CAA refuses testing accommodations

Forwarded from TASH:

MEMORANDUM

TO: Patricia Yeager, Executive Director

FROM: Evelyn Abouhassan, AT Systems Change Coordinator

SUBJECT: New Regulations Adopted by the State Board of Education Limit Accommodations to Disabled Students

CC: Amor Taylor, Director of Public Policy Services

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Hello everyone,

I write to let you all know about recent regulations approved by the state that will change the educational process in California. New regulations approved by the state Board of Education on November 8, 2001 forbids disabled high school students who take the state high school exit exam from using test accommodations such as spell checkers, calculators, or an oral presentation of the language arts portion of the examination because it is believed that these accommodations fundamentally alter what the test is supposed to measure. According to the regulations, the test measures the student’s ability to decode and compute. All students must take the state required exit exam to receive a high school diploma.

At the hearing, the contractors hired to grade the exit examinations voiced their enthusiasm at being selected to compute the results. Additionally, in response to these regulations, Vicki Mc Daniel and I also had the opportunity to testify and voice our opinions as to these new rules.

In our testimony, we stated that the new regulations approved by the state Board of Education only came to our attention on the morning of the hearing. Vicki stated that the disabled student population deserved to be on an equal footing with non-disabled students. I noted to the board, as many others had, that these new regulations negatively impact the disabled student population. Furthermore, these new rules deny disabled students a free and appropriate public school education (FAPE) as required under the Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA). Finally, these regulations likely violate other laws such as the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.

In response to these potential violations, the board is in the process of implementing a complicated waiver system to even the playing field. The waiver will be granted if it “is necessary or beneficial” to the student’s individualized education plan, does not hinder student’s IEP, or failure to grant the waiver violates any rights under local or federal laws such as the IDEA or section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.

The waiver system is a two step process. The local educational agency (LEA) (most likely the high school or the school system) must first request a waiver to allow the student to take the exit exam using the prohibited accommodations mentioned above if these accommodations are part of the students IEP. It must be certified that the student’s IEP is valid, current, and that the accommodations requested were approved by all IEP team members. If this first waiver is granted, then the student can take the exam with the accommodations noted in the IEP.

If the student successfully passes the exam with the appropriate accommodations, then the LEA must request a second waiver that allows the student to receive a diploma even though the student did not take the test and pass it under “normal” testing conditions. To receive the second waiver, the LEA must certify that the disabled student is enrolled in high school level course work sufficient to complete the high school curriculum and that the student passed the examination using any or all of the prohibited accommodations.

In any case, any exam taken with prohibited accommodations will not be counted in the tally for statistical purposes as part of the state’s national results.

Vicki and I registered a strong opposition on behalf of CFILC to the notion that reasonable accommodations should not be made available to disabled students for the state exit exam. Its is my recommendation that this memorandum along with a copy of the news paper article about this issue from the San Francisco Chronicle be forwarded to the members, DR, SILC, PAI, the new Family Empowerment Centers, and any other disability rights organizations. If anyone has questions about these new regulations or the waiver process, they can contact me at CFILC.

Evelyn M. Abouhassan, AT Systems Change Coordinator

California Foundation for Independent Living Centers, (CFILC)

660 J Street, Suite 270

Sacramento, CA 95814

(916) 325-1690 x313