In response to a post about the New York State tests, a teacher in Virginia sent this comment:
As a VA public school teacher, let me assure you that the VA state tests are as bad as the NY State tests. I did my undergraduate degree in NY. It was very hard for my university to find me a second special education student teaching placement since I did the last 2 placements in spring semester, and none of the classroom teachers wanted to turn their rooms over to a novice just before state testing.
Virginia schools have the Standards of Learning (SOL; as a non-native of VA, I was stunned at the names of their state tests. In military parlance, SOL stands for Sh___ Out of Luck). The 8th grade tests are not used for promotion, but until recently they could count for high school graduation in the case of students with disabilities.
Students in VA start testing in grade 3, and test every year thereafter until they are high school seniors. We had major issues with testing software and a new math test last year, as well as a new 8th grade Reading test. The year before that, it was the history exam.
A teacher at my school went from a 87% pass rate in self-contained and team-taught special education classes to less than 35% pass rate in a regular education class (he is dual-certified and changed to primarily regular education 2 years ago). I am also dual certified and teach primarily self-contained special education history classes; until this year, I taught all 4 of our history classes, plus case managed students with significant developmental disabilities (as opposed to learning disabilities).
None of my students in my self-contained classes have ever passed the exams, which is now 30% of my evaluation score (and due to rise to 40%). I can’t imagine why anybody would willingly teach special education… Especially significant disabilities since our state test for those students is now aligned identically to the regular education grade level tests. Blech.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
I teach at a center school for the lowest one percent of students who have severe cognitive disabilities and physical challenges not to mention other comorbid conditions. Due to the mandates from the state, part of my evaluation is based on student achievement. Instead of assigning the test scores of an individual class or a school score for my VAM score, the district is using a county average since the students come from all over the district. I wonder what useful information that data provides?
Accountability and the business model sound good but I wish the powers that be would come see and understand what’s really going on and how one size doesn’t fit all.
Another absurdity is the mandate to use a particular set of teaching strategies that are part of a checklist for our personal teaching evaluations. Many of them are not recognized as best practices for students with intellectual disabilities on the participatory level. The checklist was developed for general education students and there are no variations that the teacher is allowed to make because it is mandated as is by law. : (
LikeLike
Not to mention how demoralizing and anxiety-producing the tests are for these students.
Once again I ask, where the @#@#%$% are our national disability organizations? Why aren’t they taking a lead role in protesting giving these tests to our kids?
Thank you, teachers and educators for being the only ones having our kids’ backs.
Sign me, Special needs mom
LikeLike
Ditto on “where the @#@#%$% are our national disability organizations?”
These people are great about putting out impressive ads and soliciting for contributions. When it comes time for action to start shaking things up in public, they’re nowhere to be found.
LikeLike
Precisely the same situation persists in NYC. To refer to the “reform” education bureaucracy as “brain dead” is to give it…. and THEM… far too much credit. The application of these dubious general ed evals to teachers of profoundly handicapped kids amounts to malicious punishment of people for going into this difficult and excruciatingly demanding variety of teaching.
LikeLike
My suggestion is to cross off the portion of the evaluation that uses test scores to evaluate the teacher. Take along a permanent marker and X that part out. If the administrator refuses to yield don’t sign it, or sign it with the statement that you do not accept that part.
This year our new evaluation system (to be replaced with a new one next year in order to comply with the RATT waiver) is a PBTE (performance based teacher evaluation). And quite frankly it is a joke. It’s one big rubric and most times the differences in categories cannot be discerned. My administrator (and she is one of a couple of administrators that I actually trust) and I sat and talked about the first half of it the other day. She was doing her best to rate me as highest as she could, coming up with the verbiage to satisfy whomever may look at her ratings (and in this small district there is no one assigned to do that, that I know of). We haven’t gotten to the parts about “community involvement” etc. . . that are based on non contracted activities and events. I will be adding my objections to those sections and I told her and the principal that that was going to be the case.
They also know that I know more about next year’s evaluation system than they do as I have been in contact with the gentleman who is developing it. And I can’t get any information out of him of how they plan to use “student achievement” (why does that remind me of the old junior achievement program?) as part of our evaluation. But I’ve told them I don’t plan on signing off on any evaluation that contains student scores as part of my evaluation. We’ll fight that battle next year.
LikeLike
LOVE the permanent marker and refusing to sign!!! Imagine if special ed. teachers nationwide would do this too!!!!
LikeLike
All signing our evaluations meant was that we had seen them not that we agreed with them. We could write a rebuttal that got put in our file and to which no one ever paid attention. All neat and tidy…
LikeLike
Thanks, Duane and, yes, readers–that DOES work!
LikeLike
At the same time if you do what I suggest you will be painting a huge bulls eye in the middle of your chest for them to aim at. I know, been there and done that with challenging the admin on their insane and idiotic ways. Sometimes prudence is the better part of valor to live to fight another day.
For me, though I’m way past prudence as I’m at the end of my career and I have let them know through subtle hints that any attempt to end my teaching will be viewed as an age discrimination problem.
LikeLike
Good luck with the age discrimination suit. It’s almost impossible to prove. From what I can tell, they could get you on insubordination if they wanted to. ;>)
LikeLike
2o2t,
You’re right about age discrimination suits. I just put it out there because they don’t know that. Hey if it would give me an extra year I’d think about it. Really though I don’t expect problems and you’re 110% correct about the insubordination thing. Seen it done to many a teacher.
Duane
LikeLike
As the parent of a child with autism, forcing him to, year after year, take tests that he will never pass, often feels like state mandated child abuse.
LikeLike
And that’s exactly what it is.
LikeLike
I have been gathering sped. testing horror stories, and have about 70 now. I was planning on sending them in to OSEP/DOE, but I know the reality of it is that they could care less. Please, Christine & other parents, OPT your children OUT THIS YEAR! Go to United Opt Out for their step-by-step instructions for getting it done. Also, if ALL or a majority of teachers can adopt the Garfield H.S. method (and I say “can” because I know that the risks are enormous), PLEASE do so.
STOP THE TESTING in 2013.
LikeLike
Great commentary in today’s Albany Times Union about a family feeling demoralized by the testing.
http://www.timesunion.com/opinion/article/The-kids-who-get-left-behind-4246148.php
LikeLike