[blindkid] how would you handle this PSAT issue?

Barbara.Mathews at sce.com Barbara.Mathews at sce.com
Fri Sep 30 01:48:09 UTC 2011 

Sally,
I missed your first posting, so I'm joining this a little late and apologize if it repeats what others have said.  I wrote an article that appeared in Future Reflections a year or two ago about taking the PSAT. You might take a look at it.  The College Board website has a lot of information about the process for students with disabilities if you dig around. Keep in touch with the College Board disabilities office. You can ask them for a PSAT practice test (it'll be an old test).

Barbara


----- Original Message -----
From: Carol Castellano [carol_castellano at verizon.net]
Sent: 09/29/2011 08:22 PM AST
To: "NFBnet Blind Kid Mailing List,	\(for parents of blind children\)" <blindkid at nfbnet.org>
Subject: Re: [blindkid] how would you handle this PSAT issue?



You pretty much have to get everything in place two seasons before 
the test will be taken--so if the test will be in the fall, 
accommodations should be in place the previous spring; for spring, 
the previous fall.  The problem is that the first time around, the 
school often does not know this.  I think since they haven't seen 
many blind kids (usually none before the current one), they assume 
the TVI takes care of it.  Sometimes TVIs don't know anything about 
it.  So there are many cracks through which our poor kids can fall.

I second Steve and Robert's suggestion to contact the College 
Board.  (Ruth Loew, info below, deals with grad school, not college 
tests, I think, but she is very nice, knows the NFB well as she 
attends the convention and Washington Seminar, and could probably 
pass along the messages to the correct person.)  I was able to get 
through to the CB's disability folks on the phone.  They sometimes 
across as a little stand-offish--their main purpose seems to be to 
protect the validity of the test and to ensure that no one gets any 
advantage in taking it, rather than to assist in creating a level 
test-taking playing field.  I think they sometimes take the idea of a 
supposed advantage a bit to the extreme :-(.

Carol

Carol Castellano
Director of Programs
National Organization of Parents of Blind Children
973-377-0976
carol_castellano at verizon.net
www.nopbc.org

At 05:48 PM 9/29/2011, you wrote:
>There are many of us who have had frustrations with the College 
>Board.  One of the reasons, in my
>opinion,  that it has been hard to come up with an approach to make 
>them change is that unlike the LSAT
>example, the problems we have tend to be complicated.  It also helps 
>that with the LSAT problem we had a
>bunch of angry lawyers to help.  <smile>  Rather than being a 
>problem of a single specific policy, the
>problem tends to be one of procedures or one of inconsistency and to 
>me they are sometimes just working
>without taking the time to think.  I know of a case where an advance 
>Placement test was given and it was
>somewhat based upon current reading lists.  The blind student got it 
>in braille but it was old so some
>of the required reading that she had completed was not relevant on 
>her test while it helped her
>classmates.  Some of the reading on her old copy was somewhat 
>outdated so she was tested on material she
>had not read.  She lost both ways.  A testing entity should really 
>be able to recognize the unfairness
>of such a situation.
>
>However, sometimes problems arise not directly because of the 
>College Board but because schools drop the
>ball which seems to have been partly the case here.  This can also 
>be brought about by the fact that the
>College Board procedures for such things as special accommodations 
>can be confusing.  We need to keep
>making the College Board aware of the unfair impact some of what 
>they do has on blind kids.  They seem
>to be isolated from the affects of their decisions.
>
>We did have a representative of the College Board at one of the 
>division meetings at the convention last
>summer, and she was given an earful.  People that have experiences 
>that are particularly with the
>college Board should write to
>
>Ruth Loew,
>Aassistant Director of Disability Policy
>E-mail:  rloew at ets.org
>
>and describe what happened and the affect it had.
>
>Best regards,
>
>Steve Jacobson
>
>On Thu, 29 Sep 2011 12:31:22 -0500, Sally Thomas wrote:
>
> >The only thing that keeps me from totally popping a gasket is knowing many
> >of you with older kids who have managed to live through this!
>
> >I called the school a little while ago and asked the testing coordinator
> >when they requested David's accommodations (we discussed his accommodations
> >at his annual IEP meeting last MAY and they assured me they would take care
> >of it).  She told me they had submitted them September 17--almost a month
> >after they were due.  Fool me once...
>
> >I guess I will have to continue to serve as an object lesson for those of
> >you to not trust your schools to do as they say they are doing.
>
> >Sally Thomas
>
> >On Thu, Sep 29, 2011 at 12:09 PM, Carrie Gilmer 
> <carrie.gilmer at gmail.com>wrote:
>
> >> Dear Sally,
> >> Welcome to the next new nightmare on the way to adulthood...the College
> >> Board. It has been a few years, but here is my recollection (at 
> the time we
> >> found through the NABS list that our experience was the 
> norm)(also this was
> >> brought directly to the attention of President Maurer and many others, as
> >> well as NFB legal representatives, and it was not entirely news to them at
> >> the time...it is my understanding that to date no concerted effort, to
> >> match
> >> the efforts in accessibility to the LAW school entrance exam for example,
> >> has occurred-perhaps, I hope, either there is some effort I am unaware
> >> of-or
> >> in the last two years thru receiving a high number of complaints the Board
> >> has itself corrected itself...
> >>
> >> The same initial thing happened to us. The PSAT test came 
> unannounced to us
> >> until it was too late to meet the College Board's requirements of both
> >> overall eligibility and specific accommodations. Additionally the school
> >> had
> >> not considered the need (in its preparations for all students) for ANY
> >> student needing accommodations~and completely failed to meet the timeline
> >> requirements of the College Board in order to qualify. We found that the
> >> Board communicates with a designated test coordinator person in each
> >> district~the high school counselors/you/the TBVIS need to know and
> >> coordinate with them...you can also directly communicate with the College
> >> Board (good luck tho).
> >>
> >> First an individual must become qualified for ANY accommodation 
> through the
> >> Board's criteria for accommodations (ranging from alternative
> >> format/alternate site-date/ALL media modes-ie use of braillenote for
> >> writing-use of a reader or transcriber to need for more time for example).
> >> There are two entities (one other besides the College Board) who give SAT
> >> ACT PSAT and all AP entrance exams...
> >> We had to (within their time line which is fairly long):
> >> *Prove (with the proper paperwork) Jordan was a blind student AND his need
> >> for EACH accommodation he required.
> >> *Pay for the test(s)
> >> *Get all necessary paperwork into the Board before they had a 
> board meeting
> >> (it is less the test date and more the time of this meeting 
> BEFORE the test
> >> date that is your concern at first) where they go over all accommodation
> >> applications and approve EACH one/or not. They have a specific 
> timeline for
> >> this.
> >> *Remind them once he was approved AGAIN that he IS approved, well in
> >> advance
> >> of an upcoming test.
> >> *In the two weeks before the test-call them directly (TBVIS can do) to
> >> check
> >> if it is indeed "in the mail"...
> >> *For every NEW test CHECK that the status of approved accommodations is
> >> approved and current WITHIN THEIR timelines.
> >>
> >> Even after having done all this correctly, major mistakes can be made. And
> >> I
> >> mean major, like no test arrives on the date, or accommodations 
> or parts of
> >> accommodations are not approved. One test--a full 18 months AFTER he had
> >> been approved only came 6 weeks late AND after numerous direct calls and
> >> conversations from the school district and us and finally only got action
> >> after a three-way conversation with our lawyer actually on the phone...and
> >> then the test was four years OLD when it did arrive!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
> >>
> >> THEN if you do get the test, AND the accommodations! Wahoooo!; it is THE
> >> NORM, that the test is YEARS OLD...they do NOT get the same test as their
> >> peers. THEN---it is flagged and considered frequently by the higher
> >> institutions (Universities) as not valid BECAUSE of the accommodations.
> >>
> >> You got me started---in all eloquence, "puke on them", was and is my final
> >> opinion of the College Board.
> >>
> >> :) Carrie
> >>
> >> -----Original Message-----
> >> From: blindkid-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blindkid-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
> >> Behalf Of Sally Thomas
> >> Sent: Thursday, September 29, 2011 10:30 AM
> >> To: NFBnet Blind Kid Mailing List,(for parents of blind children)
> >> Subject: [blindkid] how would you handle this PSAT issue?
> >>
> >>  Our school district has decided to give the 8-10 grade students a chance
> >> to
> >> practice taking the PSAT (in 8th grade it is a pre-PSAT) prior to the 11th
> >> grade "real" test.  The 8th grade test was new last year when my 
> son was in
> >> 8th grade and they told me there wasn't a braille version.  I asked about
> >> the PSAT for 9th grade and the assured me that they were getting the
> >> accommodations set up and that he would take the test.  I asked again
> >> before
> >>
> >> the school year started and they said that he'd be ready to go.  This
> >> morning I received an email from the high school counselor telling me that
> >> the funding for the test was approved late so they won't be able to get a
> >> braille version of the test.  Mind you the test is next week so they must
> >> have known this for a while.
> >>
> >> Doesn't the College Board have braille copies of the test on 
> hand?  Can any
> >> of you tell me what you think the real reason is for the test not being
> >> available?  I already told the counselor that I was very unhappy with this
> >> and asked for the contact information of the people who made the decision
> >> to
> >>
> >> give the test to all but the blind kids (probably not the most diplomatic
> >> approach).  Of course I have not had a response but I am wondering who
> >> would
> >>
> >> be best to contact on this.  I am trying to fight the urge to contact
> >> everyone in authority until I get some feedback from some of you who are
> >> informed but a little less emotionally charged about this.
> >>
> >> Thanks for your help.
> >>
> >> Sally Thomas
> >>
> >>
> >> _______________________________________________
> >> blindkid mailing list
> >> blindkid at nfbnet.org
> >> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/blindkid_nfbnet.org
> >> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
> >> blindkid:
> >>
> >> 
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/blindkid_nfbnet.org/carrie.gilmer%40gmail.
> >> com
> >>
> >>
> >> _______________________________________________
> >> blindkid mailing list
> >> blindkid at nfbnet.org
> >> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/blindkid_nfbnet.org
> >> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
> >> blindkid:
> >> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/blindkid_nfbnet.org/seacknit%40gmail.com
> >>
> >_______________________________________________
> >blindkid mailing list
> >blindkid at nfbnet.org
> >http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/blindkid_nfbnet.org
> >To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info 
> for blindkid:
> >http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/blindkid_nfbnet.org/steve.jacobso 
> n%40visi.com
>
>
>
>
>
>_______________________________________________
>blindkid mailing list
>blindkid at nfbnet.org
>http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/blindkid_nfbnet.org
>To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info 
>for blindkid:
>http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/blindkid_nfbnet.org/carol_castellano%40verizon.net


_______________________________________________
blindkid mailing list
blindkid at nfbnet.org
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/blindkid_nfbnet.org
To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for blindkid:
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/blindkid_nfbnet.org/barbara.mathews%40sce.com

More information about the BlindKid mailing list