USDOE Wants Most Special Ed Students to Take Common Core Assessments
Effective September 21, 2015, a number of special education students nationwide will be required to learn the same “college and career ready standards” and to take the same assessments as students in regular education.
In 2007, the US Department of Education (USDOE) modified Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (the latest version of which is No Child Left Behind–NCLB) to allow states to instruct students receiving special education services using modified academic achievement standards and administer special education students alternate assessments based on those modified academic achievement standards.
In August 2013, the USDOE published in the Federal Register its intention to require most students receiving special education services to be required to be taught using the same “college and career ready standards” and associated assessments effective September 2015.
In August thru November 2013, the USDOE opened public comments regarding the shift of most special education students to being held to the same standards and assessments as regular education students. In other words, USDOE wants special educaiton students held to what are effectively the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and CCSS-aligned assessments.
USDOE compiled a number of general comments and USDOE responses; those can be accessed here.
The USDOE maintains that students receiving special education services for the most severe cognitive disabilities are not included in this September 2015 mandate. However, it is also clear that USDOE continues to hold a view of CCSS as automatically “high,” and it believes that CCSS assessments actually deliver useful, timely information to teachers and parents. Here is the USDOE’s opening statement on the matter:
High standards and high expectations for all students and an accountability system that provides teachers, parents, students, and the public with information about students’ academic progress are essential to ensure that students graduate from high school prepared for college and careers in the 21st century.
The now-common CCSS spiel.
The USDOE also demonstrates unquestioning faith in what amounts to CCSS-aligned assessments:
Nearly all States have developed and are administering new high-quality general assessments that are valid and reliable and measure students with disabilities’ knowledge and skills against college- and career-ready standards.
USDOE notes that as part of the NCLB “waivers,” states agreed to transition most USDOE Wants Most Special Ed Students to Take Common Core Assessments | deutsch29: