G5052 Posted September 17, 2012 Share Posted September 17, 2012 OK, so the public high schools in my area all give the PSAT on a Wednesday. Arg. That is not exactly convenient with our schedule, although if I have to make it work I will. I do have calls into the private schools. Why are they doing it on Wednesday now? I see from the website that they can do either and of course it was always on Saturday in my day. Sigh. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted September 17, 2012 Share Posted September 17, 2012 I think Wednesday has the advantage that the students have transportation to school anyway - so kids who do not have parents to take them in on Saturday are not at a disadvantage. DD has a big physics test the same day in the afternoon, so we are not thrilled - but it has to happen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G5052 Posted September 17, 2012 Author Share Posted September 17, 2012 I think Wednesday has the advantage that the students have transportation to school anyway - so kids who do not have parents to take them in on Saturday are not at a disadvantage. DD has a big physics test the same day in the afternoon, so we are not thrilled - but it has to happen. They probably get much better participation that way. I can drop him off, but he'll miss a live online class and DH will have to pick him up. I haven't told him yet of this lovely turn of events. Still hoping that one of the private schools will have a Saturday date, but I'm hearing that they tend to send theirs to the public high school... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sunshine State Sue Posted September 17, 2012 Share Posted September 17, 2012 Last year, 1 public and 1 private school in my county had the test on Saturday. No such luck this year. Ds has CC classes M-Th that he doesn't want to skip (one may even have an exam that day), so he will drive 40 min to the next county over to take the test at a private school on Saturday. It is very difficult to find Saturday test dates. I called collegeboard and they were just as unhelpful as the website. :banghead: Someone gave me a tip: said to call the local PS and ask the PSAT coordinator which school in the county has a Saturday date, because generally there is one that they refer student to who have some sort of conflict. In our case, there are none. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sebastian (a lady) Posted September 17, 2012 Share Posted September 17, 2012 Last year, 1 public and 1 private school in my county had the test on Saturday. No such luck this year. Ds has CC classes M-Th that he doesn't want to skip (one may even have an exam that day), so he will drive 40 min to the next county over to take the test at a private school on Saturday. It is very difficult to find Saturday test dates. I called collegeboard and they were just as unhelpful as the website. :banghead: Someone gave me a tip: said to call the local PS and ask the PSAT coordinator which school in the county has a Saturday date, because generally there is one that they refer student to who have some sort of conflict. In our case, there are none. Could part of it be an issue of the teachers' contract not supporting such an activity outside of the regular school week? Or that it would require paying overtime, which the school districts don't want to do? If the exam is on Saturday, they have many potential conflicts with sporting events and also with religious observance. And I think making it routine rather than exceptional to take the exam is also part of it. In our area, all students 9th-11th grade are expected to take the exam. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
creekland Posted September 17, 2012 Share Posted September 17, 2012 We've always had it on Wednesday even back to when I was in school. It's far, far easier for the school district and the vast majority of students to have the test on Wednesday - hence - why most do it then. There tend to be too many conflicts on Saturday (sports, families doing things, etc), and yes, they would have to pay more for staff to do it then when it is included with regular pay on Wednesday (maybe a little extra for some subs where needed, but that's rare since few subs proctor exams). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caroline Posted September 18, 2012 Share Posted September 18, 2012 It is done on Wednesday here because the county pays for all of the tenth graders to take it. We can't require them to take a test on Saturday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jen the RD Posted September 19, 2012 Share Posted September 19, 2012 In years past, our county high school had students take the test on Wed and always allowed homeschoolers to be admitted. This year, there's a new superintendent, and when I called to get dd registered they told me they were not sure they were going to allow homeschoolers to participate. What??? At first, this infuriated me, but AFTER I calmed down, I started calling all my homeschool friends with high schoolers to pass the word. They all began calling or dropping by the high school, and received the same reply I did. A few days later, the school called to tell me that they had made the decision to allow homeschoolers to register. This year they moved the test to Saturday, which I am glad about, but get this.....they are charging $20 instead of the standard $14. Would you like to know who's paying for the proctors???? Yes, that's right; all of the homeschoolers, because the state pays for the 10th & 11th graders. This just burns me up. BUT I will step down from my vent now....... Jennifer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sebastian (a lady) Posted September 19, 2012 Share Posted September 19, 2012 In years past, our county high school had students take the test on Wed and always allowed homeschoolers to be admitted. This year, there's a new superintendent, and when I called to get dd registered they told me they were not sure they were going to allow homeschoolers to participate. What??? At first, this infuriated me, but AFTER I calmed down, I started calling all my homeschool friends with high schoolers to pass the word. They all began calling or dropping by the high school, and received the same reply I did. A few days later, the school called to tell me that they had made the decision to allow homeschoolers to register. This year they moved the test to Saturday, which I am glad about, but get this.....they are charging $20 instead of the standard $14. Would you like to know who's paying for the proctors???? Yes, that's right; all of the homeschoolers, because the state pays for the 10th & 11th graders. This just burns me up. BUT I will step down from my vent now....... Jennifer What a great opportunity for a private school to reach out to homeschoolers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
creekland Posted September 19, 2012 Share Posted September 19, 2012 In years past, our county high school had students take the test on Wed and always allowed homeschoolers to be admitted. This year, there's a new superintendent, and when I called to get dd registered they told me they were not sure they were going to allow homeschoolers to participate. What??? At first, this infuriated me, but AFTER I calmed down, I started calling all my homeschool friends with high schoolers to pass the word. They all began calling or dropping by the high school, and received the same reply I did. A few days later, the school called to tell me that they had made the decision to allow homeschoolers to register. This year they moved the test to Saturday, which I am glad about, but get this.....they are charging $20 instead of the standard $14. Would you like to know who's paying for the proctors???? Yes, that's right; all of the homeschoolers, because the state pays for the 10th & 11th graders. This just burns me up. BUT I will step down from my vent now....... Jennifer Glad they at least decided to allow homeschoolers to test. It also could be worse... If I recall correctly, Collegeboard allows a school to charge up to $25. On a different issue, I'm wondering... if the state pays for all 10th and 11th graders, is there a way you can ask for reimbursement from the state? It could be worth a try - after the test. It seems it would be discrimination for them to tell you no since you also pay taxes just like everyone else. I wouldn't make any waves before the test. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sunshine State Sue Posted September 19, 2012 Share Posted September 19, 2012 If I recall correctly, Collegeboard allows a school to charge up to $25. I'm paying $25 at the private school 40min away. I'm happy to pay it to test on a Saturday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jen the RD Posted September 19, 2012 Share Posted September 19, 2012 What a great opportunity for a private school to reach out to homeschoolers. That's what you would think, however, I even called the 2 private schools in our county. One has yet to return my phonecalls and the other told me, no. Mind you, that was also the same school that we ALMOST sent dd to this year. They were willing to take my $7000 for tuition, but not allow my dd to take the PSAT. Glad they at least decided to allow homeschoolers to test. It also could be worse... If I recall correctly, Collegeboard allows a school to charge up to $25. On a different issue, I'm wondering... if the state pays for all 10th and 11th graders, is there a way you can ask for reimbursement from the state? It could be worth a try - after the test. It seems it would be discrimination for them to tell you no since you also pay taxes just like everyone else. I wouldn't make any waves before the test. I agree with you that I think that this is discrimination, but in the big scheme of things, I don't know if it's worth it. I'm paying $25 at the private school 40min away. I'm happy to pay it to test on a Saturday. Of course, I'm glad that they are testing on Saturday and allowing dd to take the test. So I probably just need to be grateful. This is just not the first time I've felt they were unfair to us. This school system has the worst test scores in our region, yet they have a repuation of being pompous and arrogant about how well their students perform.....and they have a 60% dropout rate.:confused: Jennifer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sunshine State Sue Posted September 20, 2012 Share Posted September 20, 2012 This school system has the worst test scores in our region, yet they have a reputation of being pompous and arrogant about how well their students perform.....and they have a 60% dropout rate.:confused: :eek: Yes, I am amazed at how ridiculously pompous the lousy public schools are around here as well. It's like they have to put on the show to fool the parents, and it works remarkably well... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G5052 Posted September 20, 2012 Author Share Posted September 20, 2012 :eek:Yes, I am amazed at how ridiculously pompous the lousy public schools are around here as well. It's like they have to put on the show to fool the parents, and it works remarkably well... Same here. I'm constantly amazed at the content of the marketing. If you dig deep enough, it falls apart. The number of AP classes in the catalog is far more than the number actually offered. Those in the gifted/honors program actually don't score much more than average on national standardized tests. And the local community college continues to complain about the high percentage of local grads who have to take remedial courses (over 60%). However, there are homeschool providers/companies who do the same thing. Don't dig too far, or you'll be disappointed. Sigh. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Candid Posted September 20, 2012 Share Posted September 20, 2012 We've always had it on Wednesday even back to when I was in school. :iagree: The SAT is given only on Saturdays. Is it possible that is what you are remembering? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ladykayaker Posted September 20, 2012 Share Posted September 20, 2012 I'm constantly amazed at the content of the marketing. If you dig deep enough, it falls apart. Lol... too true. PSAT is on Wednesday here in MD as well. I would suggest letting your dc's online live class know that there is a conflict - you may find a lot of other students in the class will have the same conflict. If the class instructor is given sufficient warning, then they may schedule accordingly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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