Anonymous wrote:To the parents who manage to get their kids more time on SAT, why can't you admit that fact on the score report?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
So if your child has any kind of special needs, they too deserve a lower score?

For example, if they have severe dyslexia, they should not get extra time to decipher the questions? What about a motor impairment, should they not be allowed to type when others have to write by hand?

Let's hope you and yours never have to suffer from anything that requires accommodations!

What is so bad about suggestion? Why do you feel your child need to hide the extra time they are getting in a standardized test?

PP, the extra time is not hidden. Colleges know who got it. So, while you may not know that neighbor kid Larla got extended time, Princeton does.

I'm someone strongly in favor of extra time, which evened the playing field enough for my kid to get a 23 on their ACT.

But no, information about accommodations and IEP/504 status is not shared with colleges. It is considered confidential information.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
So if your child has any kind of special needs, they too deserve a lower score?

For example, if they have severe dyslexia, they should not get extra time to decipher the questions? What about a motor impairment, should they not be allowed to type when others have to write by hand?

Let's hope you and yours never have to suffer from anything that requires accommodations!

What is so bad about suggestion? Why do you feel your child need to hide the extra time they are getting in a standardized test?

PP, the extra time is not hidden. Colleges know who got it. So, while you may not know that neighbor kid Larla got extended time, Princeton does.

Anonymous wrote:
THE POINT IS TO GIVE A CHANCE TO PEOPLE WHO DON'T FIT THE MOLD SO THEY CAN BETTER CONTRIBUTE TO SOCIETY.

You have to do away with the notion that if people can't be productive within restrictive and completely arbitrary conditions, they are essentially a lost cause and do not deserve a chance to show what they can do at the next level. Closing doors at any step in their education (testing and tracking start in elementary school) ensures that a portion of potentially productive people are left out and it increases the risk they will become a burden to society.

Just because someone has ADHD, Asperger's, dyslexia, or whatever else, does not mean they are not intelligent and can't invent or create something wonderful for humanity. These people may not all fit into menial jobs if you prevent them from getting a high school or college diploma.

I feel strongly about this because both my husband and son are GT/LD (gifted, talented and learning disabled). My husband has an MD and a PhD. He was given many second and third chances in his life because people recognized his gifts among his quirkiness. He has done research in cancer and other common and deadly ailments. My son has the same quirks and would not be a good fit to work at McDonald's - he is academic like his father. We are grateful that the system allows for such out-of-the-norm people to still get to where their intellect leads them.

Instead of short-sightedly thinking this hurts neurotypical students' chances, please realize that allowing alternate paths for differently-abled students enables society to benefit from the combined work of a plurality of the population.

Anonymous wrote:PP, the extra time is not hidden. Colleges know who got it. So, while you may not know that neighbor kid Larla got extended time, Princeton does.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And yet, the argument is always made in terms of take away the extra time for SN kids instead of give everyone more (or enough) time, so that the tests assess knowledge/ability rather than speed.

That is incorrect - people are asking for untimed tests or extra time for all. The ones opposing are the parents who have accomodations for their kids with their reasonings that extra time does not help, you don’t understand SN, etc. They protest too much hence one begins to suspect that too much time has been given which helped their kids more than it should have.

Nah, the NO EXTRA TIME FOR ANYONE-type poster(s) assert that everyone would get a perfect score with more time, but they don’t actually want to put that to the test. I agree with the point that a PP (whom I otherwise disagree with) made re these tests being too easy — at least for differentiating among very talented and well-prepared students. But time pressure isn’t the way to address that problem because “Who’s the fastest?” isn’t the relevant question. Better to have a more challenging test and give everyone enough time to take it.

+1111

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
So if your child has any kind of special needs, they too deserve a lower score?

For example, if they have severe dyslexia, they should not get extra time to decipher the questions? What about a motor impairment, should they not be allowed to type when others have to write by hand?

Let's hope you and yours never have to suffer from anything that requires accommodations!

What is so bad about suggestion? Why do you feel your child need to hide the extra time they are getting in a standardized test?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And yet, the argument is always made in terms of take away the extra time for SN kids instead of give everyone more (or enough) time, so that the tests assess knowledge/ability rather than speed.

That is incorrect - people are asking for untimed tests or extra time for all. The ones opposing are the parents who have accomodations for their kids with their reasonings that extra time does not help, you don’t understand SN, etc. They protest too much hence one begins to suspect that too much time has been given which helped their kids more than it should have.

That's like saying you want to be able to park in the handicapped spot even though you don't have a disability. Or that you should be able to have a therapy dog on the plane even though you don't have a condition that warrants one. Let's think about that for a sec. If you let everyone have the handicapped spots, there will be none for those who need them. If you let everyone take a dog on the plane, there would be mayhem and those who need the therapy will be stressed.

Giving everyone the extra time does one thing. It puts those who have the disabilities in the same position as having no extra time. That's because the scores of those who don't need the time will potentially increase and adjust the curve to a point that ends up putting the special needs kids at the same disadvantage before the increased time. If that is the case, why bother even giving the extra time.

I think what bothers people is the fact that some of these "disabled" kids are also gifted, and providing the accommodations allows them to demonstrate their giftedness. Sadly some people don't like the idea that some kid with autism is outscoring their kid. Really pathetic.

Yes, there are those who "game the system" but the solution to give everyone extra time is not a good one. ACT and College Board must have more stringent standards for approving accommodations -- especially where there is no history of accommodations in school. That alone should be a red flag.

Anonymous wrote:The harder tests are already available- APs. Have your child take AP Chem, AP Bio, AP BC Calculus, Physics C- both the mechanics and E&M, AP Language and AP Literature- throw in a foreign language of your choice. The other APs are much easier- so don’t bother with them. Make sure your child gets a 5 on all of them. Then you will not have to worry about SAT scores or who had or who did not have extra time.

Anonymous wrote:Giving everyone the extra time does one thing. It puts those who have the disabilities in the same position as having no extra time. That's because the scores of those who don't need the time will potentially increase and adjust the curve to a point that ends up putting the special needs kids at the same disadvantage before the increased time. If that is the case, why bother even giving the extra time.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And yet, the argument is always made in terms of take away the extra time for SN kids instead of give everyone more (or enough) time, so that the tests assess knowledge/ability rather than speed.

That is incorrect - people are asking for untimed tests or extra time for all. The ones opposing are the parents who have accomodations for their kids with their reasonings that extra time does not help, you don’t understand SN, etc. They protest too much hence one begins to suspect that too much time has been given which helped their kids more than it should have.