If the kid gets extra time because they have an ADD diagnosis but they already can score 2000+ without that accommodation - then I have a problem with that.
And how do you make that decision that 2000 is the dividing line between what matters and what doesn't for "speed"? What about a student who can score at the 50th percentile without their accommodation, but at the 60th with extended time? Why do you believe it is it ok to allow that? Isn't that similarly unfair to the students who score at the 50th percentile without a disability?
To be clear, I don't agree with you - I believe that a student who has ADHD and a recommendation for extra time from the dr who diagnosed ADHD has a right to that extended time, no matter what they can score without the extra time. Same for any other disability. The intent of accommodations is to allow a student with a disability to show their *full* knowledge and not be limited by the impact of their disability in showing it.
Honestly, I think the worries stated throughout this thread from people who believe that high income families can (and do) seek out ADHD etc diagnosis so they can apply for extended time for their students to have an advantage over others are a bit of an over-reaction. The reality is, to get accommodations on the ACT/SAT etc you have to meet a very specific set of rules - including having an up-to-date diagnosis from a qualified professional. I am not going to list out all the requirements, but if you haven't looked over them, you can take a peak at the requirements for the ACT here:
http://www.actstudent.org/regist/disab/policy.html#clinI do not have a child with ADHD, but I do have a 13 year old 2e student with a fine motor disability - he meets all the criteria for accommodations, has had accommodations for state and classroom testing in school for years, and yet I'm still worried he isn't going to have accommodations approved for the ACT/SAT (we're in the process of applying this fall). I think it's really easy to call "foul" when you are a parent who doesn't have a student needing accommodations simply because it's easy to imagine that other people will try to take advantage of the system. As a parent of a child who *does* need accommodations - I can assure you - it takes a lot of work to actually get accommodations approved. I don't worry about huge numbers of tiger parents trying to play the system - it would take a ton of work and there are checks and balances built in to try to prevent unwarranted requests from going through. SURE there are going to be some parents and students who fake a diagnosis to get an accommodation and sure some are going to slip through - but it's not something I see as large enough of an issue to be worrying over and getting upset about. No measurement system is going to be perfect. I personally feel it's far more important to provide an opportunity for students with disabilities to be able to take a test under conditions that allows them to show their knowledge than it is to put up gates so high that in keeping out the relatively small numbers of students who are faking a diagnosis students with a real need are kept out.
polarbear
