A reader wrote to ask for advice. The situation she describes is outrageous. Does anyone know of a group that can help her fight this and protect her child?
I am a special education teacher and mother of a 3rd grader with Autism. I am trying to excercise my parental right to opt my son out of high stakes testing in New York State. These tests are detrimental to all children, but even more so for children like my son who will not be able to read the exam or understand why he is being asked to do something that he cannot hope to be successful with.
Imagine his confusion and frustration. Presenting a child with a test that is not developmentally appropriate and is inaccessible due to his or her disability is not only educational unsound, but morally as well.
I have been told that my son will be tested against my will if he walks through the door on any day within the testing window. The only way to opt him out is to keep him home for 12 days.
This violates his right to a free and appropriate education and is tantamount to educational blackmail. I have contacted our state and local representatives, the ACLU and The Autism Society.
Can you recommend any other advocacy groups that might be able to help us or offer any words of advice?
Diane Ravitch's blog 
This is precisely why NCLB was a complete sham.
Change the IEP testing requirements for your child, and look up the opt-out procedures in your state, if they have them. Most states have alternative testing depending on the student’s IQ or other factors. Since I don’t know your child, this is very general advice, there are some good facebook connections to opting out of tests, and your state department of education should have information online or phone numbers to address your concerns. Many states also have parent resource centers for families who have children in special education. The PEATC organization (Parent Educational Advocacy Training Center) PEATC. org also provides assistance to parents in some states.
Thanks. The only problem is that my son does not qualify for alternative assessment because according to the state, his disability is not significant enough. NYS has also put a cap on how many students per district can take the alternative assessment and schools are penalized if they go over the cap. We will most likely opt out, but that means more than two weeks of missed school and for a child with autism, that kind of disruption of routine and structure can be devastating and cause significant regression in behavior. I feel like the only option, at least short term is to try to find some kind of legal advocacy. It is sad that it has to be this way.
What about the Americans with Disabilities Act?Should the ACLU be involved?
Pull up Wrightslaw in the internet. Other organizations such as LDonline, NCLD in NY, LDAA, your states parent advocacy network such as SPAN, all will have advocacy support information. The internet will provide you list of Autism Spectrum organizations both
state and national.
As far as I am concerned it is child abuse to demand beyond the will
of the parent and in view of the child’s in ability to advocate for himself to do what could cause him/or potential harm. A child with high anxiety, social and emotional or behavior disorders where tension and stress are a part of the condition (testing qualifies as stress filled and anxiety inducing), should never be made to comply.
To what end and for what purpose? Is this in the best interest of the child? Will this provide progress or regression? A child with high functioning Autism or Asperger may be able to take the test but with needed supports, time restrictions, familiar personal support system, etc. This can be written into the IEP or 504 Plan is needed. No testing could be written as well and supported by a doctors letter if needed. You wouldn’t make a vision impaired person take a test without glasses, or a wheelchair bound person to stand and walk, or a claustrophic to take a test in a room the size of a closet, etc.
A parent is an equal member under law of the IEP Team and can
convene a meeting with the CST to discuss this problem. The case manager should help convene the meeting and initiate the discussion. Do No Harm!!
“Do no harm.”
Amen.
Perhaps a law school’s legal clinic or a group of law students? This is egregious. In DC they cut down the number of test accommodations for the DC-CAS. Many of our Special Ed students at my middle school in the 8th grade were functioning at the 2-3rd grade level. Many were in self-contained classrooms. We worked our butts off to implement their IEP’s including testing accommodations during the regular year. But for the DC-CAS, these kids were expected to read and achieve at the same level as other students. Something about holding everyone to the same standards and not lowering the bar. Having high expectations. I can’t tell you how proud I was of the self-control I demonstrated each time I heard this nonsense repeated ad nauseam.
I have contacted the ACLU and the NYCLU. Hopefully I will hear back from them!
Don’t hope. Keep contacting them. Ask when you can expect a response, so you can plan when to call again. Ask for referrals. Don’t get off the phone without having a next step nailed down. Document everything. Get on the phone with the school officials and keep a written record of their denials. Who said what and when. There are lawyers who specialize in special education law. Call and ask if they can refer you to someone in the ACLU if you cannot afford their services.
Is there an outside medical provider who can say your child should not be tested?
Why is he not taking an alternate assessment?
Most states are supposed to make alternate assessments available and it should have been put on his IEP. I would request am immediate IEP meeting to request this change. You can email me if you want further advice. I have 34 years of CSE experience .
According to the regs, he is not eligible for the alternative assessment because his disability is not severe enough.
Bianca, sounds to me that if he is unable to perform effectively on a state assessment, he may be eligible for alternate assessment. What was their rationale?
Here is the NYS definition of an eligible student: “Students with severe disabilities” refers to students who have limited cognitive abilities combined with behavioral and/or physical limitations and who require highly specialized education and/or social, psychological, and medical services in order to maximize their full potential for useful and meaningful participation in society and for self-fulfillment. Students with severe disabilities may experience severe speech, language, and/or perceptual-cognitive impairments and challenging behaviors that interfere with learning and socialization opportunities. These students may also have extremely fragile physiological conditions and may require personal care, physical/verbal supports, and assistive technology devices.
Being that many autistic children have significant language impairments that interfere with cognitive ability and the acquisition of social skills, he should qualify. Remember, any IEP decision can be contested and maybe you should disagree with the decision that was made. Obviously, before any decision is made whether or not to disagree, one should review the assessment data with an outside professional. It is always good to remember that when an IEP team says someone does not qualify for a particular service, you do not always have to agree.
Thanks for your suggestions. We have requested a reconsideration meeting, but his cognitive deficits are not considered “severe.” Frankly, I think that the regs are very vague. My understanding was that the CSE used to have more flexibility but that the state has cracked down on the use of the AA. Some kids really fall into a gray area and being that we only have 2 choices at best, chances are that neither will appropriate for many children
Not every Autistic child qualifies for the Alternative Assessment.
I have a class of Special Education students which includes a couple of kids with Autism. It is “cruel and unusual” punishment for many of these students to take a 90 minute test for 3 days in a row and repeat the process the following week.
I have emailed and tweeted Dr. J. King and Arne Duncan to come visit my school on testing days to see the results of the testing mania on all children especially children with special needs. No response of course.
Is there a private advocate for special needs children near her who she might consult? Is there a way she can have an adult / aide accompany her son to school during those 12 testing days?
In the Buffalo, New York area many people use AGAPE for advocacy. Their number is : 716-827-5407 Perhaps a Civil Rights Attorney could be of assistance.
Marge
The rules which apply here are those which govern education of children with disabilities, which falls under IDEA or Section 504, and since this parent is in the field, she should have an awareness of the IEP process, testing, and accommodations provided to her child currently. An alternative assessment should be available if the IEP team met and found the child eligible to take one. These assessments and the requirements to take them vary from state to state. Unfortunately, in my state, alternative assessment options only apply to about 1-2% of students with disabilities. If the child cannot read, some states allow the accommodation of reading the test aloud to the child.
Exactly. My son can have the directions read aloud, but not the test because it is a measure of reading ability. Testing accommodations in this case do nothing to mitigate the damage. You do not just get AA because you ask for it. A child must be severely disabled to qualify for it. I also asked for a written plan to be put in place surrounding the test administration because the I can’t get a straight answer as to how long a child is required to sit with the exam. I was told that he can be excused “when he says he is done.” Well, if the child does not understand what is being asked of him, he may not verbalize that he is done. What behaviors constitute done? Crying? Getting out of one’s seat and wondering? And where will my child go when he is “done”. He cannot sit quietly with a book (as was suggested) while the 2 other children in his “separate location” finish testing.
Easter seals might be a good place. Although, they have many cases and of course, not funded well. I have an autistic cousin and she goes to Easter Seals and has an advocate. Right now, her advocate/helper is a good one for she also has an autistic child. There have been some awful ones, too. So, one has to be on top of the Easter Seals workers who get LOW wages. Of course, my aunty is on top of ALL of this and she fights for her daughter, too. When personnel changes, my aunty holds her breath and is worried, because of the inconsistency re: how good the person is. BTW, this autistic cousin reads and picks up stuff in books as well. She is not loud or violent, but does get into her moods.
Based on what I have been reading EasterSeals are one of the reasons our kids HAVE these obnoxious test.
I agree with liberal teacher…the opt out or alternative assessment discussion should be part of the IEP meeting. There may be a local parent group also.
Maybe try the local chapter of The Arc. Some of them have advocacy programs. Echoing liberalteacher further up the thread: demand an IEP meeting to address it and determine his eligibility for the alternative assessment.
Libbie, my daughter with Rett Syndrome, could not talk or use her hands functionally to communicate, yet she was forced to go through the state testing every year. Her IEP “accommodations” forced her teacher to work with her 1 on 1, and ask each question so Libbie could eye-gaze at her chosen answer, as an “alternative assessment”. In 5th grade, she figured how to “opt-out” on her own. She would simply close her eyes and refuse to participate. Her teacher frantically called me to somehow remedy the situation, but I only smiled with pride at my silent daughter’s wise choice. She took a nap, rather than take a test.
Libbie passed away 3 years ago, due to complication from Rett. In my grief, I have become so angry at how much time she spent in school being tested, precious moments of her already difficult life completing meaningless tasks. I hate standardization of all children, especially our beautiful ones with special needs.
“I have been told that my son will be tested against my will if he walks through the door on any day within the testing window.”
Just to be clear, who told you this? Because the first thing I would do in this situation is to tell the teacher that I don’t want my son taking the test.
If the teacher’s response is anything but “no problem,” I would go to the principal.
If the principal says anything that suggests that my son would be “tested against his will,” I would ask what the heck that means.
If it means that they’ll hold him back a year, I would either (1) tell the principal he/she’s got a deal (if I didn’t have a problem with my son being held back), or (2) find out whether schools are permitted to deny grade promotion based solely on an elementary Regents test.
If it means that they would actually somehow force him to take the test, I would make very clear that the school does not have that right, and I would promise that the principal will soon find him/herself a named defendant in a lawsuit.
Can you recommend a law firm or lawyer?
It would depend on where she lives. I don’t know anyone who does this kind of work (pro bono or otherwise), but the legal aid society or local equivalent would be a decent place to start.
We were in the same position in Colorado last year. We were threatened with a truancy hearing if we did not comply. Fortunately, a kind teacher let my son close his book and read. This year, I will be meeting with his teacher to prepare her for his actions and share with her the Colorado Department of Education statement “If parents, despite legal requirements, keep their children out of school to avoid testing, then the SAC or DAC should note this by filling in the “Parent Refusal” bubble. Students who do not test will be counted in the denominator, but not the numerator, in the calculation for the testing participation requirement of 95% under the federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) law. Schools are not required to provide alternative activities for students not taking the assessments.” It came from the CDE administration manual online with training notes.
I hate that this is happening to all of us. I shared my experience with Nina Bishop, and it is part of the potential class action lawsuit in Colorado. Maybe someone can spearhead a lawsuit effort in New York.
So depressing.
As a Special Ed teacher it sickens me to have to give these tests. But, I am legally required to give them. In Arizona there is no option to “opt out”, on there IEP. It is a Federal law that allows only 3 percent of students to take an alternate assessment, which to qualify for you need to have an IQ and adaptive behavior rating below 70.
The only way to change this is for Parents to band together as they did in 1972 and Demand the changes…teachers and school have no say..All the laws governing us are Federally Mandated.
As a teacher of special needs students, this reader probably already knows that parents who hire educational lawyers to help in these situations, often prevail. If this is a viable option, I would strongly encourage this avenue. So sad that the current educational climate of “reform” often gives one no other effective choice.
It might be helpful to contact a law firm and explain the situation. Ask if they would act as your child’s advocate free of charge (pro bono). If they cannot take the case themselves, they may know of a firm that can.
My third grader has an IEP, we’ve worked out particular accommodations around her disabilities. She still tests, but she gets to be in a room with less students (and distractions) during the testing period, and she can have the test questions read to her. Definitely collaborate around accommodations for your child!
If you “facebook” look up Education Perspectives, the lady who runs the page is very kind, and seems well informed on special education issues. Best of luck!
I am posting this anonymously. I am a staff member not a parent. At a 504 meeting I requested that a student be exempt from all MAP testing. Since I was in charge of the meeting it went through and parent And child were thrilled. I realize Map is not the same as state mandated testing but if there is a PPT the mother should request that the PPT minutes reflect that she does not agree with subjecting her child to these tests. Then she should let them know that she is filing for a due proceeds hearing. Then she would need to call the director of sped for the district and request a due proceeds hearing. Hiring an attorney would be helpful if she can afford it.
We have requested an IEP review and can definitely pursue a due process hearing when the AA is not granted. I wonder what happens if the due process hearing is not concluded prior to testing?
It’s ridiculous! I think it’s great people are notifying King and Duncan. Did you see how uncomfortable Duncan looked walking in the SOTU? I was hoping that all those guests on the aisles were asking him about charters, NCLB and RTTT.
You could tell your child not to take the test. He could practice civil disobedience by sitting there, and doing something else instead of taking the test. The principal may try to scare you, but don’t let that happen because in NYS there is no law to my knowledge that the school district can force a student to take the state test.
If you opt out,speak to the principal …they will sometimes accommodate him in library or something like that…I have been told you can bring him in and he can be taken out after 30 minutes due to incompletion …I agree with the anxiety but don’t let your child be aware of this….these tests appear from here on … It is what it is…they can’t force my child to answer a test she does not get…these tests DO NOT STOP the child from moving up ….it may even help in getting more services if needed….
The attached link (below) is a story in the Tulsa World regarding a similar special ed concern in OK….and a quote from USDE… State testing situations will fall back onto what is stated in the IEP…If the IEP template in NY does not list specific accommodations which would help your child, then you can demand that they be written in…one in particular that may help is “test material to be divided into smaller segments of short duration” …another ” test items presented aloud via a human reader”….others ” separate testing room”, “small group testing” The parent is the most important and powerful team member, you CAN call for an emergency meeting at any time to add accommodations (sooner would be better). The result will be an ‘amended’ IEP…I would think the child’s teacher would be a very supportive help in this. It would help to have a ‘Child Advocate’ (knowledgable in the specific disability) of your choosing assisting also. As Hearing Therapist, I am also case manager for many of the hearing impaired kids on my caseload. ( I basically insist that the parent’s concerns drive the process and the resulting IEP pay detailed attention meeting all parental concerns…I have been known to alert parents, in advance of the meeting, of specific areas they need to address such as ‘testing accommodations’, ‘grading scales’, ‘communication needs. I also cue them of ‘buzz’ words that make the school sit up and notice with caution… etc)..The list of instructional accommodations and testing accommodations I add to the IEP is often a page long..few of which are in the PA IEP template. .I strive to level the testing field and protect my students from situations that abuse them in any way. Once testing accommodations are in the IEP document, the school MUST abide or the parent can exercise due process. I am intimately familiar with PA reg’s…not NY;s reg’s…But for sure federal mandates drive them both. Do a search for Special Ed legal advocates NYstate…I know there are very sharp lawyers litigating for special ed kids daily!!! FYI http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?subjectid=11&articleid=20130215_19_A11_CUTLIN346388
I would request an IEP meeting IMMEDIATELY. I taught special education for 23 years and I alerted parents when I thought the district was failing to comply with the IEP. Your rights as a parent are sealed in the IEP. Bring an advocate to assist you with the details.
Write an objective that says something like: when given standardized assessment, [your child] will have specific accommodations and modifications (add phrases like the ones JoJoFox listed).
OR if you want him exempted from the state standardized assessments all together, insert a statement in the testing accommodations section of the IEP that says the state standardized tests do not show appropriate or valid growth data about [your child]’s progress on the IEP. Therefore, [Your child] will be exempt from the following standardized tests [give the names you want to opt out of] and will participate in curriculum based measures and formative assessment designed for his individual developmental level.
Sign the IEP and agree. If you don’t sign and agree, you and your child have no contract with the school and they are obligated to ‘stay put’ and work from the previous IEP. Even if some of the school personnel disagree on the IEP it is valid as long as you agree.
Wouldn’t IEP chair have to agree to put this in the IEP. I can put my comments in the present levels of performance under students strengths and parent concerns, but it holds no weight. Only the alternative assessment exempts him. There are some states that have a 3rd option, a modified version of the state test, but not NY. PA allows a religious exemption, but again, not NY 😦
NYMom, “Wouldn’t IEP chair have to agree to put this in the IEP. ” No. By law there is no ‘chair’ of an IEP- the document is developed and agreed to by a multidisciplinary a TEAM. You are a full member of the team and can put what you want (within reason) in the IEP document. We had a parent once who wanted us to put a swimming pool on the roof of the school for her child- not reasonable for meeting his IEP goals. Usually a SPED teacher or administrator chairs the meeting but has no additional legal clout re: the IEP. An administrator must be present who has the authority to garner resources necessary to meet the IEP goals. Testing accommodations and/or exemptions are DIRECTLY related to making decisions about whether your child is achieving his/her goals and objectives. Teacher designed formative assessments or curriculum based measures are valid instruments for measuring IEP progress. Static, stand-alone standardized test scores are neither valid nor reliable for evaluating IEP progress.
In the 1979 Larry P. v Riles case, the Supreme Court prohibited the use of an IQ test score as the sole determinant for special education eligibility. The Supreme Court recognized that the IQ score was biased and resulted in a disproportionate number of children of color being put in SPED. The case set the precedent that tests must be validated on the population being tested and that schools use a versatile battery of assessments to determine eligibility. I don’t know why you couldn’t extrapolate the decision in Larry P to the current morass of standardized tests being used to determine everything from children passing to the next grade, a child’s school placement, and, in essence, determining a child’s future.
The administrator, teacher or chair can sign and check ‘do not agree” but that means “stay put” is in effect until the disagreement is resolved. The school may choose to go through due process but may also agree to resolve the issue in house. Due process is timely and expensive. If you are unsuccessful in getting your statements written in the IEP, sign the IEP and select disagree- that means the school must immediately start steps toward due process.
Be aware the school personnel are responding to intense pressure from superintendents and state governments. Make sure they know you aren’t trying to derail their efforts at education but want assessments that accurately measure your child’s progress and the state mandated tests do not do that.
The IEP contract is a parents’ most powerful legal instrument- use it.
Nina Bishop and Angela Engel are collecting stories like yours for a lawsuit the ACLU is considering. You can find more information at: http://unitedoptout.com/aclu-complaint-to-be-filed-parents-please-read/
Thank you Diane for posting this and thank you to all who have responded and made so many great suggestions.
We have contacted the ACLU, The NYCLU, The US Department of Education’s Civil Rights division, The Autism Society, several advocacy groups and many politicians. So far we have not heard back, but we are persistent and hopefully will have a response soon. Sue, thank you for that link, I will send our letters to them.
The problem is, accommodations are not the answer. To put a test in front of a child that he or she cannot read, to prep them for this test with materials above their ability level is just wrong and we won’t be a party to that kind of violation of our child’s rights. We may be able to get an alternative assessment yet, but it doesn’t look likely. There are criteria and if a child doesn’t meet them, oh well.
NYS law dictates that my son will be tested, even against my wishes. It sounds crazy that such a thing is possible in this country, but it is. Every single person who works with my son will tell you that is completely inappropriate. The only way to address this, as far as I can see, is legally. NCLB and IDEA do not seem aligned and I am surprised that this has not really been challenged in the courts. I am not saying that my child should never be assessed, but the assessment tools should be appropriate to his individual needs and should certainly not be damaging to his psyche. Anything less is a violation of FAPE. We are now faced with weighing the effects of keeping our son home for 12 days
versus the consequences of acquiescing to the test. This is an unfair and ridiculous choice to force a parent of a child with a disability to make.
Another point to consider, If my son were able to go to a private school (which he cannot because of his needs and because of funding) he would not have to take these tests. So if you are neuro-typical and are able to have your child educated in the private sector, you are afforded more choices and you do not have to surrender your parental rights. That is wrong and unjust.
Unfortunately I am not an attorney, nor can my family afford one. We are hoping that our local legal aid agency will take our case. As a teacher, I truly understand how the individual teacher and principal’s hands are tied. This is an issue that we have to address at a state and national level and my hope is that we will find someone who at the very least can tell us where we stand legally. My son is a beautiful, happy little boy who has been lucky enough to have teachers and support staff that love him, motivate him and push him to reach his potential. They care deeply about him. They are being put in an untenable situation.
Thank you for all of your support. It has been difficult to find answers and we seem to keep hitting brick walls. Your posts and outrage have been very encouraging.
Thank-you for YOUR advocacy for you child. I am deeply concerned that all at-risk students, sped and other vulnerable children will be left behind in this testing and sorting madness. The voucher-charter choice argument breaks down when it comes to these students.
You do not need to hire a lawyer to advocate for you. The autism society should have list of advocates who can help you free of charge. STEP is an advocacy group funded by federal grants available to all states. TN has an active and effective group who might be able to respond with s list of contacts in NY. http://www.tnstep.org/
http://www.tnstep.org/resources/links.aspx
One point re: the TN STEP resources list. They listed State Collaborative on Reforming Education (SCORE) as a disability resource, when in fact, this is a political organization masquerading as school-reform advocates. SCORE fully endorses ALEC written laws and misuse of standardized tests. SCORE’s CEO, Jamie Woodson, told teachers who asked about children who were struggling on to meet ever increasing standards and testing demands, they (meaning the state and feds) were not going to spend money on “those kids”.
One more thing. NYS law dictates that my son will be tested, even against my wishes. It sounds crazy that such a thing is possible in this country, but it is.
Laws can be changed. The US had terrible laws written that excluded children with disabilities from public school because they were “disgusting”, “disruptive”, “repulsive”, etc. Parents and teachers were responsible for getting those laws (and many other bad laws) repealed and for getting the federal law IDEA written that precludes disability from guaranteeing equality and fairness.
The really maddening thing is that this insistence on testing has nothing to do with what is appropriate or best for your son. It is to feed this insane data mania. No information of any use to you or your son’s teachers will be generated by this abusive process. Fight!
This is problem that affects many families and raises the question about the entire testing movement. What if the jobs of the politicians and commissioners were defined in such a way that in their first year, they should have mastered certain skills, in their second year another set, and so on. What if we had a national for-profit conglomerate develop multiple choice and constructed response tests that they had to take once a year and measured if they met our expectations? What might their first objections include? “What I do and what I know can’t be measured on a test?” “The commissioner of New York has different skills than the commissioner of Illinois – how can we be measured on the same test?” “What I do can’t be measured on a test!” We wonder how many of them would choose to be absent on testing days. A coalition of parents may be more effective than one of educators because the powers that be can assume the educators don’t want the testing because of its effect on their evaluation – when in fact, so many believe that it stresses the students and takes away from other valuable experiences. Testing has a place in education – but certainly not one that raises such a sense of alienation, opposition, and fear.
Exactly. Let’s use the state aggregates of test scores to determine the value-added by commissioners of education and state legislators who are passing the laws.
I understand how difficult it is to raise and teach a child with autism. I have done both. Whatever you decide, whether to keep your child at home or send him in to attempt the tests, I really feel for you. None of this is right for your child, but unfortunately, children have taken a back seat to politics and corporate greed in this nation. Having witnessed this first hand, I decided to opt myself out of teaching. I loved the children, tried to follow the rules, and fought for them as hard as I could. The fact is, the deck is stacked against many children with learning differences. By definition, autism is a severe condition which impacts every aspect of a person’s life, and testing them in this rigid way is sometimes akin to torture. I wish you and your child the best.
The thing is, at the elementary level, the NYS test does not determine placement nor is it used to measure IEP goals. It is in no way related to the IEP other than accommodations that can be put on the IEP, accommodations that are not that helpful when you can not access the content because you are not developmentally and cognitively able. The only thing that can exempt a child from the test is alternative assessment and in that case, the assessment would be based on IEP goals. It makes no sense…if my child is receiving a modified curriculum, why is he being measured using a tool that is based on the regular, common core curriculum? Why? Because it has nothing to do with him, it is not for his benefit or to measure his progress, it is a tool for evaluating the school and the teachers at his expense. The IEP is not a very helpful tool in this area unless he can qualify for AA and this is why I think that NCLB in some ways violates IDEA.
Also, if a student is on the alternative assessment track, they will not receive a high school diploma. NYS has done away with the local diploma and students who do not take the regents exams can only hope for an IEP diploma which does not count for colleges and jobs. But this is a whole other can of worms. But it does speak to yet another unfair choice given to parents…either your kid takes the test or you resign him to never getting a diploma.
As many have stated, I can table the meeting and have it stated on the IEP that I disagree and go the due process route. But I would likely lose. As I see it, my only recourse is to retain an attorney and continue to fight this at the state and national level. While I think that high stakes tests are detrimental to all children, looking at the situation through the lens of a child with a disability helps to highlight the inherent lack of integrity and respect for the rights of students and parents that these tests carry.
The one thing I have not seen suggested here is for this courageous mother to write an Op Ed in the local paper. Shame can do wonders, especially when it comes to outing the state imposed child abuse that her child is facing. It would be a great way to get other parents on her side by making them aware of the absurdity that testing has become, as the thought occurs to them that their children are going through some version of this as well.
If the parent does not mind opening up to the public I would suggest calling the local media. The smaller media markets upstate are always looking for stories of unfair treatment of children or families.
Based on the legal book used by the Supreme Court, Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing Part II: Fairness in Testing, Chapter 10. Testing Individuals with Disabilities, http://www.teststandards.org, ask for proof that this test has been validated for the autism spectrum. If it has NOT, his results cannot be interpreted.
In Oregon, most special ed. students take the regular tests. For those within a year of grade level, this is valid.
For those with severe disabilities, they take the extended assessment. This is a political action to ensure that all students take a test. For some, it may have a degree of validity.
For special ed. students between these two levels, they are discriminated against. Their tests are not valid. The best we can do is to make it as quick and painless as possible.
My advice: if the student can use a mouse, have him take the test in a private setting. Click through the options, then go do something fun and worthwhile.
If you are forced to play the game, play it on your own terms.
I see a lot of comments here about complaining to the ACLU, hiring a lawyer, or demanding and IEP meeting. If you want to help your kid, don’t do any of those things (at least, not to start).
Instead, talk to your child’s special ed. teacher. Express your concern. See if he or she “gets it.” Will this allow your child to opt. out? Probably not. But you can find some agreement to make it work.
If not, then do the other things. Appealing to the heart of the teacher, however, is always the best way to go first.
Unfortunately those things have been done, and it is not a decision that the teacher can make. The NYS DOE demands that all students be tested unless they have an IEP driven alternative assessment which less than 1% of students qualify for.
I’m sorry to hear that. I have a feeling, though, that this is an opportunity for you to launch a protest movement. You are not alone. I hope to see you and your son on the news. I want to see a petition to the White House. I want to have an end to this madness.
I agree with much of what has been posted–particularly the advice (jcgrim) to schedule an IEP meeting ASAP and bring an advocate. I also wonder, since no one has suggested it yet, whether homeschool provisions might be helpful or useful to you. I wouldn’t want your child to spend 6 days without valid educational programming–so, if they cannot guarantee him FAPE for these days because the rest of the school is going to be testing, could you homeschool him for those days so he is guaranteed appropriate educational experiences that would not count as absences from school? Alternatively, i would request some provision for his education during the “opt out” time so his current IEP is not violated.
I highly recommend that your child takes the state assessments. If your child is alternate assessment, the child will only have an IEP diploma upon graduation. The IEP diploma is only appropriate for students with really severe disabilities (IQs that are really low – below 65). There is not much after graduation from high school that your child can do. CAN’T go into the military, CAN’T be enrolled in a degree program in college, CAN’t vote, CAN’t ….
No one likes the state testing but it’s better than the alternative. At my child’s school the special ed teacher is pushing for students to be alternate assessment even when it is not appropriate.
So many children are being misdiagnosed with autism these days. Special education officials need to be on the look out for parents who push their doctors, or hire “special education advocates” to insist their children are really autistic when there is no OFFICIAL autism diagnosis for the child. In California, there is rampant abuse of the autism label among parents of young children trying to get their children extra help in the classroom, when if you look at these children, they are talking normally, walking, writing, reading and doing everything normal, but may only be “mentally ill”. Truly a tragic situation that is rooted in the overall ignorance and confidence of doctors, psychologists, special education administrators and school psychologists to properly discern who is autistic and who is not. The last straw for me was when yet ANOTHER mom told me her child was diagnosed with “high functioning” autism, but “may be just PDD (pervasive developmental disorder)” When I asked her, “Well, does it bother you that your son may be labeled with autism when he really doesn’t have it?” the mother said, “I don’t really care. So long as he gets the services he needs in school.” There you have folks. The autism label is no longer about autism, it’s about people like Jenny McCarthy who never had an autistic child, but rode the autism wave and made millions off her books, and parents who don’t really have autistic children but are now costing taxpayers millions by having their children diagnosed with autism “for the services” and autism researchers who don’t give a damn if they are really including real autistic children and adults in their studies, cuz it’s just about money. No wonder there is an “epidemic” of autism, because there is an “epidemic” of people who are so CLUELESS about what autism is and isn’t it has created MASS chaos and confusion. Wake up people.
Hi! I’m going through the same problem right now with my son who will be taking the state testing for the first time this year. He is on the spectrum, and is incredibly bright, but can only demonstrate it on tests if it is presented to him in a way he understands. He thinks, reasons, and understands at a different level of comprehension than what is on these tests. I asked his school if his questions could be reworded for him to understand, and they won’t do it. My friend has a great FB page where she is fighting for severely disabled children, but changes need to be made for ALL the disabled/special needs kids. //www.facebook.com/Who.Is.Ethan.Rediske