligence profile. If you have low processing speed and a FSIQ of 115 that’s still your IQ. Your IQ is average. You cannot just take that index away.

So with the ACT I see kids who are indeed average getting higher scores because of extra time. It doesn’t really make sense. What about Johnny who has slow processing speed but not low enough to get accommodations? I’m sorry. That’s just not fair. [/quote]

Low processing speed is not enough to get accommodations. For extended time the College Board requires far more data and evidence. What to Include
Include a detailed description of the disability and an explanation of how it affects test taking under timed conditions, including the frequency, duration, and intensity of the student’s symptoms. For example, requests for students with Tourette’s should provide a detailed description of their tics. For students with seizure disorders, a detailed description of their seizures and medication is appropriate.

Also include these forms of documentation as appropriate:

Educational history, including use of extended time
Scores from timed and untimed academic tests (examples listed below)
Comparisons of student’s performance under timed and untimed conditions
Occupational therapy evaluation
Teacher Survey Form (.pdf/240KB)
Students with Learning Disorders or ADHD
When requesting testing accommodations for students with learning disorders or ADHD, include scores from both timed and extended time or untimed tests. The following tests are commonly used to measure a student's academic skills in timed settings (the edition current at time of testing should be used):

Wechsler Individual Achievement Test
Nelson-Denny Reading Test
Test of Written Language
Gates-MacGinitie Reading Tests
Woodcock-Johnson Tests of Achievement
Scholastic Abilities Test for Adults
When these tests are administered under standardized conditions, and when the results are interpreted within the context of other diagnostic information, they provide useful information about testing accommodations. A low processing speed in itself, however, does not usually indicate the need for testing accommodations. In this instance, documentation should show how the low processing speed affects the student’s overall academic abilities under timed conditions.

See Learning Disorders or ADHD for more documentation guidelines. See Common Diagnostic Tests for an expanded list of tests that measure a student’s academic skills in extended time conditions.

[b]What to Include[/b]

Include a detailed description of the disability and an explanation of how it affects test taking under timed conditions, including the frequency, duration, and intensity of the student’s symptoms. For example, requests for students with Tourette’s should provide a detailed description of their tics. For students with seizure disorders, a detailed description of their seizures and medication is appropriate.

Also include these forms of documentation as appropriate:

When requesting testing accommodations for students with learning disorders or ADHD, include scores from both timed and extended time or untimed tests. The following tests are commonly used to measure a student's academic skills in timed settings (the edition current at the time of testing should be used):

Wechsler Individual Achievement Test
Nelson-Denny Reading Test
Test of Written Language
Gates-MacGinitie Reading Tests
Woodcock-Johnson Tests of Achievement
Scholastic Abilities Test for Adults

When these tests are administered under standardized conditions, and when the results are interpreted within the context of other diagnostic information, they provide useful information about testing accommodations.[b] A low processing speed in itself, however, does not usually indicate the need for testing accommodations. [/b]In this instance, documentation should show how the low processing speed affects the student’s overall academic abilities under timed conditions.

See Learning Disorders or ADHD for more documentation guidelines. See Common Diagnostic Tests for an expanded list of tests that measure a student’s academic skills in extended time conditions.
[/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics