3 ms·

I'm not convinced more time on tests will actually help somebody who doesn't legitimately have some relevant disability. Generally tests are structured so that

I'm not convinced more time on tests will actually help somebody who doesn't legitimately have some relevant disability. Generally tests are structured so that if you know the material, you'll have plenty of time to spare. But if you don't know the material, it's unlikely you'll figure it out even if you're given twice as much time on the exam. It's not like they'll spend that extra hour teaching themselves the trigonometry they neglected to learn in the weeks/months before the exam.

cameldrv 6y ago
This is not true for the SAT. Having extra time to double check answers or work out harder problems will definitely lead to a better score. Speed is intended to be a factor in the SAT.
- catalogia 6y ago
  Maybe so, it's been many years since I took the SAT and I can't remember much about that experience. But I think with respect to more general academic performance, extra time on tests won't usually help much. In my experience in college, very few of my peers ever used up the full hour or two given for exams. The ones that did seemed to be worrying themselves sick double-guessing themselves, and it never seemed to do them much good. I had one friend who I suspected of having a bogus disability. He had rich parents and got double-time on exams. But it's a miracle he graduated at all, he seemed to always be on the brink of flunking out. I think that had a lot to do with his video game addiction that stopped him from studying much. He was a reasonably bright guy with a horrible work ethic, and I really don't think the extra time on exams helped him at all.
buttholes 6y ago
I have embarrassing personal experience here. I don't have a learning disability, but I'm a pretty slow reader. I cheated on a section of the SAT by finishing another section with lighter reading and going back to the unfinished one.
- null0pointer 6y ago
  I'm not familiar with the SAT, so I might be misunderstanding. But how is returning to an earlier section of the paper after you've completed a later section considered cheating? In all the exams I took over high school/university we could complete the paper in any order we like.
  - albntomat0 6y ago
    The SAT is divided into sections, with a time limit for each one. If I recall correctly, each one is 10 - 30 minutes, with multiple sections making up reading, writing and math. The test is also designed with time pressure in mind.
    - null0pointer 6y ago
      Ah I see, thanks for explaining.
  - gnulinux 6y ago
    In SAT you're not allowed do this. Each section has fixed time, then pencils down.
PureParadigm 6y ago
I've taken exams in college where the professors intentionally put more questions on the exam than you have time for. They say, "think of each question as an opportunity to increase your score" as opposed to caring about answering them all. The score is then standardized at the end, since most results are below 50% correct. It turns out exams like this usually give a very normally shaped distribution. More time is a massive advantage in these cases.
- barry-cotter 6y ago
  More time is only an advantage if you get it and others don’t.
  - Thorrez 6y ago
    The time pressure forces others to not get it. You getting it does depend on your skill to a large degree, but extra time increases your probability of getting it.
- twic 6y ago
  The examiners did this by mistake in one of the papers in my final exams. I had time to finish two of the three sections. They thought that was fine. Fortunately, the external examiner didn't, and required them to add points to everyone's marks. I ended up with slightly over 100%.
- zajio1am 6y ago
  I guess that such tests are more influenced by general intelligence. That is OK for IQ tests or admission tests, but course exams should test mainly knowledge of subject matter, so they should generally provide enough time.

cameldrv 6y ago

This is not true for the SAT. Having extra time to double check answers or work out harder problems will definitely lead to a better score. Speed is intended to be a factor in the SAT.

catalogia 6y ago
Maybe so, it's been many years since I took the SAT and I can't remember much about that experience. But I think with respect to more general academic performance, extra time on tests won't usually help much. In my experience in college, very few of my peers ever used up the full hour or two given for exams. The ones that did seemed to be worrying themselves sick double-guessing themselves, and it never seemed to do them much good. I had one friend who I suspected of having a bogus disability. He had rich parents and got double-time on exams. But it's a miracle he graduated at all, he seemed to always be on the brink of flunking out. I think that had a lot to do with his video game addiction that stopped him from studying much. He was a reasonably bright guy with a horrible work ethic, and I really don't think the extra time on exams helped him at all.

buttholes 6y ago

I have embarrassing personal experience here. I don't have a learning disability, but I'm a pretty slow reader. I cheated on a section of the SAT by finishing another section with lighter reading and going back to the unfinished one.

null0pointer 6y ago
I'm not familiar with the SAT, so I might be misunderstanding. But how is returning to an earlier section of the paper after you've completed a later section considered cheating? In all the exams I took over high school/university we could complete the paper in any order we like.
- albntomat0 6y ago
  The SAT is divided into sections, with a time limit for each one. If I recall correctly, each one is 10 - 30 minutes, with multiple sections making up reading, writing and math. The test is also designed with time pressure in mind.
  - null0pointer 6y ago
    Ah I see, thanks for explaining.
- gnulinux 6y ago
  In SAT you're not allowed do this. Each section has fixed time, then pencils down.

PureParadigm 6y ago

I've taken exams in college where the professors intentionally put more questions on the exam than you have time for. They say, "think of each question as an opportunity to increase your score" as opposed to caring about answering them all. The score is then standardized at the end, since most results are below 50% correct. It turns out exams like this usually give a very normally shaped distribution. More time is a massive advantage in these cases.

barry-cotter 6y ago
More time is only an advantage if you get it and others don’t.
- Thorrez 6y ago
  The time pressure forces others to not get it. You getting it does depend on your skill to a large degree, but extra time increases your probability of getting it.
twic 6y ago
The examiners did this by mistake in one of the papers in my final exams. I had time to finish two of the three sections. They thought that was fine. Fortunately, the external examiner didn't, and required them to add points to everyone's marks. I ended up with slightly over 100%.
zajio1am 6y ago
I guess that such tests are more influenced by general intelligence. That is OK for IQ tests or admission tests, but course exams should test mainly knowledge of subject matter, so they should generally provide enough time.