Copyright 1999 The Washington Post
The Washington
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April 04, 1999, Sunday, Final Edition
SECTION: METRO; Pg. C01
LENGTH: 1297 words
HEADLINE:
New Tests Worry Special-Ed Advocates; Students May Lose Diplomas, They Say
BYLINE: Linda Perlstein, Washington Post Staff Writer
BODY:
Challenging new high school
graduation exams that Washington area students will have to pass in coming years
may prove too difficult for many special-education students who could have to
settle for attendance certificates instead of diplomas, school officials say.
Most special-education students in Maryland, Virginia and the District
now receive diplomas when they graduate from high school. The exact effect of
the new tests on such students is difficult to predict, since education
officials in Maryland, Virginia and the District are still deciding how to
implement the tests.
School administrators say high-stakes tests are
difficult for all low-performing students, especially those with limited
English. But special-education advocates say the exams will hit their students
hardest. Even with the accommodations the students are given on tests -- such as
having questions read aloud to them or getting extra time -- some learning,
memory and attention disabilities are fixed barriers to success on this kind of
exam, they say. "I think it's a predictable outcome as to what's going to happen
to kids already at risk," said Leroy Tompkins, assistant superintendent in
charge of instruction in Prince George's County. "I don't think we're going to
nip this one in the bud."
In Maryland, teachers who have seen prototypes
of the new high school tests, which will be required for graduation as of 2005,
worry that they will stump even average students. In the District, which plans a
reading and math proficiency exam starting with the Class of 2002, it is unclear
how the already troubled special-education program will help its students rise
to this new challenge. Most Virginia students performed poorly last year on
their first stab at the new Standard of Learning exams, which the Class of 2004
will have to pass, and officials expect that many special-education students
will have even more difficulty.
If learning-disabled students are to
have a shot at passing the new high-stakes exams, school districts must begin
preparing them now, several administrators and advocates say.
"I can't
even tell you how many parents have come to me, at sixth grade, and said, 'Is my
child going to pass?' " said Cher Jones, who teaches special education at
Elkridge Landing Middle School.
Currently, the small number of
special-education students in Washington area public schools who don't get
diplomas are instructed primarily in life skills, not academics, and receive
attendance certificates at graduation. But many parents want their children to
receive a diploma, because studies have shown that students who get diplomas
find jobs far more easily than those who haven't.
Jones already sees her
students struggle with Howard County's "overwhelming" quarterly exams, which
test students' mastery of the curriculum and analytical skills.
"As much
as I'm doing and as hard as I'm working, I think it's going to be very difficult
for them to get those skills," she said of the new state tests.
The new
high school graduation tests also emphasize critical thinking and feature
open-ended as well as multiple-choice questions. State officials say the tests
are designed to measure students' ability to solve real-life problems, not just
memorize facts.
Although there's no way to know for sure how special-ed
students will fare on the tests, education officials say their performance on
other tests may offer some clues.
Six years of results from the Maryland
School Performance Assessment Program tests -- given to third-, fifth- and
eighth-grade students -- show a large gap between the scores of
special-education and general education students. For example, among
eighth-graders in Maryland last year, 11 percent of special-education students
scored satisfactory on the language arts portion of the test, compared with 54
percent of general education students.
But as schools increasingly are
judged by students' test scores and pass rates, parents and special-education
advocates worry that borderline students will be dissuaded from even attempting
to take the tough, new exams. Judgments about children's capabilities may be
made too early, they fear, and students who feel they have little chance of
getting a diploma may lose motivation and drop out.
"Once a child is
told, 'You're not going to graduate,' it really becomes self-fulfilling," said
Mindy Morrell, executive director of the Maryland Development Disabilities
Council. "Why stay in school if somebody decides at 14 years old you're not
going to get a diploma?"
The issue, advocates say, is further
complicated by a tricky paradox: The tests and standards are just that --
standard. But special-education instruction is individualized. Students each
work toward their own set of goals, and teachers modify the content they are
expected to master. In many cases, they don't learn all the concepts in the
general curriculum.
"You have to deal with a handicapping condition, but
making a single standard is contrary to that," said Edward L. Kelly,
superintendent of Prince William County schools.
Some states allow
students with disabilities to get a diploma after passing an alternate exam,
assembling a portfolio of work or making a presentation, and others exempt
special-education students altogether. New York is going to phase in its new
Regents high school graduation exams for special-ed students. So far, Maryland,
Virginia and the District have not developed similar plans.
Opinions are
mixed on whether such accommodations are appropriate, especially in light of the
1997 reauthorization of the federal Individuals With Disabilities
Education Act. The legislation says special-education students must be
taught the same content as other students -- which is entirely possible,
advocates say, when the proper supports are in place.
"The key is not to
create a double set of standards," said Sheldon Horowitz, director of
professional services at the National Center for Learning Disabilities in New
York. "I don't think there's any reason to suspect a child with learning
disabilities cannot succeed at the level of their intelligence."
Maryland, for its part, hopes the new graduation tests will force
schools to teach as much of the general curriculum to special-education students
as possible. The schools are supposed to be doing that now, but the state can't
always tell if they are.
"For many school systems and many students,
this will be a new idea. We just aren't sure what curriculum these students are
getting," said Carol Ann Baglin, assistant superintendent for special education.
The most immediate challenge for schools is to find enough special-ed
teachers to teach the curriculum students must learn to pass the content-heavy
tests. Few special-education teachers -- who already are in short supply -- have
subject-area expertise, so many children learn about such subjects as science
from instructors who don't know the topic well, according to education
officials.
"If you ever watch a general ed teacher spin a yarn about
open and closed circuits -- it's very impressive," said Sandra Marx, Howard
County's director of special education. Marx said many special-education
teachers do not teach content at that level. "We are not content specialists."
That's why her county is starting a pilot program to have teachers with
content specialties instruct special-education high school students in core
academic subjects.
But in the final analysis, school administrators say,
it's hard to say that even vastly improved instruction will ensure that
special-ed students will pass the test. "Yes, I think that some kids will have
some kinds of extra challenges in meeting those goals," associate superintendent
Baglin said.
LOAD-DATE: April 04, 1999
