Column: Testing standards for students with disabilities a ’sham’
October 29th, 2007Seattle Times editorial columnist Kate Riley reverses her earlier opinion, and assails her state’s testing standards after her son passes with flying colors.
Here’s the punchline to my son’s letter. He is autistic in a self-contained special-education classroom with limited mainstreaming, can read some words, can add a little and can barely draw a straight line.
She says her son’s portfolio showed progress, but in no way demonstrated mastery of the fourth grade curriculum. The state assessments are designed to implement the No Child Left Behind law.
OK. Let’s get this straight. This stupid assessment doesn’t change the worth of my kid, or any kid. He’s still the nicest, most fun member of the family to be around and he’s got great taste in music.
But what these tests should tell us honestly is whether a student meets one reasonable minimum standard of academic achievement — for all kids. Most can — with work and support. Sadly — and this is from one parent who struggles out of denial every day — some cannot. That’s a fact.
“You don’t want him to count against the school, do you?” was a question I heard more than once as I asked questions. Well, no, but I don’t want him to artificially inflate the school’s success rate, either. I especially don’t want to let schools off the hook if they are failing younger versions of my adult student years ago, who, when given a chance, advanced quickly to ninth-grade reading level.
Most troubling to me is the larger public-policy implication of my son’s letter. He goes in the “pass” column for his school, his district and the state. He is a supporting statistic in federal reports to show adequate yearly progress under the federal No Child Left Behind program.
I hold this astonishing letter in my hands, and can’t help but feel like a co-conspirator in a public sham.
This entry was posted
on Monday, October 29th, 2007 at 11:07 am and is filed under No Child Left Behind, accountability, testing.
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