Dear Parents and Guardians,
If your student will take the ACTs, PSATs, SATs,or an AP exam in the 2020-2021 school year and you would like for your student to have accommodations based on a documented disability, please follow the instructions below to apply for eligibility.
Accommodations for the PSATs, SATs, or an AP exam If your student wishes to use accommodations for the PSATs, SATs, or an AP exam, you will need to apply for eligibility through the College Board Services for Students with Disabilities (SSD).
The College Board guidelines for eligibility have been updated in recent years, and it can take up to seven weeks for a decision to be released once the request is received by the College Board. Students are only approved for standardized testing accommodations when all eligibility criteria are met, documented, reviewed, and accepted by the SSD review panel. It is important to realize that being granted extended time for testing for WT courses does not mean that a student will be automatically granted similar accommodations by the College Board or ACT for standardized testing.
In order for a student to become eligible for accommodations during tests administered by the College Board, there must be a written plan on file at WT indicating that the requested accommodations are required and have been in use for at least four months. The student's completed Student Eligibility Form must be submitted to the College Board with the following documentation:
The Consent Form for Request for Accommodations should be completed by the family and returned with all required documentation to Mr. Weisbord. As the SSD Coordinator working in conjunction with Ms. Patton, Mr. Weisbord will complete the remainder of the application online, stating that the requested accommodations are currently being used at school.
Detailed instructions for applying and descriptions about the types of tests that are acceptable can be found on the website for Services for Students with Disabilities (SSD) or by calling SSD at 212-713-8333.
The deadline for applying for accommodations for the SAT and PSAT is 8 weeks before the exam to allow us time to review materials and submit the application to the College Board. For the August 29, 2020 SAT and SAT Subject Tests, the deadline is July 6, 2020, the deadline for the September 26, 2020 SAT is August 3, 2020, and the deadline for the October 3, 2020 SAT and SAT Subject Tests is August 10, 2020.
The deadline for juniors and sophomores applying for accommodations for the PSAT is August 19, 2020.
Applications for accommodations for the May 2021 AP exams must be submitted to the College Board by January 15, 2021 and are due to Mr. Weisbord by January 8, 2021.
Accommodations for the ACT Exam If your student wishes to use accommodations for an ACT Exam, your student must first register for a test date, then submit the registration ticket with a request for extended time of Special Testing well in advance of the test date. (We strongly advise that you not wait until the test registration deadline.) As with the College Board, parents/guardians must sign a consent form and return it with all required documentation to Mr. Weisbord. Once this is done and your student is registered for an ACT exam, Mr. Weisbord and Ms. Patton will submit the accommodations request. The ACT Accommodations and English Learner Supports website provides detailed information about applying for ACT accommodations.
The deadline for applying for accommodations for the September 12, 2020 ACT is July 17, 2020.
The deadline for applying for accommodations for the October 24, 2020 ACT is August 28, 2020.
We will be happy to assist you if you have any questions in this process.
Sincerely, Nancy Patton David Weisbord © 2020 Winchester Thurston School
North Campus - 4225 Middle Rd | Allison Park, PA 15101 | 412 486 8341 |