The SAT I: Reasoning Test (SAT) assesses verbal and mathematical reasoning skills that are predictive of success in college. According to the technical handbook for the SAT, the speed with which students can answer the questions should play at most a minor role in determining scores. But there is a common belief among many students that if they only had a little more time they could substantially improve their scores. The number of students requesting extra time on the SAT (which is granted to students with learning disabilities) has grown by more than 50 in recent years. The concern, as expressed in K.R. Weiss's January 9, 2000, article in the Los Angeles Times, is that the time extensions "rather than helping those with real disabilities, have increasingly become a way of gaming the system- allowing privileged families to gain advantage on a high-stakes exam." The Times story also quotes the president of the College Board, Gaston Caperton: "We are concerned about people taking advantage of it who are not really qualified to, but have been smart enough to step around the rules."
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