Give everyone six hours and let kids leave when they are done.
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.
The most striking thing to me in the Wall Street Journal article was that the College Board approves 94%! of the requests for accommodations (most of which are for extra time according to the article) Hmmmmmm quite a contrast to the many posts on this board claiming that accommodations are usually denied or hard to get.
Totally disagree with the idea that being able to do things quickly is not relevant to being able to do college level work or to careers in the real world. Being able to keep up as concepts are presented in a classroom or getting the reading and other homework done while still getting some sleep is relevant at the most academically challenging schools. Anyone who bills their time knows the pressure of giving their clients good value and having to write off time if they cannot. Police personnel, EMTs and firefighters must process information quickly to make life saving decisions. Being able to perform under time pressure matters.
@LittleStitious I believe there was a lawsuit that forced them to accept more requests for accommodations. When my daughter attempted to get extra time on the SAT in 2015, she was denied despite having accomodations at school for ADHD and anxiety since she was 8. She also had a full neuropsych evaluation. We appealed but the appeal was denied.
From an article: " beginning January 1, 2017, the College Board will automatically approve accommodations for the vast majority of students who receive school-based testing accommodations through a formal school-based plan (IEP or 504 Plan for public school students and comparable plans for private school students)" (https://www.■■■■■■■■■■■■■■/blog/2016/12/15/sweeping-changes-to-sat-and-act-accommodations)
@Emsmom1 indeed, but there continue to be many posters on this site that insist accommodations are not abused because they are so hard to get and so frequently denied. That is clearly not the case at present.
@LittleStitious I agree. Surely there is some mid-point between rejecting accommodations requests for those who actually need them (and have a long, documented history of the need for accommodations) and accepting them from everyone.
Hmmmmmmmm. Quite a contrast to the many posts on CC over the years documenting that in the recent past well substantiated diagnoses and histories of accommodation have been ignored by College Board as a matter of routine. There have been justified lawsuits against CB for those denials of legitimate requests. Those lawsuits have resulted in a recent change of practice by CB, probably an over-correction of its previous extreme policy in the other direction. Neither practice by CB is appropriate.
CB really has no choice, epiphany.
Once a qualified licensed provider submits a full write up after xx-day evaluation, the schools & CB are in no way capable of disproving the need. Unless the schools & CB want to start their own psych analysis program with their own approved docs, they have to rubber stamp the request.
All of this was easily foreseen (and predicted by some of us) way back with CB settled the lawsuit.
I think CB is now doing the same as insurance companies when they get a request/claim - deny it first, then if the person appeals, grant the request.
A friend has had accommodations since K. She recently asked for the accommodations for the GRE and it was denied. Appeal. Approved. She needs not only extra time but a private room.
They “had no choice” previously, but they violated the law, repeatedly.
The current price for accomodations in my town is $2500, but I understand there is some regional variation.
This is so infuriating and frustrating. I guess I will shell out a few thousand dollars to buy a few extra hours for SAT for my kiddo.
“What the College Scandal Shallowfakes Reveal About the Rich”
New article in Wired magazine today.
“The parents who paid for Singer’s services inadvertently punched their kids in the guts. The message to their children, as Eileen Kennedy-Moore, a clinical psychologist, told MarketWatch, was “I don’t have faith that you are capable of succeeding based on your own skills and hard work, and I don’t believe you’re strong enough to cope with disappointment.” An ego-stroking deepfake, to the extent that it’s supposed to look real, sends the same demoralizing message.”
“But the new pose of the rich as hard workers is indeed another version of consuming conspicuously. What more spiteful thing for the entitled to do than rob others of even their most earned, try-hard moments … without lifting a finger? Everyone in the scam is set up to protect the leisure, languor, ignorance, and ego of the cosseted student—the coaches, the parents, the bribed officials, the friends who know she doesn’t play sports”
https://www.wired.com/story/college-scandal-shallowfakes-reveal-about-the-rich/?CNDID=40293494&CNDID=40293494&bxid=MjM5NjgxMTk0NzM5S0&hasha=556a9fdf5300f9ac3a0695ea112a1878&hashb=428201ada833dab4b1c8efe5dde8448bac1cc8c4&mbid=nl_052619_backchannel_list3_p1&source=BACKCHANNEL_NEWSLETTER&utm_brand=wired&utm_mailing=Backchannel%20NL%20052619%20Top%2050%20(1)&utm_medium=email&utm_source=nl
enjoy!
See. I don’t think it’s not “capable of succeeding based on your own skills and hard work…”
I think they specifically wanted their kids into particular reputation colleges.
So not that OJ couldn’t get into Cal State, but that they wanted the USC sort of academic and social school, primarily for the social cachet, fun experience for her, there.
It’s not ordinary parenting,
I disagree. They wanted their kids accepted into “top” colleges for the bragging rights. Pure and Simple.
Because anything less than an acceptance at a highly competitive “top” college, would show that their kids weren’t as “special” as their parents considered them, or themselves to be.
I think they wanted their kids at USC, period. I know a lot of people who want their kids to go to a certain school and they do what they can to make that happen.
"I know a lot of people who want their kids to go to a certain school and they do what they can to make that happen. "
short of committing fraud, I hope!
Remember that it’s not just extra money, your kid would have to play along to get a fake diagnosis. Pretend to “be stupid” as Singer said in the court documents.
Ugh, not even close to worth it in my book.
The standards are so vague, I really believe everyone could qualify for a diagnosis now. I have never heard of anyone who asked to be and who was not diagnosed.
If test accommodations, which are meant to be the exception rather than the rule, are widely abused, it makes you wonder what other parts of college admissions are routinely abused. For example, what percentage of college application essays are truly the works of the students?