Getting accommodations for the PSAT / SAT
What happens when corporate gatekeepers don't have to do the right thing?
In Los Angeles, it’s time for students to take the PSAT. According to the Princeton Review, the PSAT / NMSQT is the Preliminary SAT / National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test. The PSAT is a great primer for the SAT, and even the ACT, but it’s more than just a trial run. PSAT scores are used to identify National Merit Scholars and award merit scholarships. More than 3.4 million high school students (mostly juniors and sophomores) take this nationwide, multiple-choice test every year.
The PSAT is offered nationally every year in October. For students with IEPs or 504 plans, taking standardized tests can be problematic. For this reason, their plans often feature a section outlining the designated supports required of schools when students engage in specific state tests … but not the tests from the College Board.
The College Board, a 501c3 corporation has been widely criticized for issues like excessive executive pay (it’s CEO makes more than the president of Harvard), selling student data, and for preferring mindless lengthy writing over concise and accurate responses. Nevertheless, as the owners of the SAT and AP exams, they are one of the gatekeepers to higher education.
Getting accommodations from The College Board is not easy, nor is it guaranteed. First off, there is one time window for making such requests - August. Then, whilst parents must sign the consent forms, it is the school’s coordinator that must submit the form to The College Board in August. If the student’s school doesn’t have an SSD Coordinator, or the SSD Coordinator isn’t trained in the process and thus gets the paperwork wrong, the student will not be accommodated.
The College Board does list their criteria for evaluating requests. They are:
The diagnosis is clearly stated.
The information is current.
The student’s educational, developmental, and medical history is presented.
The diagnosis is supported.
The functional limitation is described.
The recommended accommodations are justified.
The evaluators’ professional credentials are established.
Seems easy, right? WRONG.
First, schools don’t diagnose children. Doctors are the only people who can offer a diagnosis. Schools evaluate the student and offer an eligibility for special education services. They hint at the complexity in their note about students receiving special education services. “If the student has an IEP or 504 plan in place, do they still need to submit a request for accommodation? Yes, Individualized Education Plans (IEPs), 504 plans, and doctor's notes are usually not sufficient by themselves. Each request must be supported by documentation, including appropriate academic and diagnostic test scores.”
The documentation guidelines are deliberately complex. For example, students with ADHD often have a special education eligibility of Other Health Impairment (OHI). For these students, their IEPs often feature a testing accommodation of extended time on tests. In order to receive this specific accommodation from The College Board, “…when requesting testing accommodations for students with learning disorders or ADHD, the most helpful information is a comprehensive cognitive and achievement battery that includes scores from both timed and extended time or untimed tests. Note: In itself, a low processing speed does not usually indicate the need for testing accommodations. In this instance, documentation should show how the low processing speed affects the student’s overall academic abilities under timed conditions.” Does your child / student have such a record?
For those with Specific Learning Disabilities (SLD), IEPs often feature accommodations simplified test instructions and having questions read aloud, either by the computer or by an adult. For these students, The College Board requires:
Documentation of the student’s learning disability, including a comprehensive cognitive and academic evaluation
A comprehensive measure of reading ability
Descriptive information from school, which could be submitted via the Teacher Survey Form
It’s important to note here that cognitive evaluations aren’t performed on an annual basis. If they are performed at all, they are part of the tri-annual IEP. Thus, if you have one for your student, it may be outdated … and thus deemed invalid (see above requirement for current information.) Other tests, like the measures of reading ability, are also only done every three years.
Then there is assistive technology. Many autistic students use an augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) device to help them navigate the verbal world. Here, The College Board requires that requestors “… provide a detailed description of the assistive technology, including the names, version numbers, and what functions you intend to use.”
But, there are limitations that may preclude the student from using their AAC device during testing. “Because of issues related to test security, not all technology used in school may be appropriate for use during College Board testing.”
When using assistive technology, you may not be connected to any network.
You may not use your personal computer or that of a family member.
All unapproved aids are not allowed and must be disabled.
You may not use any additional functions or software during the test that has not been approved by College Board.
Here, it’s important to note that many AAC “devices” are just modern apps that can be used in tablets or phones. This helps families in that a separate, and often expensive device isn’t needed. Although you can put a mobile device into Airplane Mode, it’s well known that Apple’s iPhones and iPads are never truly “off-network.” Thus, will The College Board allow your iPad-based AAC? They won’t tell you ahead of time. You’ll just have to wait to get rejected, then try again next year not knowing the standards you must meet.
See for yourself just how complicated it is to seek accommodations from this billion dollar behemoth. Their page of accommodations by disability can be found here. When looking for the requirements in requesting accommodations for your autistic child / student, pay particular attention to the language in item #4. “A medical note is usually not sufficient to support the need for accommodations. Documentation should demonstrate that a comprehensive assessment was conducted and include:”
A summary of current symptomatology, treatment, and ongoing needs.
A narrative summary of evaluation results with clear evidence of clinically significant impairment in an academic setting.
Comprehensive cognitive and academic testing (particularly when requesting extended time) such as those found on our page of commonly used diagnostic tests.
Item #6 gets into symptom validity, a very tricky subject. “… in keeping with best clinical practices, documentation should reflect a multi-method evaluation. In most cases, this should include an assessment of symptom validity, such as a discussion and interpretation of the consistency and inconsistency of symptoms and performance; results from specific, well-validated symptom validity tests; or discussion of forced-choice tests.
For example, a discussion of performance could include an explanation of inconsistent data on different neurocognitive and psychological tests, performance patterns, observed behaviors, and embedded validity indicators.”
Item #7 is another place where you may get tripped up. “To ensure valid testing and diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder, evaluators must be licensed by the state in which they practice.” Remember, an eligibility for special education services that is provided by a school’s IEP team is not a “diagnosis.” Item #7 says, effectively, no diagnosis, no accommodations.
Wrapping it up
By now, I think you get the point. Schools and families must know that the school’s SSD coordinator is the one to request accommodations in August for the upcoming school year. The SSD coordinator has to get the teachers to complete the surveys, get the parents to fill out and sign the consent form, and assemble the binder of paperwork needed to satisfy the seven criteria. Everyone then waits for The College Board to make their determination. By the time that happens, it’s often too late to appeal a rejection ahead of October’s test date.
So, why are they so strict? They say that it’s their attempt at protecting the integrity of their tests. I say, and I’ve said this for year about such regimes, it’s about protecting profits. Accommodations cost money, money The College Board doesn’t want to spend administering their tests if they don’t have to. So, they set the bar so high that very few people can clear it. They win, as their billion-dollar balance sheet indicates.
It’s time to end The College Board’s monopoly. It’s time to end the PSAT / SAT tests once and for all.