ACT Irregularity Report - what next

Parents Forum
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<p>Momofsongbird: Not sure why you are explaining that to me since my daughter and I reported it. Of course it was improper. </p>

<p>Our daughter left the test room intending to go home, and not finish the test. The pain was intense. The guidance guy told her she was allowed to take time out, and was present while she walked up and down the hall (the walking was relevant to the medical issue) but when he told her she could go home for the weekend and finish on Monday, she objected strenuously. She was super ethical. She didn’t get any extra time at all, by the way.</p>

<p>I don’t understand why your response seems to indict my daughter. Most teenagers would have taken the break offered by an adult in charge, but her sense of right and wrong was strong enough not only for her to refuse the break, but to follow it up with College Board.</p>

<p>We met with the superintendent to try to get someone at the school to deal with this behavior on the part of the guidance director, but noone did anything.</p>

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<p>momofsongbird may have mis-read the whole post she quoted from in her post 18.
Either that or she had terrible wording in her post.
I think she meant to say: Congrats to your D who could have taken advantage of special conditions but chose not to. And to start out: This would have been absolutely unacceptable…
And in her second paragraph, she probably meant to say: Congrats to D for avoiding what could have been unfair to the other students because her test… </p>

<p>I have to think Mom/bird misread the post indicating that the D declined extra accommodations that would have been unfair. It wasn’t unfair- because the offer wasn’t accepted. We might agree it could have been, or that it would have been, but testing wasn’t unfair in this case because the offer was declined. Mom/bird’s tone in post 18 is certainly not congratulatory. I don’t want to think Mom/bird was just being mean-spirited.</p>

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<p>compmom, I was not “explaining” anything to you, nor did I indict your daughter. My comments focused on the proctor’s handling of the situation, not your daughter’s. </p>

<p>younghoss, my reading skills are just fine, thanks. If I ever need your help in interpreting what I “meant” to say, I’ll be sure to ask. Until then, feel free to post your own thoughts, but don’t attempt to interpret or re-state mine.</p>

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<p>Aren’t students allowed to use the bathroom if necessary? That has always been allowed at the standarized tests I have taken. I don’t see how walking the halls is any different than taking a long bathroom break, assuming the exam clock is running the whole time.</p>

<p>Not many high school students took bathroom breaks. But when I took a standarized exam a year ago for adults aged 30 - 50, a lot of people took bathroom breaks! They did have uniformed security sitting outside the bathroom to ensure test integrity, however.</p>

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<p>I have taken various state standardized tests here and the ACT, and you were not allowed to use the bathroom unless there is a general break for everybody to go between sections, and they are not in the middle of a section of the test. If you get up and walk out for any reason before the allowed break time you forfeit your score.</p>

<p>I got the worst stomachache of my life sometime in the middle of my ACT and couldn’t even go out into the hall to take medication for it or anything. They’re very strict about these things, at least they’re supposed to be.</p>

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<p>In the case of our daughter, a lot of work had been done well ahead of time, 9 months before, with documentation from several doctors and from the school, with College Board, so that she had certain accommodations already set up. This was due to multiple medical issues, some of which are constant and others that flare and are unpredictable.</p>

<p>Just so others know: if there is any conceivable reason you (the student) or your child might need an accommodation, even if the chance it will be needed is slim, contact the College Board disability office and do that documentation well in advance, like 6 months in advance.</p>

<p>Our daughter generally refuses accommodations, but in this case, she did leave the room for a bit. She was allowed unlimited breaks, on paper, but that does not mean walking around the school for an hour, nor does it mean taking the weekend off and returning to finish!</p>

<p>(Her college provides a proctor and she takes exams alone, which works well. She has also refused accommodations offered her there, sometimes in fairly dire circumstances. When you grow up with chronic issues, you really want to be “normal,” and she also likes to meet her own high standards without any adjustments if at all possible)</p>

<p>In the case of a healthy student who develops sudden stomach pains, it is too bad there is no recourse, and is too bad that the student who just posted had no way to take a break, then go back when feeling better.</p>

<p>Proctoring has been provided for our daughter according to the regulations of College Board, but in the case I described, the proctor obviously was inadequate. Actually, he was pretty busy getting ready for the prom that night, and there were some other irregularities that day. For instance, one AP exam was given earlier so that everyone could go home to get their hair done. Unbelievable.</p>

<p>Our kids don’t go to prom, so that was not on our daughter’s mind at all!</p>

<p>To return to the original post, my purpose was simply to say that it is reason to be grateful, I guess, to have a proctor who does things by the book. Difficult as it is for an individual, it protects the group.</p>

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<p>For the record I didn’t mean to suggest it wasn’t fair that I couldn’t go into the hall or anything, in case you misinterpreted, I was just stating that even in dire circumstances you cannot just take a bathroom break unless there is some sort of an accommodation in place that would state such. Bigtrees mentioned “going to the bathroom if necessary” and I provided my example because I was literally about to throw up on my exam and could not have left without forfeiting my score, there is no “if necessary” without medical documentation and accommodations agreed upon prior to the test.</p>

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<p>I don’t remember if students took bathroom breaks when I took the SAT. They did take bathroom breaks during the SAT, and I was one of those students. It seemed slightly strange.</p>

<p>It’s been a few years since I’ve taken the SAT and the policies may be different now.</p>

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<p>Emaheevul07, just sorry you went through that with no ability to step out and try to feel better. It sounds as if you had great fortitude and stayed in the test and finished, which is highly admirable!</p>

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<p>not in any standardized tests I have taken, which include AP, IB, SAT, and GRE. You can, of course, use the bathroom between sessions.</p>

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<p>Take SAT?<br>
My D. did not have time to mark any answers for whole passage in reading seciton, which resulted in her Reading being very low (7 points lower her highest scored section). Everybody has to play with the same set of rules and bear consequences for breaking them.</p>

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<p>hi i am currently having the same problem as you. my act score might be cancelled due to test irregularity, i accepted to colleges such as uconn. what do u think they gonna do if my ACT score is canclled? in your case, what happened afterward, can you tell more details about it. i will be appreciate it.</p>

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<p>hi i am currently having the same problem as you. my act score might be cancelled due to test irregularity, i accepted to colleges such as uconn. what do u think they gonna do if my ACT score is canclled? in your case, what happened afterward, can you tell more details about it. i will be appreciate it. …</p>

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<p>I don’t know the details but her D is now in med school so it apparently turned out okay in the long run. :slight_smile:
I’m sure super DAP will answer if she sees this. Why not PM her?</p>

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<p>Oh, I see you were addressing the OP not Miamidap. Ignore my post.</p>

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<p>Anyone notice that this thread is 2 years old?</p>

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<p>Jym, that’s the first thing I check on posts these days.</p>