^“It is no secret on the high school transcripts if a student has a learning disability with accommodations” Really? Are you sure about that? I wouldn’t be happy about that. Neither of my son’s high schools would note LD’s or physical disabilities on the transcript. Additionally, both schools specifically asked if the counselor/teachers could discuss the LD’s in their recommendations.
@momofthreeboys, the wording (on the ACT) leads students to believe that failure to share this personal information could impact scholarship opportunities as well. These are kids, here. They don’t really know who the ACT is, who the information is going to, or what it is for. Parents are not sitting with them as they fill out these information questions before they sit the test. And, not all proctors understand or communicate that these sections are voluntary. Have you read the questions? It is very confusing. A student might say they do not have a disability but then might also say they want extra help in college with writing. Or, might have a disability that they have overcome but still check the box.
Maybe. I can’t really comment on how other kids might perceive their LD with or without an IEP or how they might answer the questions. I guess I never thought of learning disabilities as something one “overcomes” as they never go away.
That may be true with some classes, but my daughter had accommodations and nothing is different on her transcript. Not all students who require accommodations are assigned special classes.
While I see the value in the testing agencies having access to this data, so they can compile data about their tests, I believe they should have a distinct question authorizing disclosure of this demographic data to colleges. I would think this would be covered by FERPA - the student can disclose the information, but just because they disclose it to you doesn’t mean they authorize you to disclose to whomever you choose. My kids take the SAT, not the ACT, so I don’t know if there’s any language of that nature when you request that they send reports, but if it’s there, it’s probably not obvious.
Perhaps ‘overcomes’ is the wrong word. Adapts may be better. I know a student (not mine) who had pretty severe dyslexia that was diagnosed in second grade. He couldn’t read. He’s absolutely brilliant though and has compensated with his strengths, uses audio books and other tools. He never used accommodations in high school nor on the SAT and he managed to get a 1540. I understand that is a highly unusual situation, but I could see a kid like that not realizing what he was filling out and checking the LD box, even though he hadn’t used accommodations in years, nor intended to in college.
A resource room isn’t a special class. It is a room where kids go to take tests, or get support in a subject. Might be different in other systems I have no idea.
@compmom S19 is also a type 1 diabetic. His ACT accomodations are: snacks/blood sugar testing equipment/meds in the room with him and he tests in a room seperate from other testers. While Type1 is defined as a disability through the ADA, I really never considered a school using his disability against him if they knew via ACT/SAT reporting. At any rate, it is not something we hide and I’m sure S18 will mention life with diabetes in an essay or short answer question if applicable. If a university used his diagnosis against him, shame on them and that is not a university I would want my kid to go to.
So my question here is how to the plaintiff’s prove damages. Under holistic admissions, how do they prove that it was this ACT information that undermined particular applications? It should be very very interesting to see how this pans out.
Note to the responders above who seem to imply this practice is OK: the ACT particularly agreed to NOT disclose the presence of disability accommodation on ACT in response to previous lawsuits. Furthermore, this disclosure is yet more egregious then the previous demarcations; now they are disclosing students who may have some disability that doesn’t even require accommodations. For example, I have arthritis, to the extent that I could conceivably check off a box that I have a disability on a medical insurance form or another official survey. Nevertheless, I don’t receive accommodations in 99% of circumstances, and I don’t receive SS or any other federal benefit owing to disability. I would be horrified if some job site somehow linked me to another survey I took, and sent out to potential clients/employers that I was a person with a disability. It is not their right to know that. This is truly a big deal.
Our school’s resource rooms are used for study halls. Their use is not noted anywhere on the transcript. The class the student takes is the same class as other students, and there is no reason to list it differently. For those whose schools show this on the transcript, I would contact your board of education, and ask them to change that policy.
Are you asking me @momofthreeboys ? If so, there is no “perhaps” about Type1 being a physical disability. Type1’s do require accommodations in high school & college. My S19 has a 504 and accommodations in high school and for all testing/classroom environments. All of his teachers/coaches receive a copy and there have been instances where my S19 has experienced a dangerous low/high on the field and/or in the classroom. Some accommodations for Type 1 students are: flexible makeup testing in case blood sugar is too high/low, seperate medical fridge in dorm room, communication with professors in case class is missed due to medical issues, priority class registration, strategic location of dorm room to cafeteria, ability to have medical supplies & snacks on their person at all times, etc.
Regarding college…seeing as Type 1 is a life threatening disability, yes, he will receive accommodations in college. During our many prospective college visits, we always make a point to contact the university’s health science center and disability office to make sure the college is prepared for Type1s. We have yet to come across a college that was unaware of Type 1 being a disability. All of them have told us that they have other Type 1 students and have described how the particular college has helped these students.
I just wondered if you weren’t considering it a disability. Re resource rooms, yes, the kids take the normal class and use the resource room for tests or if they need help. It is not open to all students just ones with IEPs that have the resource room as an accomodation. My son took the AP tests there and the ACT.
I still think it is good to test privacy issues in courts but I am still not enraged. I think we are in the age of big data and legally testing these things is always a good idea. I will have to read up on what disclosures were made etc before I formulate a stronger opinion.
@momofthreeboys Huh? TBH, it sounded like you were not aware that Type 1 diabetes was a disability.
If I did not consider Type 1 diabetes a disability, not only would I be ignorant of the ADA, I would be failing my kid as a parent. Upon being diagnosed when he was in elementary school, his diabetic educator, endocrinologist and organizations like JDRF, made it a point to tell us his rights under the ADA. Every year, they draw up a medical plan and distribute it to his school administrators, coaches, trainers, and medical staff. So my S19 has a medical 504 and has received accommodations through his school, ACT & the Collegeboard. An IEP is not the only document that protects disabled students. 504s, medical or otherwise, also protect students and provide plans/guidance for schools. Universities do not have to follow an IEP/504. However universities do understand that Type1 is an ADA defined disability and make accommodations to assist the student to the best of their ability.
4MyKidz of course a college won’t discriminate based on a type 1 diagnosis. Not sure where you got that idea.
This discussion seemed to say, in the beginning, that the ACT discloses presence of disability and accommodations on the test. Type 1’s don’t have any accommodations related to learning challenges, only for the time it takes from the test to do diabetes tasks.
I believe schools don’t use the ACT info to interpret scores (why do they release it?) but if they did, it would be misleading to see “accommodations” for type 1’s when they actually don’t have any extra time, only extra breaks.
@compmom Personally, I cannot automatically assume that colleges do not discriminate based on students’ disclosed disabilities. I personally do not know if that is or isn’t the case as I have not spent time researching the topic. However, I can understand the parental concern when info from their kid’s standardized test is released to universities that has students’ disabilities and/or accommodations listed. In my S19’s case, chances are universities he is interested in will already know based on his 504, testing accommodations, his LORs, or because of his essays/short answers as he is a T1 advocate through his own experiences and through helping other T1s. If a school were to discriminate against him because of his disability, then the Lord will direct his path to where he should be. It is not something we worry about.
@drusba on the report you link it says on page I - College Choice and gives a code and then says Choice - 1st. How would the ACT know if a college is a kid’s first choice or not? I don’t know where that is even asked on the ACT form? Does anyone know?
I don’t know if colleges discriminate or not based on disabilities but if they do then why would any parent want their kid at that college? Same for choices. Most juniors might have a vague idea of what their list might be as a senior, but colleges are only going to pursue the ones that demonstrate interest in them or a true peer institution. Again privacy is important but the release of innocuous data doesn’t scare me.
"I don’t know if colleges discriminate or not based on disabilities but if they do then why would any parent want their kid at that college? "
^So discrimination and violation of law is essentially ok, because a student shouldn’t want to go where s/he isn’t wanted? Well, what if there is a program at that school the student desperately wishes to be part of, what if there is a professor there the student wishes to study from, or what if it is a college in the student’s state that they can afford, offers their major and is close to their established medical care? momofthreeboys, your reasoning justifies bad behavior. Discrimination due to learning or physical disabilities is illegal if one is qualified to do the work/program. period. Colleges aren’t required to accept students that aren’t able to meet their standards. But they are not allowed to discriminate against those that can.
4MyKidz you are missing the point but I won’t belabor it. And (separately) you do not have to worry about discrimination. There is no need to hide anything of course. An application can mention it or not mention it. My own kid felt more defined by her music than by her type 1, so she did not cover it in the main essay but wrote a short paragraph in the supplementary one. She has many other health problems and they didn’t define her either. But yes 504 and absences for surgeries and a variety of signs of health issues didn’t affect admissions at all.
@momofthreeboys I think there is some confusion here about how it might end prejudicial to have this information go out to colleges. The ACT report is not just the test scores and the students’ responses to questions. The ACT is also running analytics on that data, and reporting out those analytics to paying colleges. So let’s say I am an 18 year old with a physical disability, who requires no accommodation for testing, but perhaps requires accommodations at HS and college under a section 504 plan (e.g I need a wheelchair ramp.). I then may check off that I have a physical disability that requires accommodation on the survey. Let’s say I score a 33 on the ACT, and I “guess” that I’ll have a 3.6 unweighted GPA at a highly competitive HS.
Perhaps it would be fine if the colleges only received that information. But you forget they also can pay to receive a statistical prediction about my likelihood to get above a B, and above a C, at the individual college’s classes, based on ALL of my responses and scores. Unfortunately, there is a correlation between having a disability, and having lower grades. So because I have this physical disability, the analytics are likely to predict that I would do worse at the particular college, then it would for a similarly situated, similarly scoring individual who does not have a physical disability. In fact, the analytics might also embed other nefarious predictions (e.g. that people of a certain gender or from a certain part of the country or a certain religion) get lower grades. If all that information goes into the model, all of it will come out the other end.
In other words the college doesn’t have discriminate at all in order to have a discriminatory admissions policy. They just have to purchase the ACT’s data and give it credence. That is not harmless.
@compmom You mentioned your daughter’s T1 accommodations. I responded to your post by mentioning my own son’s T1’s accommodations. I also shared my thoughts on T1 and the ADA, as well as the respect I have for other’s concern regarding privacy, the sharing of students data, as well as, the possibility for discrimination. For some reason you seem to think that my thoughts about this topic have something to do with your post. It really doesn’t. I was just sharing my thoughts on the subject. Also, I have repeatedly stated that I am not worried about discrimination. Please reread my posts where the word, “IF” and “not worried” were used. Doesn’t mean that discrimination isn’t a possibility…