Deleted
Hoping the @Chris247 clarifies.
From the College Board
On January 19, 2021, the College Board discontinued Subject Tests
The AP exams are not administered in October. IIRC, they are always in May.
The AP exams definitely are not administered on the same day and time as the PSATâŠunless something has dramatically changed this last year.
1 Like
I am not talking about October, November or any other month. I am trying to help OP to make sure her child gets accomodations approved by College Board implemented by testing site. Situation with accomodations is kind of the same no matter what is the test. Always messy and family needs to be proactive.
1 Like
@momsearcheng i think you are misunderstanding my post. @Chris247 claims they administered the PSAT in October, and had kids taking âsubject testsâ.
We are just hoping for a clarification of THAT post.
1 Like
Deleted
1 Like
Any high school administering the SAT or any other standardized tests knows what they need to do. They know who has accomodations and who doesnât. I donât see a need to assume they donât know how to do their job.
FWIW, my son had extended time. I sent him on his way on test day, I didnât contact the school he tested at, I didnât send him with anything other than his test day ticket, and all was well. It is uncommon for CB to get it wrong, honestly.
I see no reason for anyone to take extra steps to be sure their child gets what College Board has approved well in advance. All the extra measures are taken long before a kid sets foot in a testing center. A student canât get extended time without prior approval from CB, typically via the school, with a whole lot of supporting documentation, submitted by the school.
If the student referred to by the OP has testing accommodations, everyone at the schools will know because everything is planned out well in advance. In fact, when signing up for a test site, a student with accommodations may not even get into their first choice test center if the test site hasnât got enough space set up for all the students with extended test time.
1 Like
I wish it was our case. The issue was not CB. Issue was the school implementation. New accommodation was approved like 3 weeks prior the exam. Someone print out accommodations ahead of time and did not bother check for update. It was a mess. My child went into exam expecting to write on the test but was forced to buble answers.
From that point on, I contacted site ahead of time and gave hard copy of accommodation before every test in all settings to my child (College Board or actual college, or certification or anything else.)
2 Likes
Exactly. Sadly many schools are unprepared for students with accommodations on test day.
I hope OP has contacted the school where their kid is taking the test to make sure they understand (and provide) the accommodations OPâs kid needs.
2 Likes
Wouldnât they need to ask if the college board has sent those accommodations. As a test proctor, if a family or student made this request, and I knew nothing about it, I would not be able to honor it.
The family needs to contact whomever is in charge of the administration of the tests where the student is taking themâŠand find out if the accommodations have been sent by the CB, and will be met.
Accommodations should be included with the studentâs test registration, and if there is a problem with that, one would find that out when they contacted the school to make sure everything is ready to go. I agree if for some reason accommodations arenât part of the studentâs registration, the school would not allow the student to have those accommodationsâŠnot to mention they might not even offer those accommodations anyway.
Test proctors will have nothing to do with making sure there are appropriate accommodation settings for every student who is registered to take the test and approved for accommodationsâŠthat typically falls to the schoolâs testing coordinator (if there is one), a college counselor (if there is one), or a social emotional counselor.
ETA: hereâs what CB says about test accommodations:
Before Test Day
Families should check with the schoolâs SSD coordinator to make sure accommodations are in place and no further documentation is requiredâespecially if the student was approved at another school or the family did not go through the school to request accommodations. If a student is approved for school-based accommodations, it is important to notify the SSD coordinator of the dates that you intend to test.
On Test Day
On test day, all students testing with accommodations should remember to bring their SSD eligibility letter.
2 Likes
So apparently that was actual recommendation from CB (it is possibly recent addition to the website). I had no clue. It was just the only natural thing to do after failure.
1 Like
Having been a test prep tutor for nearly ten years now, Iâd say at least a third of my students have testing accommodations. This is probably due to where I live because my school district is well known for providing good services and parents here tend to be very proactive about getting their students set up for accommodations. However, in the twenty years I lived in the district, our high school never once hosted standardized tests.
I mention this because all students went to neighboring districts to test. Except for 2020, when there simply wasnât the manpower or space, I havenât encountered a student yet who was not given the assigned testing set up. So maybe it was just unlucky that the student above didnât get the right accommodation at the site. Maybe it was the short window between being approved and the timing of test day. Maybe that school was new to hosting. Itâs very unfortunate, but I donât think itâs the norm. In fact, we rarely see posts here on CC about such incidents.
In my experience, students havenât had issues. That doesnât mean no one has issues, of course.
Thank you for the suggestion. Very good idea!
1 Like
Update:
I did contact the school where my child will be taking the test. The testing coordinator confirmed their accommodations in writing. Letâs hope that it all goes well.
Thanks everyone for your help and guidance.
1 Like
So sorry, been very busy at work and home. Yes, it was the PSAT. What i meant by subject tests in that math is broken into 2 parts and apart from the reading. Good luck to all
hey! :]
Iâm a student w/accommodations on the SAT and I am more than willing to give some tips.
It might be a long process for your kid, depending on their adaptability with the test, but I took the SAT 4x and PSAT 1x and Iâve finally got my desired score of 1300+ (I got a 1310* on the August 24 administration).
*Breakdown: 660 Reading and Writing, 650 Math (w/o superscoring!)
my accomodations:
time and one-half (for both math and reading & writing. I am mentioning this because I know that if you have extra time in only Math you are not permitted to get extra time for the Reading part of the examination.), extra breaks, and small group setting (except this one is implied at a lot of test centers).
Personally, I think that taking the SAT in a different location outside of my school is easier for me because the stressors I get from taking things within my district are hard to manage.
I took my first sitting of the SAT in my school and found it overwhelming. Plus, I got a 1080 (but then again I was battling a mental health situation at the same time).
Plus, there was not much discrepancy from my PSAT, because I got a 1000 on it and was elated that I got 4 digits. I went into the PSAT super cold, I did very little preparation over the summer.
That breakdown - 440: Evidence Based Reading & Writing; 560: Math.
The only problem: I took the PSAT in October and literally did very little preparation for the March SAT. Please tell them that they should do preparation if theyâre taking both within a large gap.
Anyways, I took my May, June, and August sittings in different schools, and itâs definitely harder to cope with the fact that you canât be comfortable and know where everything is because itâs not your school, but it becomes manageable.
Plus, all the proctors and staff are really there to help you take the SAT under the BEST conditions and circumstances possible.
If you feel itâs strictly necessary, you could contact the school. Thatâs something I canât really comment on, because Iâve never had to, but the locations Iâve taken the exam at were accommodation friendly, and I think all test centers should be the same way.
I get your concern with the test being âhigh stakesâ, as it is. From a personal standpoint, the newer digital SAT is adaptive - in two ways.
Obviously, itâs adaptive in the sense that you can progress based on Module 1 progress, but from a personal perspective, the new SAT is also even more adaptive to extended time testers, because in the past, we (Iâm referring to the collective group of test takers with accommodations) would stay in the testing center for longer periods of time.
I do have a question for you, actually: Do you know how your kid paces themself for in-class exams?
Last thing, I realized that you mentioned a snack question.
This may soundâŠoffâŠbut I took snacks for my PSAT & all 4 of my SAT sittings.
However, for my August examination, I was going to eat my pistachios. Which, nut allergies are a big thing and I completely forgot that nuts are a common allergen.
So I chose not to eat them.
Funny enough, my highest score was recorded when I chose not to eat.
But I believe that for the first one or first two to bring a snack, as sitting in a room over long durations can get tiring and may induce hunger.
If they do bring a snack, I recommend Frooze Balls [1] - theyâre tiny and cause minimal distraction, while also filling you up pretty well.
But also, make sure they bring water!! WaterâŠobviously with its multiple benefits is obvious on the To-Bring List.
Lastly, if you have any questions from a studentâs perspective, you can reply to this post or direct message me, your choice!
Thank you for your detailed and thoughtful response! I appreciate it.
1 Like
No problem! :]
This topic was automatically closed 180 days after the last reply. If youâd like to reply, please flag the thread for moderator attention.