It is testing time, and I am a special educator.
What does this mean "I am a special educator?"
I review cume folders that are sometimes more then twelve inches thick which also include:previous teacher comments, attendance history, some discipline history, developmental challenges, pyschological evaluations, medical notes, some judicial and court order documents, previous grade reports, prior Individual Educational Plans, reports (if dual programs)from speech therapists, hearing pathelogists, mental health professionals, and review and disagregate standardize testing reports. I meet with students and give them interest surveys, talk with their parents, have a dialogue with their regular education teacher. I ask the regular education teachers to document - how, and when the student was given accommodations. I make observations, work with students one-on-one,...
What does this mean "It is testing time, and I am a special educator?"
The rule of thumb is this: if the student does not regularly get their accommodations in the regular class then they should not get their accommodations on the standardize tests because this gives them an unfair advantage on the state test.
Questions:
- At the middle school age (12-16) are students capable of advocating for themselves?
- Do the teachers have the time to individualize every activity during a school day?
- If a student has a documented learning disability in cognitive processes and/or a diagnosed psychological disorders on the spectrum/is the average educator aware of the implications concerning academic, environmental, and social issues that may effect testing?
- Some educators say if the student doesn't ask for more time or take more time then you shouldnt give them more time - I rebuttal especially at the middle school age and given the socio-economic, the school type- The MiddleSchool student rarely wants to look different from the rest of his/or her peers- It is up to the professionals to make sure the student's plan is followed regardless of what the student think he/she wants.
- If the students are not taking extra time on their tests regularly in all classes then the student should not get their accomodations on the standardized tests. We are talking about MS students mostly who do not care about their education they are more focused on the social aspect of their lives at school. We need to be model advocators. We should be asking the specialists if we have questions.
- How can you compare the length of a classroom quiz or test to the length and depth of a state standardized tests. There is no comparison.
- There is another complication: we are teaching students strategies like: underlining the main idea, circle unknown words and phrases, number paragraphs, read the questions first and then go back and read the passage- this is called text coding. However on the computer version of all tests, the student can not utilize these strategies.(This was brought up to me by one of my students)
Some schools do it correctly and realize what a critical time of the year testing is. Not only are we making decisions for students concerning their testing accommodations and environment but we are also determining what grade our school will make given the above information.
