Guest guest Posted September 22, 2005 Report Share Posted September 22, 2005 So who decided to allow the 9th graders to take the test? The school district or the College Board? If it was the school district, they knew they had students who would need accommodations and they knew there was a need to apply for them within a certain amount of time, as they already seem to have a system in place for the 10th graders. If it was the College Board, they knew how much time they needed to make these accommodations and should have notified the school district within plenty of time so the College board could get the proper info from the school district. Either way...someone has made a major mistake. If they are not prepared to offer this test to ALL 9th grade students, then maybe they should wait until next year so everyone can make sure the students who need accommodations get those accommodations. Someone has definitely dropped the ball and there is no reason why those students who need accommodations should be made to suffer. Debbie semesky@... wrote: I am sending a note that I received in the mail today. I called the PSAT Princeton Review help line and they did confirm that because the school system did not file appropriate paperwork, would receive no testing accommodations including, no CART reporter, no fm system and/or possibly no hearing aid when he takes the PSAT test. When I tried to say this was illegal, the Princeton Review rep hung up on me. Further, we are advised by Baltimore County Public Schools to NOT have our child take the test. And, to make it further discriminatory, they are insisting that we must tell Baltimore County Public Schools if we want our child to take the PSAT, otherwise they will exclude him. The regular ed kids are automatically included. I have a call in to Fox 45 in Baltimore already. Didn't someone here have access to a national reporter? This is incomprehensible to me! This is a test that is critical for receiving National Merit and land Merit Scholarships and is practice for the SAT. So, the students that need the most practice are denied access. Makes sense right? September 2005 Dear Parents/Guardians This year, for the first time, 9th grade students throughout Baltimore County Public Schools will have an opportunity to take the Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test (PSAT), scheduled for October 12, 2005. In past years, this test was administered primarily to our 10th and 11th grade students. Your child may be eligible for accommodations (small group testing, extra time, et.) for the PSAT, and later for the SAT. However, the College Board in Princeton, New Jersey - not the public school system - makes the determination as to which students are in fact eligible for accommodations. The procedure for applying for accommodations usually starts at the annual review IEP Team meeting held prior to the first year the student takes the test (i.e., at the 9th grade annual review for 10th grade testing, and now at the 8th grade annual review for 9th grade testing.) Unfortunately, information about this change (9th graders taking the PSAT) was not available during the application period for the up-coming October 12th PSAT; thus, it is too late for schools to apply for accommodations for their 9th graders for this particular test. However, there will be other opportunities to take the PSAT - for instance, when your child is a 10th grader - giving us ample time to apply for accommodations before then. I am suggesting that your child not take the test this October, simply because he or she would have to do so in a loarge group with the general student body, and without any accommodations. Knowing how difficult this test is, my feeling is that we would be setting things in motiong for your child to feel defeated, and to develop further negative feelings about future PSAT or SAT exams. Whether or not your child participates this October is, of course, your choice. If you would like your child to take the Oct. 12th PSAT, without any accommodations, please let me know and I'll make those arrangements. Otherwise, I'll assume that you would like testing to be deferred until next year. (By then, we would have applied for any appropriate accommodations.) Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions at... Dwyer Services for Students with Disabilities Testing Coordinator Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 22, 2005 Report Share Posted September 22, 2005 Hi Debi The school district is " partnered " up with the College Board to improve student " education " and test scores. Apparently, as part of this agreement, the school district decided to give the PSAT to all 9th graders. They allege in this letter that the decision was made AFTER the cutoff for special accommodations. You are correct in the assessment that if all can't take it, none should. However, my child is also competing with school districts that are offering the PSAT in middle school already. So, if no one, including him takes it, then he is hurt in that way too. Especially, since he's off the charts intellectually and is taking the gifted and talented coursework necessary to take the test in the 9th grade. So, at this point, it's a no win situation. I already received interest from the screener at Fox 45 and am supposed to talk to the local investigative reporter tomorrow. I believe that the College Board can not legally deny my son the right to Equal Access to Communication, irrelevant of whether they agree to provide extended time or not. So, I'm hoping an investigation of the situation will show where the law says the fault lies. Thanks for the response! -------------- Original message -------------- > So who decided to allow the 9th graders to take the test? The school district > or the College Board? If it was the school district, they knew they had > students who would need accommodations and they knew there was a need to apply > for them within a certain amount of time, as they already seem to have a system > in place for the 10th graders. If it was the College Board, they knew how much > time they needed to make these accommodations and should have notified the > school district within plenty of time so the College board could get the proper > info from the school district. > > Either way...someone has made a major mistake. If they are not prepared to > offer this test to ALL 9th grade students, then maybe they should wait until > next year so everyone can make sure the students who need accommodations get > those accommodations. > > Someone has definitely dropped the ball and there is no reason why those > students who need accommodations should be made to suffer. > > Debbie > > semesky@... wrote: > I am sending a note that I received in the mail today. I called the PSAT > Princeton Review help line and they did confirm that because the school system > did not file appropriate paperwork, would receive no testing accommodations > including, no CART reporter, no fm system and/or possibly no hearing aid when he > takes the PSAT test. When I tried to say this was illegal, the Princeton Review > rep hung up on me. Further, we are advised by Baltimore County Public Schools > to NOT have our child take the test. And, to make it further discriminatory, > they are insisting that we must tell Baltimore County Public Schools if we want > our child to take the PSAT, otherwise they will exclude him. The regular ed > kids are automatically included. I have a call in to Fox 45 in Baltimore > already. Didn't someone here have access to a national reporter? This is > incomprehensible to me! This is a test that is critical for receiving National > Merit and land Merit Scholarships and is practice for > the SAT. So, the students that need the most practice are denied access. > Makes sense right? > > > September 2005 > > Dear Parents/Guardians > > This year, for the first time, 9th grade students throughout Baltimore County > Public Schools will have an opportunity to take the Preliminary Scholastic > Aptitude Test (PSAT), scheduled for October 12, 2005. In past years, this test > was administered primarily to our 10th and 11th grade students. > > Your child may be eligible for accommodations (small group testing, extra time, > et.) for the PSAT, and later for the SAT. However, the College Board in > Princeton, New Jersey - not the public school system - makes the determination > as to which students are in fact eligible for accommodations. > > The procedure for applying for accommodations usually starts at the annual > review IEP Team meeting held prior to the first year the student takes the test > (i.e., at the 9th grade annual review for 10th grade testing, and now at the 8th > grade annual review for 9th grade testing.) Unfortunately, information about > this change (9th graders taking the PSAT) was not available during the > application period for the up-coming October 12th PSAT; thus, it is too late for > schools to apply for accommodations for their 9th graders for this particular > test. However, there will be other opportunities to take the PSAT - for > instance, when your child is a 10th grader - giving us ample time to apply for > accommodations before then. > > I am suggesting that your child not take the test this October, simply because > he or she would have to do so in a loarge group with the general student body, > and without any accommodations. Knowing how difficult this test is, my feeling > is that we would be setting things in motiong for your child to feel defeated, > and to develop further negative feelings about future PSAT or SAT exams. > > Whether or not your child participates this October is, of course, your choice. > If you would like your child to take the Oct. 12th PSAT, without any > accommodations, please let me know and I'll make those arrangements. Otherwise, > I'll assume that you would like testing to be deferred until next year. (By > then, we would have applied for any appropriate accommodations.) > > Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions at... > > Dwyer > Services for Students with Disabilities Testing Coordinator > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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