Time consuming.
Expensive.
Maybe even embarrassing.
Yet somehow students with extended time are perceived as lucky.
It’s not a quick email sent out to a teacher requesting extra time on a test. The process of applying for extended time is thorough, detailed and time consuming.
“Our students who have been approved for extended time have it after going through a really comprehensive process that many times takes a couple of months and both working with a psychologist outside of St. Mark’s in the community,” Director of Academic Success Julie Percherski said. “We talk to their teachers, we look at their grades, we look at their emotional wellbeing, as well as their academic achievement and success.”
And it doesn’t simply come down to a diagnosis or recommendation. Pechersky and the wellness department look for the best approach for each individual student, oftentimes not involving extended time. The suggestion varies even within a medical diagnosis, depending on a multitude of factors related to processing challenges.
“Some of the boys here, if they were in a different environment, they may not be as happy,” Pechersky said. “We have some students with social anxiety. They don’t need extended time, whereas maybe somebody with generalized anxiety who suffers really bad test anxiety, they might need it.”
Even students approved for extended time go through different processes like meeting with therapists or psychologists. Autistic students require different care than students with ADHD. Thus extra time on a test can’t cover all bases.
“Extended time is one little piece of treating any diagnosis. It is not gonna solve all the problems that a student or that person is potentially dealing with with that diagnosis. It’s one area that can help,” Pechersky said.
Not all kids with processing challenges require extended time. Factors such as severity and environment may impact a decision.
“It’s really kind of a fact finding mission that we go on when somebody comes in,” Pechersky said. “Because to go through that process and the psycho-educational, it’s very time consuming, but it’s also very expensive for the family.”
As of 2019, only around three percent of students use extended time on assessments in the country, yet a misconception of unfairness remains.
“It’s not just at St. Mark’s you know. The state of the world can cause different levels of anxiety or trauma or COVID, for example, we saw a big spike in anxiety, not just at St. Mark’s, but all over the world. Just because of the situation,” Pecherskey said. “Environmental factors can play a role too.”
