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

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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][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]
We can go back and forth about individual cases but here is how I think about it on a systemic level.  Let's take the example of a kid that scores in the 95 percentile in a bunch of metrics but the 20 percentile in one and thus qualifies as disabled.

There are some people who seem to think that this kid is really a 95 percentile kid with just some sort of issue preventing his ability from being truly recognized.  That's not really accurate.  Their kid is a kid with many strengths but also clear weaknesses.

it is unfair for the weaknesses to hamper the kid to such an extent that he is not able to display his strengths.  So if he was getting a 30 percentile score on the test I would take that as evidence that the test did not truly reflect his ability.

Giving accommodations so that the kid ends up with a 95 percentile score is also not fair to all the other kids who also are hard working, who also want to go to good colleges, who also have their own strengths and weaknesses, because a 95 percentile score is ALSO not actually reflective of his abilities.  Because his abilities are in fact limited, just like everyone else's, it's just they are limited in a way that we can better measure and try to address with novel learning techniques now that we know more about the human brain.  But they still exist.  The reality is this is probably a 70 percentile kid when all these factors are considered.

And then to get on the internet and brag about how your "gifted" kid smoked all the other kids is really both myopic and cruel.  And if done on a mass scale will limit (and has limited) the enthusiasm of parents whose kids don't get extra time or a calculator but sure as shit could get higher scores with it to put up with the system you are trying to create.   [/quote]

Here is what you do not understand.  An average kid without a documented disability who gets extra time will not [b]significantly[/b] improve his or her score.  That is because the average kid does not have the intellectual capacity to answer the questions correctly.  People keep saying to give extra time across the board, but the truth is that you will be disappointed with your average kid's results.  A kid with a documented disability like dyslexia or ADHD would improve their score significantly with the extra time because that is the biggest factor holding them back.  Unlike your average, some of these kids are brilliant and are able to demonstrate that with the extended time.   If you really want to improve your average kid's score, why don't you just get him some tutoring or have him do more practice tests on his own.[/quote]

No one is talking about average kids. The debate topic is high performing students. Both high performing students with and WITHOUT disabilities score higher when given extra time. No one is talking about the kids who without any accommodations score 1000 on the SAT or an ACT score of 20. Students who are scoring in the 80th or 90th percentile rank are panicking because that's not good enough for top colleges. If you can score better than 90% of the population without any accommodations, is it fair to get extra time to score in the 98th percentile rank? You just aren't that disabled to begin with if are doing better than 9 out if 10 students. Affluent parents realize this and have[b] increasingly shopped around for sympathetic psychologists. If a psychologist who has a business privately testing has a reputation of not recommending extra time and being conservative with a diagnosis, they aren't going to stay in business.[/b] [/quote]

How do you know this?  I know of no psychologists like this at all.  I am the parent of the kid who scored high on the ACT and the psychologist we worked with is highly recommend and respected among pediatricians and educators alike.   I really think parents like to think that many of these diagnoses are all bogus, but the truth is, probably 99% are legit.  Now, if we have a legitimate diagnosis (which we do), why is it wrong for my son to get the extra time and truly demonstrate his giftedness?  Is it because your gifted kid is now on a level playing field with my gifted kid, whereas before he was able to "smoke" him because he doesn't have the ADHD disability?  That's what leveling the playing field is all about.  My kid is just as gifted as your kid, except he has condition that can prevent him from demonstrating that under testing conditions.[/quote]

Your child did not "truly demonstrate his giftedness" by getting a 36 on the ACT with extra time.  The ACT is designed to measure processing speed and accuracy; your son got excused from that part.  [/quote]
The issue I have is that what used to be considered an individuals “strengths and weaknesses” are now considered disabilities. Low processing speed and executive function problems?  I’d bet good money that everyone in my family has problems with those. 
[/quote]

This is hysterical.  Now my kid's ADHD is just a weakness.  Well thank goodness ACT recognizes that it is a "weakness" that warrants extra time.  He got the 36.  He is gifted as far as many are concerned.  I really don't care what your opinion is because it is tainted by extremely envy.  Pathetic really that horrid people like you exist.[/quote]

There is no envy here. Just reality. 
As far as being horrid, I feel the same way about you. 
As they say, opinions are like a$$holes...[/quote]

Well the reality is that my kid is gifted whether you want to recognize that or not.  And who knows what your situation is that you would need to advocate denying warranted accommodations to kids -- gifted or not.  Sounds to me like things are likely not going so well for your kid.  Like I said...hire the tutor and take more practice tests.  Have a wonderful day!![/quote]

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