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][quote=Anonymous]NP

I know this is dicey territory to wade into. I'm trying to understand.

For kids that need more time: 
my understanding was that the basis for giving more time was that if they were given enough time, they could show their full knowledge and understanding of the material. That is, typical students could show this in less time, and they could show this in more time. It wasn't about needing to put more restrictions on the typical kids, but making sure the kids who needed more time could use it.

So I'm not understanding why giving everyone more than enough time wouldn't work (the "untimed" arguments above). Is it that if everyone has virtually unlimited time, there are going to be some kids who are never going to be able to be at the top? Is that the problem?[/quote]

Untimed is certainly an option but brings with it other challenges, such as paying proctors for a much longer day. And no one is permitted to leave until everyone in their room is finished uncurrent rules.

The additional time is meant to put students with disabilities (whose difficulty requires it) on an equal footing with typical students.

A typical student is expected to complete X in 60 minutes. For a student with a disability, the same level of challenge exists when they receive 90 minutes.

Most students with a disability won't complete any more answers in 90 minutes than a typical student would complete in 60.

[/quote]

Thanks for the response. I get that. And I also get that I might come off as a dick by asking further questions, so I'll try to be careful and will listen to criticism.

If the issues with paying proctors extra were sorted (and I imagine folding the costs of separate accommodations in would help, although not everyone could be folded in, of course), and if a solution was found to address people not being allowed to leave before everyone was finished -- is there a reason based on unfairness of accommodations to people who need more time than others, to not go for untimed tests? That is, are the issues merely practical problems, or is there a fairness problem, too?[/quote]

I'm the PP who answered before, and your question and approach is fine with me (parent of a kid with a disability).

I think the answer is that the SAT/ACT people have designed the current test to have a timed element -- speed and efficiency isn't the only or likely a major factor -- but converting to an untimed test for all really would mean the creation of an entirely new test that's designed and normed as an untimed test.

This would be a large undertaking, colleges would have to be consulted about whether it gave them the data they need. In addition, many states are now using the SAT/ACT in lieu of a statewide state=designed test for high school proficiency (they don't use something like the VA SOLs, or PARCC) you'd also have to again go through the US Dept of Ed process to ensure the new test would be aligned to the Common Core standards.

I think it could be possible but would be time-consuming and present new challenges.

[/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