My child has a language-based learning disability and reads slowly, with difficulty with comprehension. We plan to apply for 100% extended time. Assuming we are approved, which test would be a better choice? From what I have read the SAT is preferable for students who are slow readers, but the ACT allows extended time to be used throughout the entire test rather than per section as in the SAT.
My son is dyslexic and dyscalculic. He reads slowly with comprehension as well. He has an IEP. He was given time and one half, not double time, on both exams. The ACT has proven better for him because he is stronger in science and social studies than he is in math.
Thanks, techmom!
You’re welcome. Just one thing more that I remembered. The school has to apply for the accommodations for the student. My son was turned down the first time for ACT, so he took the test without them. His scores were so poor that I contacted ACT directly to find out why he had been turned down. I was told that the school had not worded its description of his LD properly. I had the school file an appeal using different wording and the extended time was granted. His composite score went up 5 points without him studying or taking a course. I believe that the new score is more reflective of his actual abilities. He is now working with a math tutor, though not as diligently as I would like, and is re-taking the test in September.
My son gets 1 1/2 times extended for tests in school. He doesn’t always need to use it, depending on the subject and the test.
My next up son is also dyslexic. He was scantron exempt because he just could not bubble. This son17 used to be scantron exempt but now that he wears bifocals with prisms he can do them.
TM
Double time was recommended for DD by her educational specialist, but DD felt she wouldn’t have the stamina for a full second day of testing. However, other kids managed it OK over a Saturday and Sunday. DD did have a long day with time and a half on the older SAT, but her breaks were as long as she wanted per the accomodation.
I never asked my son how he used his breaks but I am going to look into it. There is an older thread on here that seems to be saying that they can use their time as they want. So, if that’s true, I am going to tell him to use the most time for math (his worst area) and the least for the essay, since the schools he is applying to don’t seem to use it anyway.
Make sure that your D has a real watch because they aren’t allowed to use cell phones to time themselves.
Early this year, my son took ACT & SAT with 1 1/2 time hence a ~6 hr ordeal in 1 day - the challenge was of course how to sustain his stamina as you said. We thought ACT would be a better fit. His biggest short fall was pacing. Although ACT appeared to be more straight-forward (in the way the questions were worded), my son wasn’t able to complete in time where SAT has some what fewer questions. For Math SAT was organised to have easier questions in the front, but for ACT some easy questions were in fact in the back. We ordered the paper and saw where he randomly picked the answers to easy questions when he was out of time. So ACT is not necessarily easier to ace.
Mind you the way SAT and ACT tests were administrated was different too - to our utmost surprise! ACT was allocated one overall big block of time, but SAT was strictly 1 1/2 time per paper. We were not advised such details. So, good luck! I know how tough they could be for our kids.
Thanks for all the advice and input. I hope to not let the standardized testing consume too much time and energy.
I had researched this extensively for my daughter who has accommodations for both the SAT and the ACT (she gets time-and-a-half with stop-the-clock breaks for a physical disability that affects her ability to write).
For regular extended time testing (time-and-a-half), the test is given on a single day, and the the student is allowed to pace him/herself and can spend as much or as little time per section as needed.
When the ACT grants double time (or includes stop-the-clock breaks) it puts the student in a category for “special testing” which is school-based and done on a section-by-section basis, with the extended time allowed for each section. Ostensibly, they have a 3-week period in which to do the testing; as my D’s (private) school, they break it up over a weekend where you do have on Saturday and half on Sunday (or perhaps they did it on two Saturdays - I don’t recall). When my friend’s daughter took the ACT with “special testing” at a public school, they did break it up over a couple of weeks and the extended time was on a section-by-section basis.
As for the SAT, they always grant extended time on a section-by-section bases.
Good info LoveTheBard! My DD needed use of a computer for disability reasons, and that pushed her into the “special testing” category; she also had stop-the-clock breaks. She was the only student in the room, although it may have been because she was the only student testing at her school that Saturday.