Why should a student need to have an identifyable learning disability to recieve additional time for exams?

[Ohky0815]

I dont believe timed tests are needed. Many homeschoolers, like myself dont test or dont time test our kids. That doesnt mean they know more or less than your public school timed child...but it could mean they feel less stress/anxiety because they arent having to gorge on the material and then spit it out at a quick pace. Many would argue, how do you know they learned the material without testing? For us I know my children learned it when they can master the skill and show me in their own way.

Ex: My 8yr old is learning the 100s house as we call it/ AKA 3 digit numbers and how to create those looking at pictures of base blocks with groups of 10. Sure I could give her a 30min test and see how she does but instead if i give her a worksheet and she masters over 50% without problems, thats an A in my book OR another example, if she can "teach" it. If she can tell her little sister or dad " This is a base block of 100 and thats 10, 10s. I need 2 of those to make 200 plus 5 10s to make 250."

YMMV

[ringwise]

Originally Posted by NoMoreSnowForMe

Unfortunately, that's not true. The university will look at SAT, GRE, LSAT scores, based on timed tests. They'll look at grades, which are usually determined by timed tests. And timed tests include the ability to think fast and perform under pressure.

I know what you are saying and it is a shame that the entire educational system is based on test scores, which are based on timed tests.

But, how do we change this system? It's enormous.

So I'll ask again: how long is "enough time"? Double? 6 months? 10 years?

At our core, we are animals where survival of the fittest wins. If you "need" 6 months to get around to catching your prey, you're a goner.

[Tulemutt]

Originally Posted by NoMoreSnowForMe

What do you propose?

The right question. But asking Tulemutt is asking to open a can of worms too large to cook in one dish. I am a self-educated, 11th grade drop out. I find all our formalized education systems - and goals - counterproductive to human health, happiness, and well-being.

"Education" has gone from being a journey of wonder in the exploration of the nature of existence - to being an assembly line to produce the robots that can serve the megalomaniacal fantasies of a very small percentage of the human race who are obsessed with power and control, especially through abstract wealth (a.k.a. Money), over others.

If your goal and desire fits being an arbitrary component of somebody else's machine, follow the prescribed path. If your goal is to immerse yourself in the wonderment of life you'll have to eschew the prescriptive path. If you have trouble walking away, try some mescaline or acid or peyote for a jump start

[ringwise]

Originally Posted by Tulemutt

The right question. But asking Tulemutt is asking to open a can of worms too large to cook in one dish. I am a self-educated, 11th grade drop out. I find all our formalized education systems - and goals - counterproductive to human health, happiness, and well-being.

"Education" has gone from being a journey of wonder in the exploration of the nature of existence - to being an assembly line to produce the robots that can serve the megalomaniacal fantasies of a very small percentage of the human race who are obsessed with power and control, especially through abstract wealth (a.k.a. Money), over others.

If your goal and desire fits being an arbitrary component of somebody else's machine, follow the prescribed path. If your goal is to immerse yourself in the wonderment of life you'll have to eschew the prescriptive path. If you have trouble walking away, try some mescaline or acid or peyote for a jump start

Translated: I have no solutions, just constant criticisms.

[Tulemutt]

Originally Posted by ringwise

Translated: I have no solutions, just constant criticisms.

In other words you can't grasp a thing I wrote. Right over your head.

[Tulemutt]

Originally Posted by ringwise

So I'll ask again: how long is "enough time"? Double? 6 months? 10 years?

At our core, we are animals where survival of the fittest wins. If you "need" 6 months to get around to catching your prey, you're a goner.

And, also speaking of grasping the essence of ideas, comparing arbitrary timing of answering arbitrarily contrived questions to measure knowledge of a subject with hunting is patently an illogical metaphor. You apparently have no grasp of the art and act of hunting.

Hunting is the art of stealthily observing, sensing, waiting, and stalking - patiently. With the utmost patience, in fact. The actual final moment of the kill is little more than an instant in most cases. The most accomplished, successful hunters are those who can use their knowledge to evaluate conditions, narrow down options and parameters, track, stalk, maneuver, align, control their every move and breathing. There is no greater single skill for this than patience.

Nothing can be rushed in the hunt. And there is nothing rote or mechanical about it.

[jbunniii]

Originally Posted by NoMoreSnowForMe

Unfortunately, that's not true. The university will look at SAT, GRE, LSAT scores, based on timed tests. They'll look at grades, which are usually determined by timed tests. And timed tests include the ability to think fast and perform under pressure.

Not to mention, many university courses will also be graded largely or even entirely on the results of timed tests. Some courses may use take-home exams instead, but in my experience they're about 100x harder (and also timed, but measured in days instead of hours).

[bigdumbgod]

Originally Posted by Tulemutt

In other words you can't grasp a thing I wrote. Right over your head.

It's that linear thinking thing. Which plays perfectly into the concept of batteries of timed tests for the kiddies, when facing a constant barrage of "Time is money!" rationalizations.

One wonders if the disappearance of creative arts from schools in favor of STEM stuff is a double fail, in that they're not even getting the STEM part right (iinvolves creativity and imagination to grasp the conceptual aspects)?

[jlloyd87]

Originally Posted by CA4Now

Post this on the Education forum and you'll get input from educators who probably know more about this issue.

I'm glad I saw this. I am a school psychologist and hopefully can give you an answer without the strange level of anger that I have read so far. The purpose of the assessments that we use are for accountability purposes. Especially now in a Common Core world, the assessment is used to objectively compare school districts all over the country. Politicians use these assessments to determine if a school district needs some sort of government intervention. Because of the importance that governments place on these assessments, they require that a student have a demonstrated learning disability to receive accommodations. If this wasn't required then we would have parents, teachers, uncles, grandparents coming to us stating that their child needs an accommodation.

Norm-referenced assessments will be a constant in a student's life. State tests, SAT, ACT, GRE, or CBEST are all used to get a quick picture of a person's skills related to a subject. In my life I have taken a state test from 2nd grade through my junior year in high school (grew up in Texas), SAT, the ACT, the GRE, the CBEST, the THEA, the PRAXIS, and will soon take the EPPP. Norm-referenced tests are just a fact of life these days.