I am actually still floored by what I found out the other day at my last team meeting. My son is currently in a 504 Plan and I am fighting for an IEP. He is on probably about a 3rd grade reading and math level and he’s in 8th grade! Yet, he tests average or below average on his achievement tests.
When I asked to see a copy of the test questions, I was not shown. However, the school psychologist gave me an example of one of the test questions.
“Some fish live in the sea”. The child then has to check yes or no. So, not only are the scores inflated (which my advocate advised), but they are specifically designed so that children like my son will pass!
I also found out that if the Woodcock Johnson Tests of Achievement is administered along with the Woodcock Johnson Test of Cognitive Abilities…it would not only lead to more accurate results, but also be able to better assess for certain Learning Disabilities! Yet, my son’s school will not administer the Cognitive Test?
I then found out the the test with the “ridiculous” questions is called “Form A” Apparently, it is Form B that actually contains questions that are more on his grade level. No wonder why they kept administering Form A the last 4 times that I referred him through the Special Education Process!
Just wanted to share this new info.
The subtest to which you refer is probably from the Reading Fluency test. It assesses how quickly and accurately understanding occurs under timed conditions. Did the tester also use the Comprehension subtests and decoding subtests? What about longer passages on additional tests like the SRI-2??? There should never be a decision based only on one subtest! Or even on one test !