<p>Hey everyone! Just wanted to see the improvements of standardized test scores of people who took the test WITHOUT extended time to WITH extended time.</p>
<p>IF this does not apply to you, please refrain from posting scores unless posting scores of someone close to you that you know.</p>
<p>I am just curious as to the magnitude of improvement of people who take the test with extended time to get an average of it. Along with the average overall score with extended time.</p>
<p>I would also appreciate it if you listed the REASON why you had extended time. This will help categorize between physical disabilities and learning disabilities and types of each. ALSO, list the AMOUNT of extended time received.</p>
<p>For me: My ACT score was 26 the first two times I took it WITHOUT extended time. Then when I had extended time, my score improved to 33. I have ADD/ADHD and that was the reason for receiving extra time. I received 50% extra time.</p>
<p>Let's try to keep a standard format here if at all possible. Feel free to add any comments wherever but try to keep the format as follows:</p>
<p>I'm a poor example cause I only was able to take the SAT once, but I scored about 400 points higher with extended time than I did taking the PSAT. My pre ACT score was pitiful as well. Of course that was a year earlier and I wasn't taking any math or trying particularly hard but...</p>
<p>I had the extended time, 50%, because of severe anxiety (couldn't crack a book to study and woke up every hour the night before), and ironically a sleeping disorder that makes me exhausted all the time no matter how much sleep I get. I'm pretty sure the accommodation was granted mostly because of the anxiety, I didn't know much about the fatigue, but I was given extended time for the ACT only after it was included. They told me two days before the test though...so that didn't happen.</p>
<p>One of my son's friends went from a 23 to a 28 on the ACT with extended time. Now I need to figure out how to set this up for my daughter, who also has an IEP.</p>
<p>D was diagnosed officially with ADD this year. On medication. Counselor just sent in all documentation May 2 for SAT on June 7. May 2 is the deadline, but realistically, isn't this too short of a time frame to gain the approval? Anyone have any insights?</p>
<p>The ETS/College Board posts its application deadlines for accommodations online, but I'm not sure how realistic they are. If you are applying for 50% extended time and nothing else, there is a different, later deadline than if you are applying for less common accommodations such as the use of a keyboard or more time. The 50% time application is also simpler; with requests for different accommodations, you have to send the original psych or medical eval and raw date, whereas for 50%, the school just kind of fills in the blanks.</p>
<p>My impression is that 50% time requests have much faster turnaround time than the more complex requests, and just anecdotally, it sounds as if they have a higher rate of success. (I think that a different office handles them, and that they're liklier to rubber stamp if the school fills out the form properly.) The problem is, if your request is turned down, you won't really have a lot of time to gather more supporting data and appeal. We actually applied before school let out in the spring for the fall PSAT, lost, appealed endlessly with masses of supporting documentation, and finally won just before the PSAT. </p>
<p>I don't want to pull this thread onto a tangent, but it sounds as if several posters did OK on SAT/ACT's without accommodations (although not at their ability level), and then were permitted to take the tests again when they received their accommodations. What I had heard, though, was that for some students, if they received average scores on the SAT, then the ETS/CB refused to give them accommodations for later tests, on the grounds that if the students could perform at the national average without accommodations, the ETS had no obligation to provide accommodations. (I don't know how the ETS came up with this; I don't think it's consistent with the relevant laws.) Anyway, I was very concerned that this could happen to my kid, and didn't have him take any standardized PSAT/SAT kinds of tests until his accommodations were granted. Was I being overly cautious?</p>
<p>That is disappointing. She took PSAT and did not do well (169) and took SAT and did not do well on that either (1200) and in both cases simply could not finish in time. She has a huge gap in her ability to complete work in a timely manner and her actual intelligence. The psychologist feels there is solid evidence to get the 50%. Now that you post on them looking at her previous scores, I am sure that the scores would be considered average when you look at national averages. I sure hope that does not affect their decision.</p>
<p>252525 -- Don't panic! First of all, posters on this thread did not have the experience I was worried about; they were able to receive accommodations even after having taken the tests and performed decently without extended time (although obviously not as well as they performed with needed accommodations!) </p>
<p>Also, my info comes from families with kids who needed accommodations different from 50% extended time, which is the standard thing that the CB grants. These requests are handled in a different office, and seem to be handled more promptly and with fewer inexplicable denials. My sense is that your only concern could conceivably be the recency of the diagnosis and treatment. If you are denied, immediately download copies of the CB/ETS teacher observation forms that are available on the LD section of their website and have every single one of your D's recent teachers, especially if there are teachers who have worked with her before and after her diagnosis, treatment, and accommodations, and have them fill out those forms in the most concrete, graphic, and dramatic way they can. (Sadly, the folks who handle appeals do not all have an academic or experiential background with LD.) A letter from her physician detailing the use of her medication, and including any side-effects and the impact they might have on test-taking could also be included. Hopefully, none of this will be necessary and your daughter will receive the appropriate accommodations in the next couple of weeks.</p>
<p>AnonyMom, thanks so much. I am so concerned about this that I am not sleeping at night! We waited so long to have her tested. Not knowing the symptoms, not having our antenna up over the low standardized test scores vs. the capabilities in class, grades, effort, etc. is making me kick myself now. I feel very guilty for not recognizing this. I am praying the 50% request is granted b/c she is absolutely sure it will make a difference in her scores. Thanks for the insights.</p>
<p>I can completely relate to losing sleep over dealing with LD's and then with the ETS/CB. I had already started researching SAT-optional Fair Test schools as my kid's appeal stretched through the summer. He had been well-accommodated at school for many years, and we knew that without accommodation, there was really no point in his taking standardized tests as the results would reflect only his LD and not his aptitude or knowledge. </p>
<p>Just stay strong and know that even if you lose at first, you can gather convincing materials together and appeal successfully. With that scenario, your D can take SAT's in the fall instead, after winning the appeal, and it won't be a huge problem. Also, I would strongly advise you to apply to for accommodations on the ACT as well. I realize that in some parts of the country the ACT is not well-known and not recommended by high schools, but so what. Virtually every college in the country now accepts the ACT in lieu of SAT I's, and for some colleges, it can be submitted instead of SAT I's and II's. I know people who endlessly appealed SAT accommodation denials(California parents of severely dyslexic children have had quite a battle to get the use of keyboards for their children over the past few years, particularly in the case of gifted children.) but got approved for the ACT in the return mail. (For the ACT request, be sure the testing psychologist includes a letter that very concretely connects the diagnosis and the syptoms to the specific accommodation you're requesting. Even though it would be obvious to a moderately intelligent goat who's eaten the diagnostic manual that certain diagnoses call for particular accommodations, I was actually told by the ETS that we had failed to explain how dysgraphia is connected to difficulty writing by hand and the need for a keyboard.) In any case, it would probably make sense for you to apply for ACT accommodations as a back up.</p>
<p>Finally, there are excellent colleges that take untreated LD's into account in evaluating applications, particularly when they can see a change in the student's performance after diagnosis and treatment. To this end, having "before" and "after" grades and test scores could be helpful. For example, I learned on this board that UC Berkeley has special procedures for addressing the applications of such students if they self-identify.</p>
<p>My D has been tested every 3 years since 1st grade and all reports say she has a processing problem. She has a diagnosis code for this issue as recognized by the Americans with Disabilities Act. Given all of this, she has been denied the extra time on the ACT - twice. We are now waiting on what they say is the 3rd and final appeals process, conducted by and outside consultant. Has anyone else experienced this? I'm particularly frustrated because other kids in her class were granted the extended time with relatively recent diagnosis submitted, no long track record as my D has.</p>
<p>Finally, if my D is not granted the extended time, are there legal actions that can be taken so this descision is not so random. I'm working hard to get this for my daughter because I have the time and resources, but I worry about all those other kids out there that don't have the benefits my child has. Thanks for your time and thoughts.</p>
<p>Disability Rights Advocates (Disability</a> Rights Advocates) in Berkeley, CA successfully litigated for accommodations on MCAT's. Their telephone number is (510) 665-8644. If they can't help you, hopefully they can refer. </p>
<p>Also, since the ACT and SAT are not connected with each other, it might make sense to apply for accommodations on the SAT as a back-up. You might get a completely different outcome, particularly if you are requesting 50% extended time and nothing else.</p>
<p>Pistolen -- I'm confused about why accommodated LSAT's and MCAT's are flagged. Flagging was litigated for SAT's and can no longer be done. Why wouldn't the same legal reasoning apply for the other tests? Do you know the situation for GRE's?</p>
<p>ACT is a private organization. You can file a complaint with Office of Civil Rights, but I investigated that when my son was initially offered 50% extra time on the SATs. The OCR's criteria are very procedural. You have to show that your child was treated differently than other LD kids. The section of the ADA that they used does not challenge the College Board's or ACT's right to decide how to treat LD kids, and can in principle treat them unfairly so long as they do so in a consistent fashion.</p>
<p>That said, my son has gotten 100% extra time from TCB and ACT, but there was a big appeals process with TCB. With the ACT, I sent along lots of stuff that I had gotten together for my appeal to TCB plus what the TCB allowed.</p>
<p>Sat accommodation's are, in my experience easier to get. Act accommodations are better to have though so....
Big difference with how you divide time 150% per section vs 150% for the whole test to do with as you please
I'm having ethical issues with how to use mine for next months test</p>
<p>ACT is a private organization. You can file a complaint with Office of Civil Rights, but I investigated that when my son was initially offered 50% extra time on the SATs. The OCR's criteria are very procedural. You have to show that your child was treated differently than other LD kids. The section of the ADA that they used does not challenge the College Board's or ACT's right to decide how to treat LD kids, and can in principle treat them unfairly so long as they do so in a consistent fashion.</p>
<p>That said, my son has gotten 100% extra time from TCB and ACT, but there was a big appeals process with TCB. With the ACT, I sent along lots of stuff that I had gotten together for my appeal to TCB plus what the TCB allowed.</p>
<p>If this helps anyone, D was tested in April, applied for 50% extended time by may 2 deadline, and got approval from SAT in one week, just in time for APs. We are really relieved. We'll see how much this helps on June 7 SAT.</p>