Video: Kids with severe disabilities taking mandatory standardized test
This video shows children with profound disabilities taking a standardized test called the Florida Alternate Assessment as required by the state but opposed by many of their teachers and parents. And below is a letter from the principal of another school serving students with similar disabilities explaining why forcing these youngsters to take the test is wrong.
I’ve been writing a lot about this issue recently because it is one of the ugliest consequences of the current obsession with standardized testing in the era of test-based school reform and “accountability.” I wrote (here andhere and here, for example) about Andrea Rediske, who fought a long battle with the Florida Department of Education over a requirement that her blind and brain-damaged son, Ethan, who also suffered from cerebral palsy, take state-mandated standardized tests. Rediske won a waiver for her son in 2013 but while he was dying earlier this year she was required to fill out paperwork proving that he couldn’t take the 2014 exam. Ethanpassed away on Feb. 7. Legislation called the Ethan Rediske Act is awaiting action in the state legislature; it would make it easier for children with profound disabilities obtain waivers. I also have written about a boy named Michael, who was born without a complete brain yet still must take the Florida Alternate Assessment (here and here, for example).
Florida’s commissioner of education, Pam Stewart, declined to talk with me about this issue.
Michael and Ethan are not the only two children with severe disabilities who have to take inappropriate standardized tests for the sake of “accountability.” The video above shows students who attend Karen M. Siegel Academy in Lake Alfred. The video was done by the Florida Education Association, which has been vocal in its opposition to the state’s requirement that all children take some form of standardized test for accountability purposes. It opens with a statement from the FEA President Andy Ford, who states unequivocally that the Florida Alternate Assessment is unfairly used and most be stopped.
Here’s the letter to Florida Education Commissioner Pam Stewart from Mark Cashen, principal of Mt Herman Exceptional Student Center in Jacksonville. Stewart recently released what can only be described as a bizarre open letter to teachers defending the use of the alternate assessment and accusing critics of staging a “political attack” on her. Andrea Rediske wrote a letter to Stewart in response, and here is Cashen’s letter:
Commissioner Stewart:As the principal of Mt Herman Exceptional Student Center in Jacksonville, I appreciate your effort to directly share your thoughts on assessments with our teachers through your letter to teachers dated March 3, 2014. Unfortunately, your letter had the unintended consequence of making the Mt. Herman teachers and support staff (myself included) feel unappreciated and disrespected. The reality is, however, our intentions in our questioning whether the Florida Alternate Assessment (FAA) is an appropriate measure of the growth for students with severe, profound and multiple disabilities are probably misunderstood.I would like to take this opportunity to offer our point of view:• In your letter you state “I have the deepest sympathy for any family and child who is suffering due to a disability or traumatic event and the utmost respect for the strength required of the family”o In our experience, our families do not want our sympathy, they want our assurance that we will WORK with their son or daughter in order to help them grow into the best possibleVideo: Kids with severe disabilities taking mandatory standardized test - The Washington Post: