Unflagged and unequal.When the College Board stopped flagging the SAT scores of students who took the tests with accommodations (most commonly, extended time) in 2004, it instituted a tightened eligibility process to offset the new stigma-free advantage.In his examination of the 2003 and 2004 SAT I results, both flagged and unflagged ("Unflagged SATs," Features, Summer 2005), Samuel J. Abrams Samuel J. Abrams is an American political scientist and author. He writes about American culture and the culture wars. He is a graduate student at Harvard University and is an associate of the Harvard Center for European Studies. found that the eligibility process became a hidden advantage for students whose parents and schools were more skilled at meeting tightened eligibility requirements--documentation from therapists and psychologists--than families "less savvy and less financially endowed en·dow tr.v. en·dowed, en·dow·ing, en·dows 1. To provide with property, income, or a source of income. 2. a. ." [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Indeed, the increase in the scores of students with accommodations in the District of Columbia District of Columbia, federal district (2000 pop. 572,059, a 5.7% decrease in population since the 1990 census), 69 sq mi (179 sq km), on the east bank of the Potomac River, coextensive with the city of Washington, D.C. (the capital of the United States). is dramatic, and Abrams attributes the anomaly to the division between extremes of wealth within the District. But he is not quite correct. The extremes are there, but they are within the entire metropolitan area, including the Maryland and Virginia suburbs. Many of the students living in these richer areas attend private schools in D.C. and contribute to the high scores in the city. More significantly, on these schools' college counseling web pages there are links to the College Board's "site for students with disabilities" as well as other disability sources. The web site of Georgetown Day School Georgetown Day School is an independent, PreK-12 school in Washington, DC. It is familiarly called "GDS," or less frequently "Georgetown Day;" the high school is sometimes abbreviated GDHS. GDS was founded in 1945 as the first integrated school in the District. has a four-page Learning Disabilities section that includes a detailed list of the categories of professionals who can diagnose LD and ADHD Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) Definition Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a developmental disorder characterized by distractibility, hyperactivity, impulsive behaviors, and the inability to remain focused on tasks or . By contrast, many of the public high schools don't even have web sites. Unflagging the scores in 2004 tilted the playing field to the advantage of parents most skilled at working the system; the high number of flagged scores in 2003 suggests that the College Board saw stigma where sophisticated parents saw advantage. The stiffened eligibility process increased their advantage at the expense of the less skilled, when it created a de facto [Latin, In fact.] In fact, in deed, actually. This phrase is used to characterize an officer, a government, a past action, or a state of affairs that must be accepted for all practical purposes, but is illegal or illegitimate. double standard. ERICH MARTEL Mar·tel , Charles See Charles Martel. Teacher, world history and AP U.S. history Woodrow Wilson H.S. Washington, D.C. |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion