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Replies to: Feds uncover admissions test cheating plot
*I'm not arguing this is right!
Btw, legit accommodations adds time. It's not easier.
Hey why not? It's USC. Worth a shot.
On the science section the best approach is to not even bother reading the experiment but go straight to the questions. There is simply not enough time to understand the experiment. On the reading section I teach them how to do speed reading. I tell them not to focus on details but just capture the feeling of the write-up. There is just no time to do any detail reading. On math I teach them how to solve problems with shortcuts. The traditional ways of solving problems (i.e. areas of complex geometric figures or probabilities) simply do not work because they are too time-consuming. Therefore they have to learn tips & tricks to bulldoze to the answer. On the English section you either know it or you don't. For this section, extra time won't help much.
Bottom line is that scores can be increased substantially with the benefit of extra time on the test.
Ha Ha Ha Ha!
sorry Olivia- hate to break it to you but that is NOT going to happen!
she will be accepted back at USC only when hell freezes over!
wow. just wow! the ignorant hubris of the rich and stupid.
Add in Penn with the hoops coach and Harvard with the fencing issue.
Obviously the cheaters are to blame. But for these pretty average candidates to get accepted to these schools underscores the importance of the hook as a difference maker. Obscure sport. In. Race preference. In. High profile but non revenue sport like water polo and track. In.
When it comes to actually doing in college, the real issue for many LD kids is that the school can't give you more than 168 hours in a week. So an LD kid in a very challenging school or program often has to grind a lot harder than their classmates.
Getting some extra time on tests is fair and helpful, but isn't all that big of a deal.
A good solution to the accommodation issue would be to design tests that don't rely all that much on time pressure. Most tasks in life aren't like the ACT.
And the biggest problem is not higher SES kids getting accommodations that are marginal or not deserved at all. The big unfairness is the large numbers of lower SES kids who deserve accommodations but who don't get them due the time and expense and parental activism required.
Or the SAT, or LSAT or the MCAT or the GRE....
Un-needed (not really LD, but purchased a certificate) extra time on the ACT is huge, particularly for the math and science sections.
Not cost effective, so not a realistic "solution".
Very easy and cheap actually.
Give everyone 6 hours for the ACT instead of four. That would eliminate the vast majority of accommodations (since the most typical accommodation sought and received is 1.5X time).
While the raw scores might change due to the lessened time pressure, the top 1% of scores will still be the 99th percentile.
Done!
In my day, we sat for Iowa Tests from about 2nd grade on, not sure if every year or every other, through maybe 6th. Something in jr and sr high. Many kids today have never sat for even a 3 hour test.
The only reason why you have the accommodation issue is because the test bakes time pressure into the equation. So kids/parents strain to get extra time because it is an advantage. And many kids who deserve accommodations can't get them. Give everyone the opportunity to have up to 1.5X time and that all goes away. The smartest kids will still get the highest scores. The kids who don't need the extra time don't have to use it.
Speediness is certainly a relevant factor in some lines of work -- 100 meter sprints and hitting fastballs -- but to me it seems pretty unrelated to being able to do college level academics.