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Testing and the Special Education Student
Students in grades two through eleven take a variety of tests during the school year. State law requires some of these tests while the district requires others. The purpose of the statewide tests is to see how our students are doing in meeting the state academic standards and how well California students perform in relation to samples of students across the nation, other districts and other schools. This is one measure of how well our schools are doing. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) are federal laws that mandate that special needs students participate in state testing.
Students with disabilities take the same tests as students in general education except for students with severe cognitive disabilities. These students, who are essentially unable to take a paper and pencil test, take the California Alternate Performance Assessment (CAPA) instead.
Special Education students are a very diverse group. Many of them will be challenged by the prospect of taking statewide tests. Many students with learning disabilities have very poor test taking skills. Students with sensory impairments such as low vision or students who are easily agitated may be at a disadvantage when taking tests. However, there are some accommodations and modifications that allow special education students to access the tests more fairly. Some students may need enlarged print, a few students may need more time on tests, and others may need someone to use sign language to understand the directions. These are just a few examples of how these small accommodations even the playing field for students with disabilities. Additionally, testing materials may be presented in a different way to students with disabilities, or they may be allowed to respond in different ways. These students may also be provided different methods of timing or scheduling as well as different places to take tests.
Such modifications and accommodations are never designed to give a student with a disability an advantage over other students. They are only used to help a student with disabilities have access to testing materials and to demonstrate their skills. And there are some rules for using accommodations and modifications during testing situations. Those used during a test must be the same ones that are regularly used with the student during regular classroom instruction and they must be indicated in the student's IEP. The purpose of a test should be kept in mind when determining the use of modifications. Common sense must be used. For example, if a test is designed as a reading test and an adult reads the passages to a student the purpose of the test would be changed from testing reading to testing listening comprehension.
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