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Tests could leave some children behind
Under the new federal law, all students must reach proficiency standards in reading and math for their grade levels by 2014. The law says special education students must meet the same requirements.
But Education Secretary Rod Paige recently said officials will revise the regulations to allow no more than 1 percent of a school's students to use alternate special education tests, instead of the PSSA tests. Pennsylvania education officials say they have been allowing the most severely disabled children to take alternate PSSA tests for some years.
But the question is whether that 1 percent figure under the new federal No Child Left Behind law is adequate. We'd be interested to hear from local special education teachers whether that is fair. If 200 fifth-graders in a school take the PSSA math test, 1 percent means only two special education students can take the alternate test.
But what if there are 20 special education students in that school taking the test? We know there are more children with learning disabilities in our schools that have high percentages of low-income children.
It is ridiculous to assume that all school districts have the same percentage of learning disabled students. They don't. Such districts as Fox Chapel, with wealthier neighborhoods, might have only 3 percent of students who require special education.
Some local school districts, especially those with large low-income populations, may have 15 percent of their students needing special help, or more.
We want schools to be accountable. And we certainly want special education students to learn.
But many "learning disabled" students have unusual problems that prevent them from learning at the same rate as their peers. That's why many aren't in regular classrooms with 24 other fifth-graders each day.
Maybe they have Downs syndrome. Or mental retardation. Or autism. There's also been a trend in recent years to mainstream severely disabled students in public schools, which we heartily applaud. That's as it should be. All children should be challenged to learn as much as they can.
But it seems unrealistic to expect children with substantial learning disabilities to be able to take the same 11th grade test of geometry and algebra skills as their peers. Learning disabled students have individualized education programs that take into account their disabilities, and teachers make adjustments - to tests or required assignments for those children. Perhaps a first-grader with severe eyesight problems cannot read, so an aide helps him. Or a student cannot write because of cerebral palsy.
Every child is different. And we should treat them that way. Imagine the frustration to a learning disabled student to have to take a timed PSSA test on math or reading without the adjustments the student normally is permitted every day - such as an aide, or a specially designed test.
It's not fair to student, or the schools, to evaluate them as if he didn't have disabilities.
