Accommodations for High School Placement Test (HSPT)

[Haken]

I'm wondering if anyone has experience trying to get accommodations for the HSPT? Thank you.

[Storygirl]

I don't know anything about the HSPT, but google tells me it is for entrance to Catholic high school. I hope you get some answers from someone else.

I will add that when we were looking at private schools for my kids, it was hard/impossible for me to find one that would offer the kind of intervention help that my son needed. So my general advice would be to look BEYOND the entrance testing and make sure the school will offer the instructional help your child will require, if they end up enrolling. Good intervention services can be hard to find in private schools, though not always impossible, depending on the child's needs.

[PeterPan]

9 hours ago, Haken said:

I'm wondering if anyone has experience trying to get accommodations for the HSPT? Thank you.

If you already have your psych report with recommendations, then you have some sense of what accommodations you're likely requesting. What you'd be wise to do is do a practice test (or a couple) scoring both for timed and untimed. So you administer the practice test and change ink colors at time for each section, allowing you to score it both ways. The most common accommodation is extra time, so this will allow you to determine whether extended time even makes a statistical difference for your student. 

We did this practice test scoring for timed/untimed with my dd and found that even though technically she qualified for extended time, it didn't really make a statistical difference in her scores for most sections. Only math improved with extra time, and the rest of the scores were good enough that we decided not even to bother. If the issue is time, you may find something similar, depending on your student's strengths. 

You can show something similar if the issue is a writing accommodation, etc. Administer the practice test and score to see what difference the accommodations will make and whether they're worth fighting for. 

[EKS]

You have probably thought of this, but it is important that if the student has accommodations during a placement exam, that they are able to get the same accommodations during the course.  Or in this case, if the test is actually an entrance exam, that they are able to get the same accommodations for all courses if they are admitted to the school.

Also, have you looked at this? https://adwcatholicschools.org/high-school/placement-tests/testing-accommodations/

[Haken]

Thank you all for your helpful feedback. We don't have a psych report. IEP, 504 or Qualified School Plan. We tried reaching out to our public school system for an evaluation but we were turned down because we are homeschoolers. So we're not sure how to proceed.

As a follow-up question, I wonder if you have any thoughts if a child describes the situation as follows: as soon as I read/hear the words, I lose them; I'm dropping words; it's like a key word outline (IEW concept) where you drop the most important words. What should I research for that? Thanks again. 

[EKS]

17 minutes ago, Haken said:

Thank you all for your helpful feedback. We don't have a psych report. IEP, 504 or Qualified School Plan. We tried reaching out to our public school system for an evaluation but we were turned down because we are homeschoolers. So we're not sure how to proceed.

As a follow-up question, I wonder if you have any thoughts if a child describes the situation as follows: as soon as I read/hear the words, I lose them; I'm dropping words; it's like a key word outline (IEW concept) where you drop the most important words. What should I research for that? Thanks again. 

You can a private evaluation, but it will cost quite a bit of money. 
 

As for the dropping words thing, perhaps a working memory problem?

[PeterPan]

1 hour ago, Haken said:

Thank you all for your helpful feedback. We don't have a psych report. IEP, 504 or Qualified School Plan. We tried reaching out to our public school system for an evaluation but we were turned down because we are homeschoolers. So we're not sure how to proceed.

You didn't say the right thing then. It is FEDERAL LAW that they identify students with disabilities affecting their ability to access their education within their districts. They CANNOT deny you evals. What they can do is say you don't have evidence (which means they convene the team, consider your evidence, and then say there isn't enough evidence to warrant evals, fine) OR they can choose to eval but not write a 504/IEP. Providing services and writing a 504/IEP costs considerable money and is dictated by state law. It is FEDERAL law that guarantees your right to access evals.

Did you make a written request, signed, and dated? And do you have a copy of this? Whoever handled this completely screwed up, and frankly the legal timeline does NOT STOP just because they screwed up. They have significant legal liability here if you made an actual written request (email, handwritten, anything) and gave it to them. 

1 hour ago, Haken said:

As a follow-up question, I wonder if you have any thoughts if a child describes the situation as follows: as soon as I read/hear the words, I lose them; I'm dropping words; it's like a key word outline (IEW concept) where you drop the most important words. What should I research for that? Thanks again. 

He's describing poor working memory. He could have auditory processing issues, language issues, ADHD, autism, hearing loss, any number of things going on. This is why the ps does a multi-factored eval. They won't spend as many hours as what you'd make happen privately, but the idea of a multi-factored eval is WISE. It says you don't just go to a psych but you bring a full team in to identify ALL the contributing factors. 

What is your ability to make evals happen privately? If you can make them happen privately, go ahead and do this. If you cannot, then pursue them through the school. They gave you an incorrect answer legally and can be compelled to provide thorough evals. You also then have the legal right, if their evals are dissatisfactory, to file a complaint and compel them to pay for 3rd party independent evals. It is completely unacceptable for them to refuse to do evals if you bring evidence and suspect a disability affecting your child's ability to access their education. Your child is even saying for themselves that they're struggling, so it's clearly time for evals, multi-factored evals, to figure out what is going on.

Btw, it doesn't seem like placing them into a private school, a school that has no legal obligation to provide intervention services or accommodations, is wise until you find out what you're dealing with to make sure it's a good placement. You have the legal right to evals so make them happen. Find the request you made, look up the law, and this time call the principal of the school and make some heads roll.

This is the kind of thing special needs coordinators at schools LOSE THEIR JOBS over, because violating your legal rights puts the school in legal/financial jeapordy. If you have a signed written document (email is fine) with a date, you have a strong case here, so take steps and make the meeting and evals happen.

[PeterPan]

And if you "asked" via phone, then fix that today. On a sheet of paper you write a brief letter saying that you suspect disabilities affecting your child's ability to access their education and are requesting they do evals per federal law. Sign and date it. Make a photocopy. Take it to the secretary at the school in your district of residence. Or email the principal of the school making the request. Me, I would do the physical paper, but both work.

That is what you do to start the ball rolling. If you just "ask" nothing happens. Put it in writing. Don't play nice. They have 30 days to reply to you and the timeline starts the day you give them a request in writing. If you already did, the timeline already started. If they replied with some baloney, then you need to challenge them to protect your timeline rights so they can't say you were ok with them not evaling.

Edited October 19, 2022 by PeterPan

[kbutton]

Everything @PeterPan says. You might also get an advocate (paid or volunteer) if you experience issues. If that's not enough, you can also get an attorney.  https://www.copaa.org/

My son found that a quiet room/small group testing environment was more useful to him on the ACT than extended time, though I think he could be trained to use the extended time if he were to test again (he's not likely to).

 

[Haken]

Thank you all for your insights. We will do our due diligence on the various points your raised.

[Storygirl]

Peter Pan is correct  -- the school cannot refuse to evaluate homeschoolers. That would be against the law. If you called and said, "Do you evaluate homeschoolers for disabilities or an IEP?" they might say on the phone that they don't. Because federal law does not require them to write an IEP. So they could steer you away from evaluations by not answering your question fully and hope that you go away. They can discourage someone over the phone, but they CANNOT legally refuse a written request.

I won't repeat the things that Peter Pan outlined in her responses, but it is all factual. The only reason a public school can refuse to evaluate is if they do not "suspect a disability." So you need to prove to them that you "suspect a disability and are requesting evaluations under IDEA laws." Use that wording in your letter.

Some schools try to get around helping homeschoolers by saying that they need evidence that there may be a disability, and without the child being in the classroom, there is no evidence. So create your own evidence by writing down the problems that you notice and the accommodations that you THE CHILD'S TEACHER are having to provide for them to be able to do their work.

If your school is difficult, yes, you can hire an advocate to help you. You can also consult with your state board of education. In our state, they are super responsive about answering any questions about special education laws and procedures from parents.

You will need to be proactive and willing to push back at the school, if needed.

Having homeschooled, had kids in private school, and in public school, I really also emphasize that the child in question needs some kind of evaluations before considering enrollment in a private high school.

You are not likely to be granted accommodations for the entrance test without any official papers documenting that the accommodations are needed. They won't allow it, just because a parent or student thinks it is needed.

Edited October 20, 2022 by Storygirl

[PeterPan]

16 hours ago, Haken said:

Thank you all for your insights. We will do our due diligence on the various points your raised.

Your library will probably have a book on the IEP process. NOLO has a good one. This would be a good time to pick up a book and skim quickly to get more confident on the law, what the process is, what your legal rights are, and how to advocate. This process can be won/lost in the early stages and there are details they don't tell you. Now some school districts just make it happen and are amazing, but it doesn't sound like your district is going to be that district.