New tests may help with No Child Left Behind

States will have more flexibility in testing students with learning disabilities because of recent changes made to the No Child Left Behind Act.

Illinois educators and administrators hope this change will help level the playing field for learning disabled students.

The change stems from the outcry of public educators nationwide who say the 2002 federal law requires impossibly high goals be met, particularly for students with learning disabilities.

This, educators say, harms those students’ self-confidence when they can’t perform on the tests.

“We were hearing a lot of concerns from educators across the country that more flexibility needs to be built in for No Child Left Behind,” said Jim Bradshaw, spokesman for the U.S. Department of Education. “But that we also still need to keep accountability.”

According to the U.S. Department of Education, 13 percent of public school students receive special education, and half of that number is made up of students with a specific learning disability.

The new testing regulations, implemented in April, give states the option to develop a new test and testing criteria for these students who, “are capable of achieving high standards but may not reach grade level in the same timeframe as their peers.” To aid states in developing the new assessments, the federal government is providing $21.1 million.

Illinois educators and administrators say it’s a step in the right direction for the notoriously under funded No Child Left Behind Act. It requires students in grades 3 through 8 be tested each year, and in the current federal fiscal year allocates $24.4 billion to help schools raise test scores.

“At this time we are anxious to learn more about these new regulations,” said Matt Vanover, Illinois State Board of Education spokesman. “Developing a new test is definitely something we want to look into.”

Vanover said the board is still in the process of reading the fine print of the new regulations and added that any changes the state is making to the tests will be for children with learning disabilities.

Some educators and administrators say the new test needs to be based more on a student’s Individualized Education Plan (IEP). Individual plans must be crafted for each student who receives special education; the plans set out goals for students, taking into account any accommodation they need for their disability.

Daryl Morrison, director of education policy and agency relations for the Illinois Education Association, said, “Ideally, we would like the test to take into account what IEP teams have put together in the student’s IEP and look at what the student needs to be assessed on.”

Bev Johns, a recently retired special education teacher and administrator who teaches courses about special education at MacMurray College in Jacksonville, Ill., agrees IEP teams should play an important role in developing the new test.

Current testing methods do not allow for such flexibility. Most Illinois students take a general state test (ISAT or PSAE). Some receive special accommodations, such as getting more time to take the test or having it read to them.

For students with severe cognitive disabilities, an alternate test is available but can only count for 1 percent of all scores reported by schools. The new test would be allowed to account for up to 2 percent of scores.

“I really believe that we need to look at each child individually,” Johns said, adding that because of the high standards of the No Child Left Behind Act schools are teaching students with disabilities at a higher level than they are achieving.

Johns suggested assessments for learning disabled students should be based on whether goals on each student’s Individualized Education Plan were met, making each assessment specific to each student.

“We need to have high expectations, but to put a general test like that in front of a [learning disabled] child, just isn’t fair to the youngster,” Johns said.