New York Students With Disabilities May Soon Take Easier Tests Than Their Peers
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| State Education Commissioner John King Jr., second from right, speaks during a forum on Common Core learning reforms at the Stephen and Harriet Myers Middle School on Thursday, Oct. 24, 2013, in Albany, N.Y. The meeting Thursday was King's first since an earlier series of planned appearances was canceled after he was shouted down at a meeting in Poughkeepsie on Oct. 10. (AP Photo/Mike Groll) | ASSOCIATED PRESS |
A proposal to test some severely disabled students on lower educational standards advanced in New York on Tuesday, paving the way for a potential collision course between the state and the federal government.
The New York State Board of Regents voted to support a proposal that would ultimately enable the state to test up to 2 percent of students with "severe disabilities ineligible for the alternate assessment" at their instructional ability -- and not their chronological age level -- up to two grade levels down. It would mean that, for example, a sixth grader with autism could be tested on an assessment written for fourth graders.
The yes vote means that the state will include that adjustment in a bid to have the federal government extend New York's waiver from the No Child Left Behind Act.
The controversial proposal revives a concept known as out-of-level testing, and civil rights advocates argue that New York's adoption of the proposal could lead to it becoming standard nationwide. On the one hand, some civil rights and special education advocates oppose the proposal, saying it would shortchange vulnerable students, and that they should instead be tested alongside peers their own age so that they don't slip behind as their classes pass them by. On the other hand, proponents, which include some teachers and New York State Education Commissioner John King himself, argue that testing students with disabilities at levels out of their reach is detrimental to their academic progress.
These supporters also say the proposal would make it easier to roll out the Common