Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Identification, Testing & Assessment How do I get accommodations for Explore?

I want to sign my 10-year-old son up for the Explore this year. He has dyslexia. He took the Explore last year, and did pretty well, but I would like him to have the chance to take it with accommodations. I applied for accommodations last year, but was turned down. I provided the full 30 page report from his testing, which clearly and extensively documented the dyslexia and the dysgraphia. We homeschool, in part because of the dyslexia, but I was therefore unable to provide any documentation from school about an IEP, etc. I was told we were ineligible for accommodations because his achievement scores were in the average range or better.

Does anyone have experience with successfully applying for accommodations for the Explore? What else could I do?

Thanks in advance.

Explore is the ACT folks. I hear that it is tougher to get accommodations on the ACT than the SAT. Maybe there are homeschooling parents who have managed to get accommodations who can comment? Also, the ACT folks may not really care about a kid taking an above level test - they might be more willing to provide accommodations when he is at grade level (8th for Explore, HS for ACT).

No. But we frequently apply for accommodations for our students for the ACT. Our experience has been that ACT is unlikely to approve accommodations for a child whose documented skill deficit is at least average, even when the accommodations are on the IEP. What accommodations were you seeking?

I was hoping for time and a half. The need for speed just undoes him.

I was able to get time and a half for my son on the ACT. He was officially homeschooled at the time but had a history of having accommodations at various schools. For example, he was enrolled in a program for homeschoolers a the local public school and had a 504 there (that I got specifically so I could say he had a 504 when requesting SAT/ACT accommodations--in fact we enrolled him in the program for the same reason). He also attended a private school for a year and had an "accommodations plan" and was at the time I applied, dual enrolled at a community college where they gave him accommodations as well. I put all of that information in with the request.

We also had him evaluated when he was in 9th grade by a person with extensive experience with getting ACT/SAT accommodations for 2E kids. So, while the achievement scores on that test were average or better (sometime a lot better), the report explained about the discrepancy between his IQ and achievement. They also gave at least one test timed and with extended time to show the extreme difference in the scores.

I should mention that when when my son (mentioned in my above post) took the PLAN, he was allowed to use whatever accommodations he was getting at school (he happened to be enrolled in a private school at the time). The accommodations did not need to be approved by the ACT people. I'm guessing that it is the same with the EXPLORE. So you would need to get the accommodations approved by whoever is administering the testing.