Special Education News in Brief

ACT Streamlines System for Special-Needs Students

By Catherine Gewertz — May 31, 2016 1 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

ACT Inc., which has been criticized for making it hard for students to get accommodations on its college-entrance exam, announced last week that it is taking steps to make the process easier.

With the new system, students will register online for the test and work with a school counselor, or someone else, to request accommodations online, ACT said. The system will ask that a student submit “only the documentation needed for the student’s particular diagnosis, eliminating the need to send unnecessary support materials,” ACT said.

The company said that, based on pilots it has conducted of the new system, students should be able to receive answers to their accommodations requests 10 days sooner, on average. But ACT spokesman Ed Colby said that while the new system is intended to make the system easier to use, the ACT doesn’t anticipate that it will result in more approvals of requested accommodations.

A version of this article appeared in the June 01, 2016 edition of Education Week as ACT Streamlines System for Special-Needs Students

Events

This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Assessment Webinar
Reflections on Evidence-Based Grading Practices: What We Learned for Next Year
Get real insights on evidence-based grading from K-12 leaders.
Content provided by Otus
Classroom Technology K-12 Essentials Forum How AI Use Is Expanding in K-12 Schools
Join this free virtual event to explore how AI technology is—and is not—improving K-12 teaching and learning.
Mathematics Webinar How to Build Students’ Confidence in Math
Learn practical tips to build confident mathematicians in our webinar.

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

Special Education Biden Administration Scraps Medicaid Change for Special Ed. Services
The proposal aimed to streamline how schools bill Medicaid for the mental health and medical services they provide to students.
4 min read
Scarlett Rasmussen, 8, watches a video on her tablet as mother, Chelsea, administers medication while they get ready for school, Wednesday, May 17, 2023, at their home in Grants Pass, Ore. Chelsea, has fought for more than a year for her daughter, Scarlett, to attend full days at school after starting with a three-day school week. She says school employees told her the district lacked the staff to tend to Scarlett’s medical and educational needs, which the district denies. Scarlett is nonverbal and uses an electronic device and online videos to communicate, but reads at her grade level. She was born with a genetic condition that causes her to have seizures and makes it hard for her to eat and digest food, requiring her to need a resident nurse at school.
Scarlett Rasmussen, 8, watches a video on her tablet as mother, Chelsea, administers medication while they get ready for school, May 17, 2023, at their home in Grants Pass, Ore. The Education Department has scrapped a proposal that would have changed the process for how schools bill Medicaid for services they provide to students.
Lindsey Wasson/AP
Special Education Schools Lag in IDing Kids Who Need Special Education. Are They Catching Up?
Schools in one state are making progress addressing a pandemic-fueled backlog of special education identifications.
5 min read
Illustration of a young girl with hands on her head, having difficulty reading with scrambled letters on the pages of an open book.
iStock/Getty
Special Education 3 Things Every Teacher Should Know About Learning Differences
A researcher, a teacher, and a student all weigh in: What do you wish all teachers knew about students with learning differences?
3 min read
Photograph showing a red bead standing out from blue beads on an abacus.
iStock/Getty
Special Education How Special Education Might Change Under Trump: 5 Takeaways
Less funding and more administrative chaos could be on the horizon—but basic building blocks like IDEA appear likely to remain.
7 min read
Photo of teacher working with hearing-impaired student.
E+