Logging accommodations: questions

[Jamberry77]

Hello,

 

My ninth grader has significantly slow processing speed per a Woodcock-Johnson test.  I approached the school system to see if he could get tested by an educational psychologist for free (in order to get a diagnosis so he could get extended time on ACT / SAT).  They declined because they saw that he was doing well academically with the accommodations I have been providing him.  He took the ACT as an 8th grader and scored a 20.

 

Our next step will be to see an educational psychologist.  The woman who tested my son suggested it, and said our choices were either a professional or a grad student (supervised) at a state university.  I read that the College Board and ACT like to see a list of accommodations.

How should I go about this?

 

Should I go back to the beginning of 8th grade or 9th grade and list by subject?  how detailed should these be?  Or can I only start right now to list accommodations?  I read that they want at least four months' worth listed.  Does anyone have an example to share?

 

 For my son, the accommodations include extra time, helping him to study for tests, using video courses, taking breaks, reading aloud to him, helping him figure out what to write down as notes, and working out each math problem with him. 

 

I'd appreciate any advice you have.

 

Jamberry

[PeterPan]

When you get the report from the psych, it will have a list of recommended accommodations. Then you'll document how he uses them. Yes, some of them you'll have a history of having done. 

 

Not every child who qualifies for accommodations choses to use them. One of the things the psych will look for, or that you can look for, is what difference having the extended time on the testing makes. For my dd, extended time would have upped her scores only maybe a point in some areas, not significantly on the composite. It wasn't enough to be worth the effort. It would have been less arduous and fatiguing to her to have the accommodations, yes. What we did is run sample/old tests changing the ink color at the time. That way we could score it both ways and see.

 

Are you expecting a diagnosis of SLDs or ADHD? The reading aloud to him is the one thing I'm confused by. You're expecting a diagnosis of dyslexia? He has no dyslexia but is a slow reader? Because really, that's not a standard ADHD accommodation. If he has SLDs, the school could have been compelled to run the testing. You could have said he can't read his texts, going into high school, I need this figured out. So why are you reading him his texts?? If his reading is intact, then it could be a vision problem, meaning you need to head to a developmental optometrist.

 

That's the thing with evals. Sometimes you dig in and find answers you weren't expecting.

[MerryAtHope]

I listed accommodations as far back as I could remember and kept a file by year in case we needed them. They were not specific by subject, but rather specific by situation. I listed all subjects they applied towards (basically all of his subjects each year), and then listed them by type--Instructional Accommodations, Environmental Accommodations, and Assessment Accommodations. I made sure to list the things that we were doing that were recommended by the eval and were also accommodations offered, but I also listed additional things that we had done. This PDF document of an IEP (starting on page 4) has examples of things that you might include. I kept our Written Education Plan simpler, but this will give you an idea.

[Heathermomster]

The school system tests for IEP and does not diagnose. The College Board and ACT have specific testing that they want to see. Go to their websites and print up the requirements. Use a tester that can legally administer the WISC-IV and diagnose SLDs. Testing for accommodations must be less than 3 years old.

 

By 2nd grade, DS was accommodated in the classroom based upon his initial neuropsych report. Beginning around 5th grade, my DS took the SAT-10 in a quiet room using a calculator and extra time. A mom administered the exam and was available to read portions of the test. That happened through 8th grade. The SAT-10 coordinator of our homeschool cover wrote and signed a letter stating the accommodations that DS received. DS typed all of his work, received extra testing time, and used a calculator from 6th grade and onwards. DS has taken several outside classes with these accommodations.

 

When we applied for the ACT extra time accommodation, I wrote a letter explaining previous standardized test taking accommodations that he received and included the letter from the SAT-10 coordinator. The headmaster of our homeschool cover signed an ACT document stating that my son received accommodations too. We received ACT extra time approval in exactly 2 weeks.

Edited April 23, 2017 by Heathermomster