State tests: No waivers for special ed, English learners
State officials, some parents and teachers say they are disappointed by the U.S. Department of Education's unwillingness to provide greater flexibility on state tests when it comes to assessing students with disabilities and those who are English learners.
Last month, the USDE denied a waiver requested by the state Education Department to assess some students with disabilities at their instructional level rather than grade level. Also rejected was a proposal to exempt English learners who have attended schools in the United States for less than two years from taking the Common Core-aligned state English tests.
"Based on multiple conversations with USDE, we were disappointed but not surprised by USDE's decision," said NYSED spokeswoman Jeanne Beattie.
In her written response to the NYSED, Deborah Delisle, an assistant secretary at the U.S. Department of Education, said state education departments are required by law to assess all students at the grade level in which they are enrolled.
A single, statewide accountability system is necessary to keep parents and teachers informed of students' progress and to hold schools "accountable for the academic achievement of all students," Delisle wrote.
A spokesperson for the federal department declined to comment further for this report.
In Westchester, for the 2013-14 school year, 20,884 students were categorized as having disabilities, according to NYSED data. In Rockland, that number was 5,539. Those numbers made up 14 percent of the population in both counties. In Putnam, 15 percent -- or 2,203 students -- had special needs.
When it comes to students with Limited English proficiency, for the 2013-14 school year, there were 10,801 or 7 percent in Westchester. In Rockland, there were 3,839 or 10 percent, and 363 or 2 percent in Putnam, the data shows.
The state was only requesting a waiver for a portion of those two groups.
As a condition for a state receiving federal Title I funds, the USDE requires all students -- except those with the most severe cognitive disabilities, which must statewide equal no more than one percent of the tested grades' enrollment -- be tested using the same academic assessments. Special needs students for whom testing is mandatory would include those with learning disabilities such as ADHD, dyslexia and high-functioning autism.
That one-size-fits-all approach is harmful to students with disabilities and those who are English learners, some parents say. They argue tests tied to the higher Common Core standards are developmentally inappropriate and do not provide an accurate reflection of the students' abilities.
"We all want high standards, but forcing children who cannot achieve at their age levels to test at those levels is cruel, and it will not yield accurate information about they have learned," said Lisa Eggert Litvin, co-president of the Hastings-on-Hudson PTSA. "It's like giving a third-grader a test designed for a fifth-grader."
Elmsford school Superintendent Joseph Ricca said while assessments are critical in determining student progress, a common sense approach is needed.
"To hold students who have just come into the country with limited English language skills accountable in a high stakes English assessment is not at all equitable," Ricca said. "In fact, it would give a false read on student progress."
Beattie, of the state Education Department, said the rationale for asking for the waiver was broad in nature, and included not only parental and educator concerns, but the department's desire for more appropriate assessments.
"When students with disabilities are required to participate in an assessment at their chronological age significantly misaligned with content learned at their instructional level, the assessment may not provide important instructional information on student performance," Beattie said.
Ossining resident Lisa Rudley, founder of NYS Allies for Public Education, a parent and educator advocacy group, said she wasn't sure NYSED was doing everything it could to ease the pain.
"It has always been within the power of NYSED to reduce the duration and inappropriate complexity of the tests and testing format," said Rudley, whose children opted out of the tests this year.
Overall, statewide, nearly 200,000 students refused to take this year's state tests for grades 3-8, according to opt out groups tracking the data.
Christine Zirkelbach, a special education advocate from Brewster, said she gave NYSED credit for asking for the waiver, but said it was not enough.
"It's like trying to bailout the Titanic with a paper cup," she said. "I know of kids who have soiled their pants. My friend's son pulled his eyebrows out when he was a third-grader. There has been a lot of anxiety around the tests."
Twitter: @SwapnaVenugopal