SAT: Give Extra Time to Qualified Students

* Your Dec. 6 editorial took issue with students in wealthy districts and private schools who allegedly abuse an extra-time accommodation SAT administrators intended to benefit certain disabled exam-takers. I abhor any abuse of this accommodation. At the same time, I believe that your editorial endorsed a solution that can only make it more difficult for deserving students to take advantage of a legitimate accommodation.

You suggested that a state audit of the SAT in California found that a “disproportionate” number of private school test-takers as well as those from public schools in wealthy districts apply for and receive extra time for which they may not be qualified, while very few actual learning-disabled public-school children from poor or working-class communities enjoy the same accommodation. Figures contained in the audit suggest that the alleged abuse represents a small percentage--perhaps as low as a mere 0.2%--of all the SAT-takers in the state. A far more significant finding is that only 1.2% of all SAT-takers in California last year took advantage of accommodations, as compared to a national average of roughly 2%.

The lesson is not that new, more-rigid barriers (tougher medical documentation and the like) should be raised against disabled students who require extra time to take the SAT. Instead, even while we stop abuse by a relative few, we must also take steps to raise the awareness of students, parents, counselors and administrators to the accommodations that are available to learning-disabled youngsters. Let’s throw open the door of college admission to all students who truly qualify for a higher education.

GASTON CAPERTON, Pres.

College Board, New York