Rejected from testing for being "too smart"

<p>At the beginning of my junior year, my school planned on testing me for a learning disability. (I have very little ability to concentrate, I have to really try to learn course material for tests that come straight from a text book.) All of my teachers have said I'm a bright student, and they all agreed there was a need to explain a relatively lower GPA. I took the PSAT, however, and hit the 97th percentile- and suddenly the testing stopped. All I've wanted was extra time on tests and for that to appear on my transciript to explain a relatively lower gpa. My father had a learning disability as well, though he was never tested. (The type of B- student with a 35 on his ACT.) Is there any way I can seek out free or low cost testing? Thanks in advance.</p>

<p>Go back to your school. Insist on testing. Be a pest.</p>

<p>There is a really BIG difference between performing well on the PSAT, and performing well on a daily basis in class. In fact a high score on the PSAT and relatively lower class grades is practically a red flag for certain specific learning issues, among them ADD. And yes, there are lots of intellectually gifted people out there who have significant learning disabilities. So I repeat: go back to the guidance office and push for the testing. Be a pest now. Don’t wait until you are half-way through college to find out what isn’t working quite right for you.</p>

<p>ditto happyMom - please get this taken care of somehow. Unfortunately, I have no suggestions for where to get free or low-cost testing. Good luck.</p>

<p>I’m not an expert, but I think if your parents send a formal written request to the school, they are required by law to evaluate you within 60 days (?)</p>

<p>Different states have different definitions for a learning disability. I have 2 kids, 8 years apart. From the time kid #1 was going through testing to the time when younger kid was tested (both have documented discrepancies), the way test results are interpreted has changed. Often an LD kid has very high scores AND very low scores (the difference between ability and performance is called “discrepancy”). Now our state just averages the scores, and if a kid has an “average” score, they aren’t considered LD – and all testing and assistance stops. </p>

<p>The school district may not be willing to [spend the money to] test. That doesn’t mean you can’t be privately tested. Many insurance plans will pay for testing, though this varies a lot. </p>

<p>I agree with the “be a pest” advice. When kid #2 was no longer considered LD by our state (because of the averaging of scores), she was still able to have an IEP that gave her extra time for testing and assignments because she is also ADHD.</p>

<p>It is possible to be very bright AND have LD AND be ADHD – all at the same time. Even very bright kids deserve help when it’s needed!</p>

<p>Federal IDEA law supersedes state law.</p>

<p>Have your parents write a letter requesting a formal evaluation, copy the SpEd person at your school, the top SpEd person in your district as well as the Superintendent. Have them send it certified, return receipt.</p>

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<p>If you have enough time to do well on timed tests like psat, why do you need to ask for extra time?</p>

<p>uchogwarts,</p>

<p>The OP isn’t asking for extra time per-se on standardized exams. He/she is asking for better accommodations in his/her regular classes. Depending on those accommodations, extra time may be advisable for standardized exams as well.</p>

<p>The PSAT is a deliberately weird and tricky exam, just like its siblings the SAT and GRE. It cannot be fairly compared to normal classroom assessments. There are plenty of students who cannot perform well on the PSAT/SAT/GRE, yet pull down excellent grades on a daily basis. Other, equally talented, students find that they have an ability to nail the PSAT/SAT/GRE even though their every day classwork and unit and semester exams do not produce top grades. Why is it this way? We just don’t know. And boy do we wish we did. Those of us who have sat through graduate level courses on curriculum and assessment would love to have been handed the keys to finding out if our students actually have learned what we want them to have learned.</p>

<p>Every kid deserves support to work at her potential… is it even fair to say a 97 is good enough, if a kid with a known learning difference would score 99+ with an untimed test? I really don’t know. I told a professional once that my kid didn’t need untimed tests because he finished early and didn’t check his work anyway (ADD). My assumption was that untimed tests were for slow processors and/or kids with LD/physical differences. Except for tortured handwriting, my kid had none of those.</p>

<p>Her response was – “How would he have done if he could just have taken a break when he needed to and come back a few minutes later?” (Much better, perhaps - even though he did alright hurrying). I never got school services for my kids because they did “well enough”, and now I think it was a disservice.</p>

<p>shy, you really should pursue this. Your school district will kick and scream, and probably lie (many do), but if the parents ask for testing, the school needs to test. And look at the list of tests they come up with. Make sure they include areas you feel you are having trouble with. There’s reading, math, executive function, memory, processing speed, auditory processing, visual processing, etc etc. And if something pops up as low, demand that further tests are done to drill in and get more specifics.</p>

<p>You sound 2e - twice exceptional, in that you are gifted with an LD. Very often, for really bright people, the LD does not pop out until the work gets more complex. Then your native intelligence and strategies that worked in the past can no longer obscure the fact that there’s a problem. Absolutely, you must ferret that out now, as you’ll know how to work with it in college.</p>

<p>If you are so inclined, read through the link above - bridges4kids. WrightsLaw is excellent in letting you know what your rights are. You’ll find sample letters, etc. School districts normally steamroll right over 2e kids. Don’t let them. Get your lawyer hat on.</p>