<p>My son is a high school junior and his math disability is ever hanging over him/us as we look at various colleges. He was tested at age 12 and had a huge (as in over 80 point spread) between math reasoning and math calculation. Basically, without a calculator, he is mostly lost. </p>
<p>We're trying to find SAT II tests for him to take. He'll do fine with the Math I or even Math II because he can use a calculator, but, though he's getting a high A in his college physics class, he can't take the Physics SAT II because they don't allow calculators.</p>
<p>I am wondering if I should go ahead and have him retested now so he can maybe get a calculator accommodations (if College Board does that??). And do I just go back to the psychologist who tested him on the WIAT or is there a cheaper way to test for the disability?</p>
<p>You should probably have him retested anyway if he’s going to need accommodations once he gets to college. Just because he has a 504/IEP in place doesn’t mean colleges will do the same things for him. And yes, you should consider going back to the same psychologist. It’s always a good thing to have the original test data to compare. </p>
<p>As for accommodations on the Physics SAT Subject Test (they’ve changed the name back to Subject Tests from SAT II…they’re just confusing everyone!), if his diagnostic test report recommends calculator use, he is allowed to use calculators in school, and his teachers/counselor are willing to write letter stating that he benefits from using it, they may let him use it. It never hurts to try, though I think his chances are probably not great given that the math required is very basic.</p>
<p>Has he actually taken a scored practice test? He may still get a great score even without the calculator. The curve for Physics is pretty friendly in my understanding. </p>
<p>Otherwise, just try another subject! The biology test isn’t bad 
Good luck!</p>
<p>Thanks for the advice. We actually homeschool so he has no 504/IEP. I am his counselor and deal directly with College Board. He hasn’t taken a practice physics test yet. He just looked at the practice test. He took a practice SAT Math I test and got a 680, so I am confident he’ll score over 700 with a little review of trig. He took an 8 week accelerated trig class at the community college last semester but is using trig in his college physics class.</p>
<p>The problem is that the physics class only covers half the material on the subject test exam, so he’d need to study the rest on his own or with a tutor.</p>
<p>Ok, I’m going to call the previous psych and ask her opinion. I also wonder about intensive arithmetic training for my son. He’s scheduled to take pre-calc this summer but we have to make sure the professor is ok with calculator use…<em>or</em> we need to get that accommodation. Actually, the CC said, since my son will take his tests in the disability office anyways, they will allow a calculator unless the professor expressly forbids it.</p>
<p>Of course, we need something in place when my son goes full time to college in fall of 2015.</p>
<p>Sadly, he has pretty lousy short term memory, so the math, physics and hopefully literature tests are the only ones he’d really be ready for. He took bio back in 7th grade and probably doesn’t remember much! I figured I’d have him do the ones that are in most recent memory.</p>
<p>Got it. I’m a tutor who works with ADHD/LD kids, so I run into these types of questions a lot. I always try to help! Since you’re his teacher, you should absolutely include a letter describing how using a calculator improves his performance with specific examples. It also doesn’t hurt to have him write a personal statement about how not having a calculator affects him. I heard directly from ETS (closely affiliated with CB), that they do take personal statements into account. It doesn’t hurt!</p>
<p>I don’t often help students with Subject Tests (I’m almost all ACT these days, with some SAT mixed in), but I do sometimes work with them on Literature, Biology and the two History tests. If he’s not good with memorizing facts, the Literature test may be desirable since a lot of questions are just analysis of passages. But, there are a lot of literary terms listed he’ll want to review if he’s aiming for high scores. The terminology is a beating!</p>
<p>Hope that helps a little. Feel free to PM me if you have more questions! Best of luck to you and your son.</p>