NCLB: Leave No ESE Child Behind?

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Federal rules will put special-ed students, Florida schools to test

By Lori Horvitz | Sentinel Staff Writer 
Posted December 1, 2002 
    
New federal education rules will force Florida to do what it has never done: 
penalize public schools when special-education students fail to make 
acceptable gains on statewide tests.

As a result, the state could see a marked increase in the number of failing 
schools, particularly those teetering between flunking and passing.

The rules are part of President Bush's No Child Left Behind Act, which 
requires all students in gradesthree through eight to take tests designed by 
the states.

Test results must show schools are making progress toward a 100 percent 
proficiency rate in reading and math for all students, including those with 
disabilities, within 12 years.

A school will be identified as failing when students in any group -- black, 
Hispanic, low-income, special education or those with limited English -- fail 

to close the achievement gap on tests for two consecutive years.

States also must report how students in each group are performing on tests 
from year to year. Those that don't comply with the rules could lose millions 

of dollars in federal aid.

"Only if we hold schools and school districts accountable for the improved 
achievement of all students will we meet the goal of leaving no child behind 
and ensure that every child learns," U.S. Education Secretary Rod Paige said 
last week after issuing a summary of the rules.

How Florida will handle the requirements is unclear. State education 
officials could not be reached for comment on the federal rules.

Many special-education advocates are cheering the changes. They said such a 
system would ensure equality for special-education students because it will 
force schools to make sure these children are learning more each year.

"Accountability needs to focus more on the teachers and the schools than on 
the students," said Karen Clay, a Tampa advocate for special-education 
children. "If they are teaching and students are learning, that progress must 

be reported. If students are not learning, that must be reported. It's not 
the student's fault, but it's the student who ultimately pays the price."

Coincidentally, the rules also would address concerns of some observers that 
Florida has been moving large numbers of struggling students into 
special-education classes so their scores on the state test cannot be used to 

hurt school grades.

Ahead of the pack

Although many states are scrambling to meet the federal requirements, Florida 

launched its statewide test in 1998. Under Gov. Jeb Bush's A-Plus Plan for 
Education, the state began using the test to assess school performance the 
following year.

The majority of students in special-education programs take the Florida 
Comprehensive Assessment Test, but their scores do not count when the state 
grades the schools.

Also, the Florida Department of Education does not report the progress -- or 
lack of progress -- that schools are making with all special-education 
students.

Schools that receive A's based on test results or see their grades increase 
by at least one letter on the A-to-F scale earn bragging rights and big cash 
awards. The money often goes for computers, library books and staff bonuses.

Opponents of the system say it is designed to segregate special-education 
students.

"We have a huge discrimination issue as far as setting up an incentive for 
teachers to teach to the test for some students and ignore the results of 
other students," said Laura Whiteside, an attorney from Tampa with the 
Advocacy Center for Persons with Disabilities.

"Typically, the lower-performing students are not assigned to certain classes 

because the preference is to have the high scorers in your class. It's 
totally a trap for children with disabilities."

Since the Legislature approved the governor's standards in 1999, school 
districts have increased the numbers of students whose test scores are 
excluded from calculations.

In the past four years, the number of students in special-education programs 
has grown by 16 percent while the number of students enrolled in public 
schools has grown by 9 percent.

The percentage of black fourth-graders included in the formula used to grade 
schools has declined from 88 percent to 81 percent since 1999. More Hispanic 
and low-performing white students were moved into special classes, too.

No numbers on impact

Gov. Bush has said the movement of students into special-education programs 
has had little impact on test scores. It's impossible to figure out how the 
student shift has affected school grades because the DOE has yet to release 
the numbers.

But available figures show special-education students failing the FCAT at 
more than three times the rate of students in regular classes. Counting their 

scores could have a depressing effect on the grades awarded to many schools.

Sixty-eight of Florida's 2,515 public schools flunked in the latest ranking 
released in June. Fifty-six percent of schools received an A or B.

Florida officials have talked about having two separate accountability 
systems -- reporting test scores for all students to satisfy the federal 
requirements and continuing to exclude scores for some students when grading 
schools.

A state panel appointed by the governor in April to look at these issues has 
a different idea -- one school-grading system that includes all students, 
consistent with federal rules.

Many accommodations permitted for disabled students under state and federal 
laws are forbidden for the FCAT. If they want regular diplomas, blind 
students must be able to take the test in Braille. Students with learning 
disabilities, such as dyslexia, must be able to read long passages.

The committee, made up of educators, parents and advocates for the disabled, 
favors setting up alternative assessments for disabled students who cannot 
pass the conventional paper-and-pencil FCAT. But until those can be devised, 
the group is urging the state to hold off on grading schools based on test 
scores.

State review on Dec. 10

The panel's recommendations are outlined in a report expected to go before 
the Florida Board of Education on Dec. 10.

Jill Bratina, a Bush spokeswoman, said the governor is "committed to 
expanding accommodations for disabled students." However, as of last week, 
Bush still had not seen the recommendations, she said.

The U.S. Department of Education is considering another rule that would allow 

states to develop different achievement standards for students with the most 
severe mental impairments. However, no more than 0.5 percent of all disabled 
students in the state could be included in this group.

The governor has taken the position that once Florida figures out how to 
accommodate students with disabilities for the FCAT, it can figure out how to 

deal with the federal rules.

No matter how the scores for disabled students are reported or counted, some 
advocates and parents don't think that including special-education studentsin 

the state's school-grading process is a good idea.

Terry Tomaka, who works with families with disabled children in Brevard 
County,said that judging and penalizing schools for the way disabled children 

perform on any assessment ultimately will come back to haunt the students.

"That child's score is going to be held against that school, and it will 
bring down the school's grade, which means they won't get the cash awards," 
Tomaka said. "I don't want parents upset with my son because he's not working 

at the level where it needs to be."

Lori Horvitz can be reached at lhorvitz@orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-5273.


Copyright © 2002, <A HREF="http://orlandosentinel.com/";>Orlando Sentinel</A> 



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