ACT with Extended Time

I called them and they said it will automatically appear on my account… now i’m worried… thanks for the reply!

Things may have changed but when my son had a non-standard testing day for his accomodations he was mailed results and then they showed up in his account about 2 weeks later. His took longer to score by a few weeks than his peers who took them under regular conditions.

ACT sent my test for scoring on October 11th, i wonder how long it will take

What’s ridiculous is that ACT doesn’t separate extended timers from normal test takers. Don’t understand the logic behind combining 2 different groups of test takers with entirely different testing conditions. Why not create a curve for the extended timers and another for normal test takers? Regardless of whatever condition the extended time test taker may have, it’s completely unfair to create a curve based off of such drastic differences in testing conditions.

@Rotini I suggest you re-read the thread…

@annamom As far as I’m concerned, the thread has been about the “fairness” of extended time test-takers. Only once has it gotten close to the idea that there should be separate curves for each group, but even that hasn’t yet been discussed.

I am not sure what I think about granting extended time for testing. What I do know is that I have never seen an employee ask to be allowed to work longer for less pay because it takes him longer to process the task.

Extra time to get a 35C?

@Rotini and @WISdad23 you are certainly welcome to contact ACT or SAT if you have concerns with the “fairness” of extended time.

@annamom I’m well aware of that, and I’m also aware that I proposed an idea in a discussion forum for a reason.

Additionally, I presume you misunderstand what my proposition actually is. I reckon my former post, mentioning the idea of creating separate curves for normal and extended time test takers, didn’t make my proposition clear? I’m certainly not directly talking about the “fairness” of extended time test takers.

@Rotini I don’t understand why you are proposing this to us. What can any of us do with the idea? I’m completely okay with having separate curves but what does my opinion matter? I don’t see the point in talking “indirectly” about this again. Like Annamom said contact ACT and propose the idea.

Actually, if a student has a documented disability that makes it appropriate, he/she can be approved to go to the testing center and test separately. Commonly, they would be able to use time and a half to take the test. It can make all the difference to students, and it lets them show what they know. Like one poster said, extra time doesn’t help a student who doesn’t know the answer, no matter how long they have to read and process it. But it can make all the difference to students who have a disability.

Great, insightful post. It seems like it’s very hard for people to grasp these concepts unless they have seen first-hand a family member who is ‘doubly gifted.’ People in general have a very limited (and lacking intelligence) view of what ‘smart’ is. I’ve seen how my ‘superior’ spelling skills and math facts memorization are very small strengths compared with the amazing comprehension and big-picture-thinking ability of someone in my family who lacks my strengths. I would say that the majority of students who are highly gifted also struggle greatly with something for which accommodations would make all the difference and allow their strengths to be shared with the world.

@GeorgiaMom50 thank you. My point exactly…I am not even saying doubly gifted, it is difficult to see someone works through the challenges…IMO, there is no point to debate the issue of extended time.

Guys, it’s important to realize that extra time is a huge advantage to the science and reading tests. These do NOT test information, but instead test comprehensions and analytical skills. The time constraint is purposeful because anyone with half a brain could get a high score given enough time to reason through the questions.

When you don’t understand the exact disadvantage people are under it’s not appropriate for you to judge. It’s not like people are just asking for extra time because things take them a little bit longer. There are tons of medical/educational tests that are involved to qualify. Typically to get an IEP someone has to be seriously behind not just like 50% but usually less than 10% and often far less than that. I have 2 kids one with a disability and the other without. The one with a disability has a fairly substantial IQ advantage. They have standardized test scores that are identical. To me that shows that the playing field was leveled appropriately for the disabled child. The extra time that he receives is not nearly the amount testing shows would make his processing speed during the test equivalent to a non-disabled person. The stress of finishing on time is very much the same if not more than an average test taker even with extra time.

@Dikaiopolis, it would be beneficial to become educated about the various handicaps (such as the OP’s vision), learning differences, and issues that a student who qualifies for accommodations deals with every day of their life. Most people just never get it unless they see it first hand in someone they know very well. For example, a student with dyslexia may have excellent comprehension skills, but especially when reading a short question, they need to read it multiple times to be sure they read it correctly. It’s very easy for them to skip a small word such as ‘not,’ which, of course, would totally change what is being asked. The same student might have to check their math several times to be sure they did not mis-key their calculator input. Some students have extreme anxiety with the tight timing - not just ordinary nerves - to the point where they freeze and cannot even think. They might not even use the extra time, but having it helps them relax enough to show what they know. There are various reasons why a student would qualify, but they do have to qualify. Also, I’m quite sure I would show up as having ‘less than half a brain’ in your book, because no matter how much time given on the math and science sections, I would not get even an average score. There are many ways of being ‘smart.’ You have likely tapped into some, but I hope you can expand your horizons.

@Dikaiopolis From what I’ve noticed, a number of people have an issue with the idea of extended time, but understand the necessity and importance of it upon learning of specific circumstances under which it is granted. Perhaps my personal extended time experience will provide such a context. Above, Dikaiopolis states that “anyone with half a brain could get a high score given enough time to reason through the questions.” In ninth and tenth grade, I had a similar attitude toward the granting of accommodations, both within the classroom and on standardized tests. Of course, all of this was from the perspective of someone who had never experienced what the classroom situation is like for a student who receives accommodations.

My opinion changed out of necessity, after I literally lost a piece of my brain. As a result, I was not only unable to retain newly presented information for more than 30 seconds but also incapable of remaining awake for consistent periods of time. When I finally was able to return to school, I fought with my parents and school counselors when they recommended implementing an IEP or 504 plan to provide me with accommodations that included extended time - all the neuropsychological testing demonstrated that my actual intelligence was just as high as it had been before my accident. Then I took the PSAT without any accommodations, and understood why I needed extended time (I fell asleep multiple times during the test - likely distracting other students - and forgot the context of questions when I was midway through answering them). After the first round of SAT scores were released for my grade, there was only one student who had received a perfect score, and it happened to be someone who took the test with extended time. A number of students openly expressed their discontent with this, seemingly ignoring the fact that this student was exceptionally gifted, and that maybe, just maybe, his score was the result of his intelligence and hard work.

Therefore, Dikaiopolis, I am intrigued to learn more about your opinion on this topic. Although, at the moment, I do not have time to write more on this topic, I also believe that extended time often serves as a disadvantage, rather than advantage, to students who do not need the accommodation. By the way, how are Philippos and Xanthias doing?!

@Dikaiopolis -

With all due respect, I believe that you misapprehend the nature and purpose of accommodations such as extra time.

I have 5 children and an H whose dyslexia was not diagnosed until law school. He is fully aware that there is NO way he would get into law school now. He literally went to the office of a new school and talked his way in. I met him there - I enrolled as a scholarship student because it was a new school and was offering good money to students with good stats. Given our genetic mix, our kids run the gamut. On top of that, the two eldest suffered lead poisoning in the early 90’s.

The 2 youngest are dyslexic. They both receive extended time on standardized testing. They read more slowly than my other kids and they process things more slowly. The older of the two really didn’t care and didn’t study. His results didn’t change too much when he got more time. The youngest, my current senior, did better on the ACT with extra time. The first time, his accommodations were denied because the school wrote the wrong thing on the application. He said that he was able to finish the passages with more time. Having more time didn’t change his basic intelligence, it just enabled him to compete against students who read at a normal grade level. Nobody defined words for him, he had to know what they meant in order to answer the questions. Having more time on the math section meant that he was able to complete the same amount of problems that a non-dyslexic student who reads at grade level could do. My sons both have comprehension in the 99th percentile, but read slowly.

As for curving the results, I don’t believe in that. The tests of students with accommodations should be graded on teh same scale as others. All I wanted was for my sons to be able to demonstrate what they were able to do on an even playing field. In real life, there are careers that you can have where there are no time limits or at least not the artificially imposed ones of standardized tests. I venture that if the SAT/ACT were given on an unlimited time basis, most people would score in the same range as they would otherwise. If you don’t know or can’t figure it out, extra time isn’t going to help.

The purpose of accommodations is not to give certain people a leg up over other candidates. It’s to put them on the same rung.

Believe me, if I could take away my sons’ dyslexia and not have them need accommodations, I would in a second. So would they. The older of the two once told me that if he had a choice of being less smart and having no LD’s, he would choose that. Being twice exceptional stinks, according to my three kids (and H) who are. They fully understand how their ability to achieve is limited by their issues.

sorry but i want to ask am i able to control each exam time in the test i know that time is standerd for each test
E 45m
M 60m
Reading 35 m
S 35m

@Lightning13 You will be given a block of time for those with 1 1/2 time (I think it is 5 hours) to complete the 4 sections and you can divide the time the way you want, say spend more time on one section and less time on another. Any breaks you take will be taken out of the block of time…