Learning-disabled test status increases
Reports say time limit exemption prompts new trend
By Rachanee Srisavasdi
A growing number of high school students are declaring
themselves "learning disabled" in order to take the Scholastic
Aptitude Test (SAT) without time limits, new reports indicated.
Parents often assume their child can score better without a time
limit, and try to find a psychologist to say their child has a
learning disability, the Boston Globe reported.
Students do not have to be enrolled in special education classes
in order to gain this status – a letter of verification suffices,
making a learning-disabled status easier to falsify , according to
the Globe.
When SAT scores are released to colleges, the results from
students who took the test without a time limit are marked as
"nonstandard test conditions."
Out of the approximately one million high school students that
will take the SAT this year, about 16,000 are expected to take the
test without time limits, the Globe said. If this estimate is
correct, then twice as many students are declaring themselves
learning disabled than five years ago.
Learning disabilities include dyslexia, Attention Deficit
Disorder and emotional problems.
The College Board denied the Globe’s allegations that the number
of students declaring themselves learning disabled is
increasing.
"It is not as easy as the article made it seem to get
documentation (saying) that you are learning disabled," said
Gretchen Rigol, director of the SAT program at the College Board.
"We need the school to verify a learning disabled status with
documentation."
A committee reviews all requests of a learning disabled status,
Rigol added.
When asked if they think current SAT takers would do this, some
UCLA students agreed that high school students may declare
themselves learning disabled to score better.
"If students knew about it, they would do it," said Marina
Dorian, a third-year psychology and Russian language and literature
student. "People go overboard trying to get into college."
College Board administrators said that students sometimes
wrongly assume that more time is the key to scoring higher.
"I think there are cases in which students are trying to beat
the system," Rigol said. "(Their actions are) based on the
incorrect belief that if you have more time, you can do
better."
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