Good Article on SPED Testing Under NCLB

[Bob Schaeffer <bobschaeffer@earthlink.net>]

      SPECIAL KIDS, STANDARDIZED TESTS
PARENTS, EDUCATORS QUESTION USE OF SAME YARDSTICK FOR EVERY STUDENT

          Denver Post -- March 17, 2004
                    by George Merritt

In the federal government's quest to assess every public school student, 
special-needs children must take standardized tests they are more likely 
to fail than are typical students.

And when special-needs children fail, schools fail too, under the 
standards of the No Child Left Behind act.

The federal reform legislation requires that almost all children be 
tested by the same standards to ensure they are reaching their 
potential. If schools fail to show progress, harsh penalties will follow.

But assessing special-needs children with standardized tests is 
unrealistic because, in most cases, they can't perform as well 
academically as typical students, many parents and school officials say.

Their message: holding schools accountable for students who have a clear 
disadvantage misses the point.

"I have no problem with being held accountable," said Gary Hein, 
principal of Euclid Middle School in Littleton. "I welcome it. But a 
test will never increase these kids' cognitive abilities. There is just 
a reality to that.

"We would rather teach these kids to be successful in life than try to 
make them do well on a test."

Measuring progress is not a one-size-fits-all proposition, and more 
flexibility is needed in defining academic achievement, parents say.

Special-needs children must overcome a range of challenges. Some have 
only mild behavioral difficulties, such as attention deficit disorder; 
others have physical disabilities; and still others have severe 
cognitive problems.

In Colorado, roughly 74,000 special-needs students must be tested along 
with typical students. The special-needs children have posted the lowest 
scores on such exams, according to state Department of Education numbers.

But state education officials and national advocates laud the testing as 
an inclusive tool for evaluating all students. They say such testing is 
a critical component for ensuring that special-needs children are 
included in mainstream education.

"No one wants to set a child up for failure," said Patrick Chapman, the 
state Department of Education's director of federal programs in the 
Office of Special Services. "This is a way to measure how they perform 
up to the standards."

Everyone involved with special- needs students agrees the children 
should be included in as much typical curricula as possible. But they 
disagree on whether testing is another part of inclusion or a wedge 
driving special-needs programs away.

Parents' fear: Testing will eventually lead schools back to segregating 
special-needs students. They test. They fail. And because failing can 
carry harsh penalties for the school, they are shunned.

"There is a rhetorical worry among parents about a potential backlash 
against special-needs programs," said Lucinda Hundley, who is in charge 
of special-needs programs in Littleton Public Schools.

No Child Left Behind

Making the grade on yearly testing is mandatory for schools and 
districts under No Child Left Behind.

Failure to meet a complex set of requirements means probation the first 
year. If schools repeatedly fail, students can transfer and require the 
failing school to provide transportation. Other penalties include 
financial losses as well as takeover of faculty and curriculum.

Students are categorized for testing based on race, economic background, 
English proficiency and special needs. Scores for special- needs 
students are counted equally with other categories.

Because of the penalties, schools and districts are under pressure to 
pass standardized tests. Hundley said it is not difficult to imagine 
that principals might make schools unwelcome for special-needs students 
to enhance their chances of passing - though she said it has not 
happened in her district.

"There are schools that do not meet (the yearly testing requirements) 
because of the special- needs subcategory," Hundley said.

According to the state Education Department, special-needs students last 
year failed to meet reading and math standards at every tested level - 
third through 10th grade. They also scored the lowest at every grade.

Such disparities prompted the federal government in December to ease 
requirements by allowing alternative testing for 1 percent of the 
student body. That way, the most disadvantaged students could take a 
more remedial test.

The alternate test accounts for disabled children without excluding them 
- the primary goal of many in the field of special education, said Paul 
Marchand, staff director of The Arc of the United States and United 
Cerebral Palsy. Marchand worked with the White House on the "1 percent 
rule."

"The last thing we want is another excuse to exclude special-needs 
kids," Marchand said. "The goal (of No Child Left Behind) is to have 
every student do well. That is a worthy goal."

But doubters say more exceptions are needed. Between the special-needs 
students with minor behavioral disabilities and the 1 percent with the 
most pronounced cognitive difficulties, there are still too many 
students who are tested on material they have no hope of understanding, 
critics say.

"When you test them like this, all you do is set up a roadblock to 
demolish self-esteem," said Janet Deutsch, mother of a special-needs 
student at Euclid Middle School. "It makes them feel totally inadequate 
because it is totally unfamiliar material."

One child's struggles

On the day he was born, Michael Deutsch weighed only slightly more than 
a bottle of soda. Complications during his development left him with 
cognitive and physical disabilities, including cerebral palsy.

Now a sixth-grader at Euclid, Michael goes to class with his peers. But 
his teachers and parents have set up a personalized curriculum for him.

While the other kids read up on Mesopotamia and the tea trade with 
China, Michael's teacher picks a few topical vocabulary words for him.

Michael's cognitive skills limit his ability to understand the abstract.

"I can't hand him 'Mesopotamia,"' Janet Deutsch said. "It is hard for 
him to understand things we can't put in front of him. But the 
socialization he gets from being in class is invaluable."

Last year, Michael was tested on the same material as every child his 
own age. He went from learning to count money on a Friday to being 
tested on long division on Monday.

Janet Deutsch said anxiety brought on by the testing overwhelmed 
Michael. He had a seizure.

"I was furious," she said. "(Testing) isn't a measurement of what he has 
done. They could put it in Greek, and it would be just as inappropriate."

For the Deutsch family, assessing where Michael ranked in the state was 
not worth putting him through the tests. This year, they pulled him out 
of the testing altogether.

But the decision was difficult even after Michael's seizure. With 
Michael removed from testing, his school is penalized with an automatic 
zero under No Child Left Behind.

Deutsch said it creates a paradox for a district such as Littleton 
Public Schools that has above-average special-needs programs: Because 
the program is strong, more families with special-needs students come to 
them.

"We moved here for this school," Janet Deutsch said. "We are here 
because they are excellent with Michael. But now, to protect him, we 
have to hurt our school."

Hein, Euclid's principal, said he sympathizes with the Deutsch family.

"It is that juxtaposition of parental choice and holding schools 
accountable," Hein said. "I'm in favor of both, but this seems to put 
those issues at odds."

Searching for options

In 1997, a law was specifically passed for special-needs students. The 
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) mandates that 
teachers, parents and administrators create a specific education plan 
for each disabled student.

Michael's program needs to focus on his specific needs, not a test, his 
mother said.

"He has an IQ of about 70," she said. "No amount of testing is going to 
change that. But I have a 28-page document that explains exactly what 
his teachers and his parents expect of him. So why, when testing comes 
around, do we throw (the plan) out the window?"

Those plans remain the "blueprint" for special-needs students' 
education, said Jim Bradshaw, spokesman for the U.S. Education 
Department. But he said it is imperative to set high expectations to 
encourage schools to do even better.

The bottom line, Marchand said, is that special-needs children need to 
be included under No Child Left Behind. While it's difficult to 
legislate the specifics, he said, all kids have their strengths that 
need to be developed.

How that translates for assessing the progress of special-needs 
children, Marchand acknowledges, is tricky.

"What happens when that child with an IQ of 70 has well-trained teachers 
and access to the curriculum he is tested on?" he said.

"The jury is still out on that."


http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1413,36~53~2022243,00.html