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2V and other SPED teachers
This article was in the Chicago Trib today. A bit of context:
1. The ACT is our NCLB benchmark in IL (completely fucked up!).
2. This means that we have more people taking the ACT here because EVERY junior takes it. Raise the number of people taking it, and you're proportionately going to raise the number of accomodations, right?
3. This headline is NOT the headline that appeared in the actual paper. The paper headline was more inflammatory: "Acing the ACT? It's easier with help." 
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/education/ct-met-testing-accommodations-20120429,0,5022317.story
At powerhouse New Trier Township High School on the North Shore, the highest number in the state, 170 juniors ? or 1 in 6 test takers ? got special testing accommodations last year.
Almost 1 in 5 students who took the crucial college entrance exam at affluent Highland Park, Deerfield and Lake Forest high schools got assistance during state testing last spring, according to data not previously released to the public.
Dozens of those students scored in the 30s out of an ACT maximum of 36, raising questions about the edge some students are getting in the stiff competition to get into top colleges.
The accommodations, including extra hours and even multiple days to finish the exam, are designed to even the playing field for students who struggle with tests because of disabilities. The vast majority of juniors tested with accommodations got below-average or abysmal scores last year, the data show.
Attorney Charles Fox, who specializes in special education law and advocacy in the Chicago area, said scoring in the 30s is possible but unlikely for those eligible for testing assistance.
"I have never had a student in my caseload who has not struggled even with accommodations," said Fox, whose has a disabled son.
Controversy has swirled for years about which students deserve special help. A 2000 California audit concluded that those getting college entrance testing accommodations "were disproportionately white, or were more likely to come from an affluent family or to attend a private school."
More than a decade later, the Tribune's review of data obtained under open records laws indicates that's true in Illinois, where the percentage of test takers with accommodations doubled the national average.
Schools in wealthy enclaves with predominantly white students were at the top of the list when it comes to students getting ACT testing accommodations in Illinois, the 2011 data show.
Bev Johns, a longtime special education advocate in Illinois, said she wasn't surprised.
"Parents in affluent areas know their rights and know how to obtain services," she said.
"There are a lot of protections built in so that children should not be being incorrectly diagnosed," Johns added.
The scores of students who receive accommodations are not flagged when they're sent to college admissions offices, so the schools don't know whether someone got extra help, according to the ACT company.
Students can apply for special assistance if they have reading or anxiety disorders, attention deficit problems, physical disabilities and a host of other impairments.
Accommodations range from large-type testing booklets to cassettes, DVDs or testing scripts that administrators read to students to the most frequently requested accommodation: more time.
Students can get anything from 50 percent extra time to multiple days to complete the exam. It usually takes about three hours to finish the main English, math, reading and science sections, excluding breaks and instructions.
The current junior class took the ACT last week, but students with special accommodations can test until May 8.
"Double time on the ACT is like a dream," said Jed Appelrouth, whose Atlanta-based tutoring firm assists students in the Georgia, New York and Washington areas. "In my experience, every time (students) get extra time, they do better."
There are 2 more pages to the article at the link above. The article gives stats and graphs on schools with kids with accomodations getting in the 30's, basically trying to make it sound like they shouldn't be getting accomodations if they can get such high scores.
Re: 2V and other SPED teachers
Damn that Americans With Disabilities Act, trying to make the education system more equitable for kids with DIAGNOSED LEARNING DISABILITIES.
*eyeroll*
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I think it is crazy that they think that this is a story.
Unless they think there is fraud and multiple professionals flat out lying about a student having a disability there is nothing to report.
Accommodation is required by law. The End.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IjfwCpcD3mk&feature=related
What in the hell? Isn't the point of these accommodations to level the playing field? So students who score in the 30's who had accommodations should be held up as successes of the system, not failures! For God's sake...
Do they think every kid diagnosed with ADD or hearing loss or sensory processing disorder isn't smart enough to perform when given the means to do so? This is offensive on so many levels. Those high schools they mentioned are some of the best in the state (and the country)...why shouldn't those kids be scoring high on standardized tests?
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Regardless, I believe that these students require educational diagnoses to receive accommodations, and that comes from the district. I'm only 1 year into the SPED world (starts age 3 in my district) so anyone with more experience feel free to correct. Our district does not take evaluations lightly. So if anyone finds a dr who hands out fraudulent diagnoses, it doesn't matter because the school must confirm, on their own, the need for accommodations before creating an IEP for the student.
Further, college has changed. Accommodations can be reasonably expected there now. So I don't think your statement is true that they couldn't handle the pressures of college. And as the mother of a kid with autism and anxiety disorder, I don't think you need to worry about him getting an unfair edge. Whatever disability exists is often there for life and is enough of an obstacle to academic success and subsequent employment. A typical, unimpaired person will have the edge by definition. Helping these disabled kids try to reach their potential means that maybe they can support themselves as adults, an outcome which I'd figure would interest you.
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there are thousands of studies that I could look up that disprove that how you do on one standardized test is not equal to how you will do in college.
But an because I am lazy, a story instead: I had a pretty middle of the road SAT score (1100?) and ok HS grades (As, Bs, a few Cs, maybe a D), but somehow handled undergrad with a 3.81 (only 3 Bs in four years, the rest were As) and so far have a 4.0 in my grad program.
Hmm that is an interesting question -
fact: the school has to get the parent to sign a consent to evaluate before the school's evaluators can to testing.
fact: if the parents refuse to sign the consent the school is under no further obligation to continue the identification process.
fact: if the parent doesn't like the school's evaluation results they can get their child evaluated by an independent evaluator at public expense.
unknown: if a parent gets an independent evaluation, but refuses to consent to have a school evaluation take place and the school disagrees with the parent's evaluator's opinion the does the school have the right to discontinue the identification process?
There is just far to much regulation to get diagnosed that there would have to be wide spread systemic failure with multiple people playing cover up to get a child who didn't need one an IEP or a 504 plan. The amount of planning and coordination needed for a scam of the system is mind blowing.
It takes more than a Dr's note.
I think we might need to have another discussion on what the word "fair" means......
ETA: Also, wrt special ed in colleges, it is my understanding that special ed continues until the age of 21. So yes, college students can and should continue to receive accomodations to help them with college.
I seriously cannot roll my eyes hard enough at the idiocy of this statement.
"You don't get to be all puke-face about your kid shooting your undead baby daddy when all you had to do was KEEP HIM IN THE FLUCKING HOUSE, LORI!" - doctorwho
Have you ever met anyone with an anxiety disorder? Because what you're basically saying here is that anyone with an anxiety disorder shouldn't be allowed to go to college because they can't handle the pressure.
Ok.
yes and no
your IEP continues until you don't need it, graduate HS, or age out at 21 having not graduated HS.
Students who have disabilities who are going to college get accommodation through other laws that can be less inclusive than the rights they had age 3-21 (or grad). More like the rights that let people with a disability work. Maybe section 504 still applies (I am fuzzy about 504 plans) and ADA applies, but IDEA does not.
Edit: yes, 504 applies http://umaine.edu/disability/
Just barely.Outside diagnoses are rarely fought in my district. I've seen reports with outdated assessments and little evidence of actual symptoms/behaviors that end with a diagnosis of ADHD or Anxiety (these two seem to be the catch all disorders). It's really easy to get your kid diagnosed if you know what you're doing.
The High-schools in my district are full of affluent parents fighting to get their straight A students evaluated for IEPs just for ACT/SAT testing accommodations. Our school psychs can barely keep up. There are also parents who refuse to have their kids re-evaluated by the district because they know their kids no longer meet criteria for services. It's another thing the district won't usually spend the money to fight so you end up with kids on monitor IEPs for 10+ years with the same general accommodations of extra time and redoing assignments.
The truth is, there are kids getting accommodations who don't need them and they have an unfair advantage. However, the vast majority of identified kids are identified correctly and need the services/accommodations they receive. I don't think it's worth it at this time to change the system in order to catch the very few misidentified students. At the same time, don't fool yourself into thinking there aren't people playing the game of special ed and winning.
Oh, one more thing. IEP =/= learning disabled. LD is just one of the categories that a child can receive services under. Many students on IEPs are very bright individuals who have little difficulty understanding the material.
Without getting into specifics, I will say that I have a college senior in the fall who I know will be 22 that I will have to make accommodations for. I don't have any idea of what goes into determining this, but I do know federal law will require me to Even though the student is over 21 (not that I would even dream of saying no).
I think that it is bad that the parents game the system and no one cares. How can the student not even care? Sure, parent referrals are fast tracked to a point (skipping pre-referral), but the school should still do the formal steps that come after the referral.
I am not talking just to you in the following, but I wanted to share the language for getting an AD(H)D diagnosis (the word Anxiety doesn't appear in the ME regs, but still might get you a 504 plan and as I said, I'm fuzzy on 504 and how much proof you need to get accommodations):
It is true that if you have something that is cut and dried medical (deaf-blindness,visual impairment, hearing impairment, orthopedic impairment, traumatic brain injury) that a person licensed to make that diagnosis is pretty much all that is needed.
However, to get ADD/ADHD under IDEA is more complex. This is the Maine law and everything in italics exceeds federal standards, regular print is the federal language.
J. Other Health Impairment
(1) Definition. Other health impairment means having limited strength, vitality or alertness, including a heightened alertness to environmental stimuli, that results in limited alertness with respect to the educational environment, that is due to chronic or acute health problems, such as asthma, attention deficit disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, diabetes, epilepsy, a heart condition, hemophilia, lead poisoning, leukemia, nephritis, rheumatic fever, or sickle cell anemia, Tourette Syndrome and adversely affects the child?s educational performance. [34 CFR 300.8(c)(9)]
(2) Procedure for Determination. All steps below are required.
(a) Data from general education interventions, if appropriate, using research based intervention techniques indicate that the response to general education intervention is not adequate.
(b) The I.E.P. Team shall consider any available written diagnoses and/or educational, psychological or medical evaluation results relevant to the identification process.
(c) Current diagnostic criteria must have been considered in making the diagnosis or diagnostic impression.
(d) The I.E.P. Team shall review written reports of observations conducted across settings including observations within the educational environment, if the child is participating in an educational environment. These observations must include a comparison of the referred/identified student?s behaviors to same-aged peers? behaviors from the same environment.
(e) When considering eligibility due to an attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, diagnostic impressions of ADHD must be based on a multi-method and multi-informant assessment process conducted across multiple environments including the educational setting for children participating in an educational setting. Methods for ADHD assessment must include at least the following:
Psychosocial History;
Clinical interviews;
Structured observations of the child?s behavior in the educational setting;
Behavior rating scales measuring features of attention, hyperactivity and impulsivity across multiple settings including the educational setting; and
Measures that rule out other disorders that may manifest with similar symptoms.
(f) A child with a medical condition listed under Other Health Impairment may also be eligible under another category if he or she meets the criteria for that other category and needs special education and related services. All children who have one or more of the conditions listed under Other Health Impairment are not necessarily eligible to receive special education services under IDEA.
I don't agree with Pamela's line of thinking but when do the accomodations become too much?
I had a severely dyslexic friend in law school. He got double time for all his exams. He also spent twice as much time reading for class. How could he actually practice because you can't bill clients twice as much just because you read twice as slow? (he doesn't practice, he went into RE development).
Above Us Only Sky
and just to add an anecdote, my sister got to take the SATs untimed because she had LDs.
She finished a lot faster than the 3 hours and did better. The breaks and having to wait to move to the next section were hard on her when she took it timed.
Above Us Only Sky