Last week, according to the news media, we were all supposed to be pooping ourselves in fear of the H1N1 ("Hiney") Mexican Pig Death Flu of the Apocalypse, and yet most of the anxiety Julie and I were aware of was from teachers here in Texas. Because last week, friends, was TAKS testing week. Abandon hope, all ye who bubble in answers here.
TAKS is the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills. It's a standardized test given to primary and secondary public school students to assess their skills in writing, reading, science, math and social studies. No extra points awarded for roping and riding skills, sadly. It's tied to No Child Left Behind and federal dollars for schools and whatnot, and therefore it is apparently a Very Big Deal. We first began hearing about it during Schuyler's orientation, back during the summer, and not just casually mentioned, either. TAKS anxiety began in a very real way seven months before the testing began.
Standardized testing presents a host of problems to neurotypical kids, but for kids with special needs, those problems become even more problematic. In the case of the TAKS test, there is a modified version for kids like Schuyler, one that contains the same information but has modifications such as larger font sizes, fewer items per page, fewer answer choices and simpler sentence structure. There's also a more profoundly modified TAKS test for students with significant cognitive disabilities. Federal guidelines for NCLB require that all students, including special education students, take the test, and at their grade level rather than their ability level. No exceptions.
I don't know. On one hand, I feel like if we're really going to get behind the idea of inclusion, then I suppose being subjected to these horrible tests along with the neurotypical student population might just be part of that deal. And yet, it feels wrong to me. These are kids whose every educational experience has to be approached carefully and individually. Federal law requires the schools to develop an IEP (Individualized Education Plan) for every kid with a disability. These plans are carefully crafted by the student's entire support team, including the parents and sometimes the actual student, so that the particulars of that child's disability are addressed. Now we're asked to believe that a single version of a standardized test that has been universally modified is going to fit the needs of every special needs student in the big dumb state of Texas? You think? Because if it turns out that they're all broken in exactly the same way, that's certainly going to save a lot of people a lot of work.
The word that I'm getting is that these kids aren't doing well on these tests, modified or not, and that they are being demoralized by the experience. I'm not sure what we're hoping to gain from compelling special education students to take a test that many of them are simply unable to complete, not due to a lack of trying or an academic deficit, but because a disability interferes with their ability to sort through questions designed for neurotypical kids at their grade level. We add to the already daunting pile of frustrations that they face every day in school and in life, frustrations that we can't even begin to understand. What do we hope to accomplish from this? In what way does this benefit the students? We don't learn anything about the quality of the school or the teachers from these tests. We simply become one more little vampire, draining away another pint or two of hard-won self-esteem, and all for what amounts to phony educational window-dressing. Julie and I call this kind of thing "macaroni art".
Back when we lived in New Haven and she attended a general special education "Life Skills" class, little Schuyler would bring home these elaborate arts and crafts projects, ornate and sometimes even beautiful (inasmuch as art made from macaroni can be beautiful), but clearly not created by Schuyler. Every now and then, there would be some awkwardly placed scribble or randomly glued blob of paper on an otherwise pristine art piece, and we could see Schuyler's contribution. Macaroni art became a big joke to us, the idea that her teachers believed that it was in everyone's best interest -- theirs, Schuyler's and perhaps ours most of all -- to send home something clean and pretty and irrelevant. It was one of the most tangible indications that we needed to move.
Now we're in a different world, one where Schuyler is being challenged. But I honestly can't see how the TAKS test has any educational value. It's not a challenge so much as an obstacle. Despite her good classroom grades, Schuyler apparently didn't pass these tests, and didn't come very close.
Schuyler is on track to complete school and perhaps graduate one day. That sounds like a miracle, or even a dream to us. But there's a reality to be faced, too, and it's the same one faced by countless other families trying to make their way in mainstream education with broken children. Schuyler is going to get there, I truly believe it, but the obstacles she faces and has faced all along are slowing her down. Her curriculum is modified, and although she's thrown into the mix of neurotypical third graders, she's not there with them. Not entirely. Not yet. When she gets there, it will be at her own pace, and that pace is going to be determined by her teachers and her parents and most of all by Schuyler. But her monster gets a vote, too.
Fortunately, I finally found out yesterday, her advancement to the next grade level is an issue that will be decided by her ARD (Admission, Review and Dismissal) Committee, not the TAKS test. The ARD Committee determines what services a special education student requires from the school district, via the IEP. It consists of (among possible others) her special ed teacher, her mainstream teacher, her SLPs, an administrator (usually the principal), and us, by golly. So at the very least, we're not expecting to be caught unaware if there's a decision to hold her back. That could be a contentious meeting -- God knows we used to have THOSE on a depressingly regular basis, back at Schuyler's old school near a city whose name I won't mention but which rhymes with "Boston" and is full of hipsters, and, well, is called Austin -- but at least we won't find out from a letter in the mail.
Grade level advancement is a tough issue, because on one hand, we want her to advance, and she desperately wants to as well. She talks about fourth grade all the time now, even though we've been extremely careful not to ever mention it in front of her. If she gets held back, it's going to be a bitter disappointment to her. And it would be difficult to explain to her, after doting on her good grades all year, to then have to turn around and tell her she's not ready. But at the same time, if she moves on and she's not ready, it could all come crashing down in the future.
After the amazing year Schuyler had last year in second grade, I think we felt this year like we could finally relax. We didn't need to be the ever-present parents, looming overhead and trying to monitor Schuyler's day-to-day progress. But even though we trust her teachers now and feel very positive about her school situation, I nevertheless feel like we might have dropped the ball, particularly where her mainstream class experience was concerned.
At one point, we were discouraged by a teacher from getting involved in a project that was being done "in school". What Schuyler ended up with felt like macaroni art. Julie and I promised each other afterwards that we would never agree to something like that again. Ever. Occasionally we hear from teachers who say, "I wish there were more parents who get involved like you guys do!" And while I appreciate that, I also sometimes think, "Really? Are you sure about that?"
We were so happy that she was getting A's and B's in her modified curriculum that I think we neglected to get as involved as we should have this year. And I don't think Schuyler's modified curriculum was inappropriate, not here, in a special education program that is the envy of most schools not just in Texas but nationally as well. I suspect the education she's receiving exceeds what most special education students are getting. But we believe she can do better, much better, and I'm starting to think that in some way, perhaps small but still significant, Julie and I might have let Schuyler down this year.
Next year will have to be different.
53 comments:
I agree with you that "accomodations" on testing for special needs students seem to come in one version only: bigger print, more spaces between questions, more time. These modifications are geared towards kids with visual problems for the most part and have nothing to do with the enormous variety of difficulties kids have to contend with. I once had a school psychologist, in a very excited tone of voice, offer me the choice of letting my daughter take the test ONE ON ONE!!! Instead of in a big room!!! How exactly this was supposed to address the fact that she couldn't consistently match up question numbers with bubble line numbers I have no idea, as the person administering the test was forbidden to talk to her.
Despite being told that first I couldn't, then that I shouldn't, I opted out of all standardized testing for my daughter -- as is my parental right in the state of California -- for the years during which we were in the public system. But the funniest thing was that when the Presidential Fitness Test day rolled around I was told that this is the one test no parent could waive; believe it or not, the test is funded by a prominent life insurance company and this has something to do with the reason you cannot opt out. So my daughter has always been sick during those testing days. A kid with no stamina, upper body stability issues, and a very iffy sense of her body in space does not need to try to do pull-ups or run a mile while being timed (particularly since she was doing well with adapted swimming and horseback riding).
We are now very happily operating outside the school system -- although we are also watching ourselves slide downward on the economic scale as I had to quit my job to work with Emma. But I am now watching my sister's child, who has severe, multiple handicaps due to a chromosome tear during his fetal development, bring home macaroni art. My sister had a passionate talk with the teachers, asking them to please let her son have time just to explore materials -- he is partly deaf and blind so needs lots of time to feel things. The teachers' feelings were hurt!!! And my sister thinks this set her up for some hostile IEP meetings just when she'd had one or two that she left not crying.
I know you say a lot about how teachers and parents work for the same ultimate goal, and that so many teachers love the students they work with and want the best for them. And on some level this is probably true. But wow, is there a Himalayan range of obstacles in the way, for everyone involved: teachers, institutions, parents -- and the poor kids.
Can you waive the tests on Schuyler's behalf? Do you think that would be an appropriate response?
This is the great divide (or some say 'overlap') between IDEA and NCLB. Disabilities -- along with minority students and English-learners-- is one of the subgroups NCLB is supposed to be tracking re: the widening gap, so I believe it is important that our kids get counted statistically. Unfortunately, the disability sub-group is often not a priority for the state or the feds when they analyze the data.
Once it was suggested by one of the teachers(wink, wink)that I keep my son home on standardized testing days. That didn't seem right, so I de-emphasized the test with my son: just told him to do his best, and close the test if he got frustrated.
I thought it great that TAKS at least attempted to modify the tests...in NY, no modifications are allowed.
I didn't care much for standardized tests before NCLB, and even less for them now. But I'm curious about one thing--Schuyler's grades in class are good, yet her TACS scores weren't. What about the neurotypical kids in her class? Do they have the same results? If there is a trend resulting in good classroom grades, bad standardized scores, then yes, that could indicate grade inflation, etc. etc. But if the *other* kids who have A's and B's are doing fine on the TACS, then it seems that it just means that whatever accomodations Schuyler received were insufficient/inappropriate for HER.
Thankfully, her advance to fourth grade is not dependent on these tests. I second KarenH's suggestion that you opt out if possible.
Oops--TAKS, not TACS--
I'm a special education teacher working with those kids who take the super-modified version of the standardized test (In MA it's the MCAS-alt) For 2 months we lose all our prep time (and a good chunk of academic time) time to... basically teacher-created worksheets. Our students have multiple handicaps, but you can't make a worksheet of a student reading a book on the computer or with a peer, or touching manipulatives... So we have to do the activity... and then either hand-over-hand do the worksheet (which is usually meaningless for the student) or scribe it for them. And then we have to create additional worksheets for the teacher explaining what we did -- two sheets for the teacher to every one sheet per student.
And a student taking the alternative test? Can at best score "needs improvement" on the exam, because they are testing below grade level. They have wonderful, well thought-out, well-documented IEPs (and why is it that third quarter progress reports for the districts are always due the same week as MCAS-alt?) Why do we have to add this bureaucracy as well. What additional information about their performance does it give us? To my mind, not much, and it detracts from their education.
It is no less frustrating for us than for you. Obama says he is going to overhaul NCLB. I for one, am paying very close attention to see what he does with this one.
Hang in there, Rob and Julie.
First off, I'm glad Schuyler's school is using the TAKS as only ONE of many measures of her learning/ability/success. I'm hoping that the proverbial pendulum is swinging back that way. After all, more and more elite colleges are making the SAT optional for admission because of the inherent problems with standardized tests.
Second, I trust that you, Schuyler's teachers, and administrators at her school will do what is best for her. I'm a teacher who went into the classroom thinking that retention was a bad thing--and something I'd never do. But sometimes, no matter how much growth a student has made, no matter how much effort has been made by the child, the teacher, and the parents, sometimes the best thing is to repeat a grade.
If it happens, I promise you she will be fine. The first few weeks of the school year will be hard...but eventually, she'll have even MORE confidence because she'll have seen it before. Then, when she does go to 4th grade, she'll be 100% ready. I don't know if she needs to be kept back or not, but if she does, I know it'll be ok.
You and Julie are doing an amazing job at advocating for Schuyler. Nobody is perfect, you just do the best you can...and you two are heads and shoulders above most!
Here in Pennsylvania, it's call the PSAA, and it's the bane of everyone's existence. Even the teachers hate it. The kids do nothing but study for the stupid test for months leading up to it, and have added homework to boot. With a severly dyslexic son, I get so frustrated that he must test at his grade level when he's several grades behind in reading. He can't even read fast enough to finish the test, much less understand all that he read. I want to cry for him.
I don't even want to think about what will happen with our special needs child.
Forget about the stupid test. It's really at test of the teachers more than of Schuyler anyway.
And of course its a bitter pill that she is not maybe working at Grade Level in an academic sense. But really is that what inclusion in all about?
Here's what I believe. Take it for what it's worth:
From what I can piece together in these posts, your daughter's greatest skill is her emotional and social intelligence. This is what is going to make her a sucess in life and give her many opportunities that other chldren who may have the same cognitive challneges will never be able to fufill.
Staying at grade level is in my opinion vitally important for your daugheter to maintain those sills. Don't let them take that away from her. She is obvioulsy very very capable of suceeding in that setting and if her academics are even more differentiated from her peers, so be it.
Testing is the tail that waves the school programme dog because of NCLB. The important thing is the progress your child is making with respect to where she was 'back in time'.
Way too much is at stake for the school in this regime .... it is sad but the reality for them.
Keep strong and stick tot he things that are important. Let the school worry about the rest.
NCLB is a joke. The tests are a joke (albeit not a funny one). For one thing, if the child falls into more than one subgroup... say, a child who receives free/reduced price lunch (therefore, low income) and special education services, the child's failing test score counts against the school twice. If you're in a class with a test attached, you take the test. I bet you can just imagine what that does to school's willingness to practice any type of inclusion, especially at the high school level.
Additionally, about a year ago, a federal circuit court ruled that NCLB trumped IDEA... and that following NCLB was more important than the federal special education law.
I regularly see posts from teachers & parents who say they haven't been allowed to have the student use their AAC device for testing, because you can't turn off some of the features which just might... oooo.... give the child the correct answer!
We spend so much time prepping the kids for the tests there isn't time to do anything else. We started testing this week, and will test through the end of May.
I also have to do alternative assessments. In my state, the alternative assessments are portfolios, and you have to collect work-samples for each strand within each subject area. For 11th grade there are: 2 reading, 4 or 5 math, 4 or 5 science, and 4 or 5 history. The portfolios are truly more "macaroni art" (I will definitely have to remember that one!) than student effort. I even know of teachers who have the things bound and put together at Staples!
I forgot to say in my earlier comment: I did not originally, and do not now, opt out of testing just because I'm a curmudgeon (that I am one has nothing to do with my decision). I just think there are better things to do with young children altogether, and particularly with special needs kids. And I think that there might perhaps be more than one way to determine "accountability.".
I have found several books to be eye-opening:
-The Testing Trap by George Hillocks
-What Happened to Recess and Why Are Our Children Struggling in Kindergarten? by Susan Ohanian
- The Case Against Stardardized Testing by Alfie Kohn
- And for a look at the Japanese elementary system (whose teachers managed to get rid of national, standardized testing on young children some years ago), Japanese Lessons by Gail Benjamin. This one is really interesting because of our limited access to information about how other countries' classrooms work.
I know perfectly well not everyone has the urge or the time to take a look, and none of the books go that much into depth on special needs kids (Onhanian does the most, but she is also the most angry and her book at times becomes a diatribe or resorts to sarcasm). Thought I'd stick them in here nonetheless, for anyone who's interested.
I also forgot to say that one of the most valuable things about your blog and the comment section here is the way they bring together people with such different roles in our kids' lives, let them sound off on their disagreements, but also elegantly construct room for their common goals.
KarenH
I read this twice and I just didn't follow. We just finished our testing here as well, but the results won't be available for weeks, if not months. Did you get your results already?
My child is not neuro-typical, but as a profoundly gifted child, she has a long set of problems.
However, since our girls are the same age, I can completely understand how holding her back could seem like the downfall of her little world. Girls this age can be quite dramatic.
Anyhow, my daughter's IEP works with her skills and age in mind. She goes to classes in the grade ahead, but she goes to all the arts, homeroom, lunch, recess, etc, with her age-appropriate class. Certain subjects are more or less okay for her to handle, like science and social studies, so she sits those with her age-appropriate grade, but language arts and math are not, so she goes to the next grade for those.
This is on top of all their other programs, and is something they have only done one other time in 10 years. And I have to say, it's amazing. She gets her social needs met, and she's where she "should" be for her age (she's the youngest in her age-appropriate grade), but she gets the curriculum she needs too.
Sorry for the novel, but I wanted to pass this on in hopes it might be something you had not considered that might work for her. The social component of school is so big, especially for girls, and I can understand from watching my daughter and talking with way too many counselors how holding her back might be harsh for Schuyler, or any little girl this age.
I just wanted to add.....I could go on a long diatribe too and it would be fabulous....but I digress..are my dots killing you? Anyway, I just wanted to note that you should really keep up with her testing or lack of. Not only do schools use assessment to promote (as is the case in Texas) they use it for graduation. At your next IEP meeting ask specifically if "opting out" of the test or using a "modified test" or a "modified curriculum" will prevent Schylur from earning a standard diploma which will be given to all other nuerotypical children. As a special educator I often meet parents who were not aware of the fact that opting out (or something similar like modifications) could prevent their child from getting a standard diploma. Sometimes even the students do not know. I also meet children who are fully able to graduate with a standard diploma, however, they fail to get one as they or their parents have chosen to do modifications etc. This is not to tell you what to do....just help out....and even though she is far from graduation. It is something you should know about now....not later when it will no longer matter. Michelle
Did you get your results already?
I should have been more clear. No official test results back yet, but apparently she and her SpEd classmates did poorly enough that there won't be a lot of drama waiting for the test results.
And yes, kids who take the TAKS-M (modified) will be eligible to graduate, provided their 11th grade ARD committee approves.
Boy do I hear you on this one. As a school psychologist I see it all the time...kids with dyslexia who are essentially nonreaders being required to take the MEAP (in Michigan) at GRADE level in 8th grade! It's ridiculous.
On the issue of retention...You should really do some research if this comes up as an option. I found a site here http://education.ucsb.edu/jimerson/retention/ that gives a lot of useful links to meta-analysis of the data.
Billie
"You should really do some research if this comes up as an option."
Of course, I know you will!
I have mixed feelings about the testing. I know how much stress it can cause. But I also know that we need ways to find out how the schools are doing. Here in Kentucky, the scores are tracked and the schools are required to bring scores up in all groups including the special needs students. If the scores in any one subgroup (including special needs) drop for a few years in a row, the schools face penalties. I really think that a big part of the problem is that the tests aren't good tests and that teachers are trying to teach answers rather than teach skills that will give you answers.
Oh, I agree with that need, Karen. I just think that not only are the tests a bad indicator of how the schools are actually doing, but I also think that the shift in focus actually damages school performance. And a lot of schools "game the system" with special needs students in order to manipulate the scores. it's a profoundly broken system.
FWIW, as previous comments have said, NCLB has caused us all to endure this testing including California. Even coming from the perspective of having neurotypical kids, as the others are saying, these tests are a pain in the royal H1N1. The stress the kids go through (even if you do tell them just to do their best), the teachers get crabby as all get out and the months they spend preparing the students just to properly color in a bubble? I see it as a huge waste of time. On top of it all, we're adding more days to the school calendar, pushing kindergartners to write their name, do math, know their alphabet as well as primary and secondary colors. Neurologically speaking, that's absurd. My boys have constantly struggled in trying to reach "minimum standards" when their brains just aren't there yet. It's not that they're stupid, their brains have just not developed to process information that way. But they sure the hell are made to feel that way and frankly, the testing process isn't making them feel any better, either. Is this whole test thing actually doing anything for education as a whole? Hell no. It's dragging us down and dumbing us down. And for what? So we can be treated "equal", the whole point of NCLB. Hey, news flash, we're not all equal and seriously, is there a problem with that?
I am so glad that you posted this, Rob. Much love to you and yours.
On the issue of retention...You should really do some research if this comes up as an option. I found a site here http://education.ucsb.edu/jimerson/retention/ that gives a lot of useful links to meta-analysis of the data.
Wow, Billie. Thanks for providing that link. That's pretty compelling reading. I think I have something to bring into the ARD meeting now.
Uhm, in Pennsylvania the test is called PSSA...and yes, it IS a huge waste of time! I just cannot figure out how anyone expects the kids with special needs to EVER pass a test that is nowhere near their educational level.
Rob said "But we believe she can do better, much better, and I'm starting to think that in some way, perhaps small but still significant, Julie and I might have let Schuyler down this year.
Next year will have to be different. "
Please keep in mind the big picture - the love, support and guidance you are providing your daughter are the building blocks that will prepare her to navigate the adult world when she gets there... the education part will come on it's own but the foundation can only be provided by you...
We also have a special needs child, due to a monster of a brain tumor and chemo at age 3. We held him back to repeat 1st grade and he became almost 2 years older chronologically (although about the same age developmentally) as his classmates. This age difference only became a problem this year when he is a 19 yr old senior in high school.
Put the standardized tests in perspective - it is about how the school compares to some "average" not about any one individual. Use it as a guideline only, to help you fine tune the areas of weakness that need extra support.
You guys are doing a fabulous job - as evidenced by the way your daughter feels comfortable with herself - she is obviously well on her way to becoming an incredible adult!
Good luck with testing week!
We had them in California, and they lack any significance whatsoever. She can sit and do them with the rest of the kids - nothing comes out of them except on a district-wide level. When I found that out, I was sorry I even spent the week doing them as a kid. May as well have stayed home or read during that time. They are meaningless as far as individuals go.
Are the TAKS tests required for private and home school students? If not, have you guys ever considered either of those options?
No, we're pretty committed believed in public education. Also, IDEA doesn't apply to private school students:
No parentally-placed private school child with a disability has an individual right to receive some or all of the special education and related services that the child would receive if enrolled in a public school.
Although it wasn't the main point of your post, I appreciate the fact you mentioned the artwork...for years, Mas would bring home amazing artwork, and each time, I would look at it and say, "Wow, your aide does ok with art, huh?" I finally emailed the teacher and said, even if you only send home a piece of paper with a big drool blob in the middle, don't let anyone else touch Mason's artwork. We just want to see what our kids can DO, you know? Not what others can do for them. I think this testing is ridiculous; and I know they do that with Mas, although I doubt they get very far. The tests should be individualized as much as possible. Thanks for the post...
State testing makes me bonkers. 'nuff said.
Here in Virginia they named the test the "Standards of Learning". And - yes - they use the abbreviation.
My juvenile mind can't get past the fact that they call their tests the S.O.L.
Wow, this was a tough one for me. I usually agree with what you say in a lot of your posts... but I guess I wouldn't be a good reader if I didn't not-agree once in a while.
You said you don't think Schuyler passed the TAKS... but the grades don't come back for another month... unless her tests come back sooner than the "general admission" crowd?
The TAKS aren't just broken for the broken children. They're broken for everyone. Sure, I have a child that goes in, takes the test, finishes early, and does fine. But certainly 100% of the students don't fare that way. Plus, as I'm sure you've heard, the schools as a whole are accused by many parents as "teaching the test"--that is, they spend most of the year teaching them what they know to pass the test--then when TAKS testing is over, they don't seem to do crap for the last month of the year. In fact, they even have what amounts to a "pep rally" before TAKS, to get the kids excited about doing well, then a "game and pajama day" where they go to school in their jammies and play board games for the ENTIRE DAY after TAKS is done. Yes, certainly hyped. But it's not just one group that I don't think it's fair for... I think it's the way that the test is approached that it's not fair.
Okay, I guess I don't understand. What part do you disagree with?
We had Hannah's LAST ARD meeting in March. She will graduate from Plano Senior High in exactly one month. . .at 19.
The thing that has always been emphasized to us since we have been in Plano. . .is that she would graduate under the terms of her IEP. Not TAKS, modified, exit exam or anything else. . .but because she completed the terms of her IEP. And those terms or goals have always been made with her abilities in mind.
One of the good things in the State of Texas is that she will GRADUATE. . .not receive a Certificate of Completion, as she would have if we'd stayed in California. Her diploma will look the same as anyone else's. Might be a small thing to some, but it is a big deal to a kid who has struggled with feeling different.
I don't consider myself an overly emotional person, but I have been tearing up almost daily since that ARD meeting in March. As we have been picking out her prom dress, ordering Senior pictures, addressing graduation announcements. . .there has been such a flood of memories of the last 13 long years and all the challenges. . .and the countless times it all seemed SO overwhelming. . .and the hundreds of times I struggled with whether we were doing enough. But. . .we're here. Oh my God, we are here.
Rob & Julie. . .there is no way to cushion all that you feel or all that you and Schuyler will go through in the next 9 years. . .the roller coaster ride that you are on. . .but you both seem to have really good instincts. . .and you are obviously hugely committed to finding the best for Schuyler. . .and along the way you bring tremendous insight and encouragement to those of us who are also traveling the broken road.
Two things:
Rob wrote:
"No parentally-placed private school child with a disability has an individual right to receive some or all of the special education and related services that the child would receive if enrolled in a public school."
I find this interesting because I'm in Texas too, and have a friend with a child with a severe speech disorder (though she's neurotypical), and she goes to a private school yet has speech therapy through a public school, and has since she was 3 years old. I'm sure that you would absolutely not move Schuyler as her program is so good, but I think it's interesting that at least one person is getting around this somehow. I have another friend with a wordless daughter (for unknown reasons), and she will do public school for the special education there.
Secondly, I teach at a large, urban university in Texas. Schools need to be held accountable, yes, but I think that the TAKS testing is not the way to do it. I have a friend who taught Russian and German at a high school in the area. She has to begin her classes every day with a math word problem, because the TAKS scores aren't high enough. Band and Orchestra directors in other school systems in town have to do math problems as well. The curriculum is completely governed by the test. I have a friend who left teaching, and she was an incredible, award-winning teacher, because she was so unhappy with having her curriculum dictated completely by a test. Some of her eighth-graders had ulcers from the stress of the test. It's just absurd, one school gave up a whole afternoon to have the San Antonio Spurs come and give a TAKS pep talk. Where did that money come from, I wonder? And, then, the kids get to college, and want to be taught the test, and struggle mightily with critical thinking tasks. These are good, hardworking kids, who have not been taught how to think. Sigh....
The TAKS is a huge reason that we don't do public school, and it really makes me very sad.
That's my soapbox.
I loved your post by the way.
Laura
Annie, that's wonderful! Please extend my congratulations to Hannah.
Well, I think I'm going to have to comment again and I apologize because it's going to be a long one. My husband is a teacher, and has been for almost 20 years. But last year was his first year teaching in a public school. Previously he taught in college and in a summer program for at-risk students. So, per state law, he had to jump through a lot of hoops this year. He had to fill out 300 pages of in-depth reports to document his class this year, in order to complete his internship. That's 300 pages in addition to what he would normally do. The time it took was time he would have spent working on making his classes better, planning new hands-on demonstrations or coming up with approaches tailored to his students needs. And, naturally, his students had testing. Because of the testing schedule here, his kids won't be tested on science (his subject) until a year from now, so he didn't have the kind of pressure that some teachers have. But even so, he was fully aware that his students scores will be tracked back to him. And his students unit tests are compared with the unit tests of students in other classes. And sadly, he saw other teachers prepping their students for those unit tests by quizzing them using the same questions they knew would be on the unit test. In other words, they encouraged their students to memorize the answers rather than understand how to solve the problems. As a result, his students' scores weren't initially as high as those of some other teachers. Over time, his approach of actually teaching the material payed off and the scores improved, but it was frustrating and infuriating to see others cheat.
But, that being said, I still believe in testing. I know it's not perfect. I know some people game the system and that it's a seriously flawed system to begin with. But I also know that the right test, a really good test, is invaluable. Through classroom testing, my husband has identified kids with serious learning disabilities and gotten them help. He's learned which approaches don't work so that he could find approaches that did. And he's used what he's found to become a better teacher. Testing can work. The problem is finding appropriate tests which give information that teachers and schools can use to help kids, preparing kids for the tests by teaching them appropriate skills (which include both the ideas covered and the skills to accurately express those ideas), and administering those tests in a way that help both the kids and the schools.
I think what I'm trying to say is that the current testing system sucks and needs to be fixed. But we shouldn't just say that testing sucks and quit. We should make it a priority to find good ways to assess our students, our teachers, and our schools.
Anon- legally a private school doesn't have to provide the same speical education and services.
However there are private schools that exists to help out children who have special education needs.
I was lucky not to have to take the SOL's (standards of learning or shit outta luck) tests in high school but I've heard from many people that they are poorly designed and teachers spend far too many hours teaching test taking techniques in order to coach them into doing well.
In California, unless something changes drastically, ALL students will have to pass a standardized test in order to graduate from high school. My non-neurotyp 6-yr-old didn't have to take the "STARS" test this year; he will next year, and he is NOT ready for that sort of intensive experience. The teachers all hate it, because they have to "teach to the test."
First, I want to say that there is NO research that supports repeating a grade. Please read up on this issue before you make any decision.
As to the all the testing being done in the name of NCLB: In Michigan the tests are called MI-Access. I teach students with severe autism who will live in a supported environment for the rest of their life. One of the questions on the test showed a picture of three cars--one small, one medium sized and one large. The students were to pick the car that used the least amount of gas. My students will never live one their own. They will never even be able to ride the city bus system by themselves. And yet the state feels that they should be able to pick out a car with the best gas mileage. I am not making this up.
Earlier this week we were told that next year we must test the students on Social Studies. Here's the catch--the state will not have a test made by then, so every teacher has to "make up" a test and keep it on record. Oh I could go on and on as to how absurd all this is.
One of my teachers told me that Texas is planning on getting rid of TAKS. Of course, they'll probably just develope a NEW standardized test, but hopefully it will be better. I can say that questions (on the regular test) can be badly worded. I agree that the 'modified' version is far from up to par. Not that I've had any personal experiance with that. Also, at some private schools you don't have to take TAKS. I'm not sure if you have to take some form of test, but it could be looked into;)
-S
p.s. I live in TX too
I would like to clarify why Rob has already received Schuyler's results on the TAKS test.
In Texas we have the school success initiative (sp?) This states that a child shall not go to fourth grade unless he or she passes the reading TAKS test. In fifth grade a student must pass reading and math in order to go to sixth grade, and so on. A student must pass Reading (they call it ELA), math, science, and social studies TAKS tests in order to graduate.
For these SSI grades/tests a student is given three opportunities to take and pass the test. THe state sends us (schools/teachers) results in about 2 weeks so that we know which students passed and which did not because it is our job to reteach/tutor to prepare them for the second chance they have at passing the test.
"Official" results a.k.a. parent reports can take several more weeks to come back so we (teachers/administrators) usually call the parents of students who did not do well on the test so that they are prepared for the fact that their child will have to retake the test in about a month.
Elizabeth
Reading Specialist/third grade teacher of 10 years in Texas - I've taught since before the TAKS test was given!
I don't get it, I guess. We see the small snips of video of Schuyler- and she comes acrossed as a bright, engaging kid- and from those snips of video- I would put her at 3rd-4th grade- right where her age is---I don't see the academic stuff- but she was a sprout and she figured out how to use the first-box of words...maybe she'll surprise you.....some places have mixed grade classes with IEP kids- plays to the strenths where the child is ready to move on and gives a kid a boost in weak spots without being obvious or totally staying back and leaving friends--I don't know- every kid is so diffierent- My kid was placed in a pilot math program in 7th grade so that he could progress at his rate--and he decided it was a SpEd class and did the absolute bare minimum to get by. The same kid placed in an alegbra class that was higher than he tested worked his butt off to figure the puzzles out---go figger.
Good vibes your way--
Just finished reading your book. Thank you for being so honest and sharing all that you did.
I work as an infant development consultant and have a child who was recently diagnosed with BPP and so reading your book took on a whole other angle for me. I would love to recommend it to the family in the future, but they are definitely not ready for it yet.
Here is Washington it is the WASL. I hate it, the teachers hate it, the kids hate it. When your 3rd grader comes home and wants to spend her allowance money on a WASL prep book...ye gods. Let Schuyler know that I think the testing is just one of those meaningless things we suffer thru growing up, like pimples, and that the results are just as useful.
You're right to be wary. "Modified" classes can be a complete joke. At one time public colleges in New Jersey offered a degree that wasn't a REAL degree to students whose grasp of English wasn't particularly firm or who were attending school on an athletic scholarship. There was a geology course that we students called "Rocks for Jocks" that basically involved being able to tell the difference between a rock and, say, a piece of celery. ANYONE could pass these classes but the catch was that students in the modified track would graduate with a "special" diploma.
I think this senseless plan was abandoned Sometime in the late '80s but it seemed like a very bad idea.
1) it is a stupid test that is educationally irrelevant even for neurotypical kids
2) it's from NCLB, a crap right wing programme
3) it's for everyone, mainstream and special needs alike, to fight aforementioned crap. You do well to criticise this test
4) her grades come from her teachers, who know her well and are engaged and motivated with her learning
5) the teachers probably hate the test as much as you do
6) what an awesome picture of Schuyler what hair dye do you use? I have wanted my hair that colour for months.
Regarding the standardized testing, I know how much pride my daughter Megan takes in doing well in class. It breaks my heart that Schuyler would be subjected to a test that she is destined to fail. For what it's worth, on my daughter's IEP (in Utah) it says that because of "intellectual disability, communication and motor difficulties, measurement on IEP goals is a better indicator of progress rather than standardized, grade level testing." We were told she didn't have to take the standardized tests. Her IQ tests in the borderline range, which for a child that's nonverbal, is not too bad - not sure if I would call it a "significant cognitive disability".
As to macaroni art - I agree wholeheartedly. I offended Megan's 1st grade teacher when I suggested they teach her to read rather than elaborately decorating art projects with glitter, macaroni, and whatever else every day. Since my daughter could barely make a line on the paper with a crayon due to poor fine motor skills; I knew she wasn't doing any of that stuff. We subsequently got her into a more academically challenging environment.
Speaking of IEP's, ours was yesterday and my daughter's teacher and her SLP have both read your book, which I think is awesome. You are not only educating parents but those that help our kids. Thank you!
Oh, and I read an article not too long ago from Wrightslaw on why retention doesn't work. If it comes to that, check out wrightslaw.com. Good luck.
Don't get me started on testing. It is the bane of my existence. I spend more time assessing and desegregating data than I do teaching. There has to be a better way to track progress than one test. No child left behind, no child left untested. So much focus on testing makes for very stressed teachers (we are evaluated on whether they pass or not, not whether they've learned or not) and the kids. It is too much, especially for kids who process differentlly and have a tendency towards higher stress levels.
Unfortunatley, you and Julie have only hit the very beginning of this. Kepp yourself informed. I'm sure you've been told how the taking or not taking of these tests will effect her at graduation. You have to keep looking at Schuyler's needs now and balance with what you think she may need in the furture (regular diploma, modified diploma etc.) It seems crazt to think about now, but you're (you and the school) setting the stage for her future. Good luck, I have a feeling you guys are up to the task.
My daughter is in PPCD here in Texas and I'm dreading the days we have to start dealing with this stuff.
I'm a special education major (or preservice teacher, as they've decided to call us lately. Whatever.) I hate standardized testing with a passion; I don't know any teacher that really agrees with the concept of high stakes testing. Even in a regular classroom full of "regular" children, adding the dimension of tests that are a Very Big Deal changes the way the class is run and the curriculum is presented (for the worse, obviously.) As much as I can understand the need to hold schools accountable, this is not the way to do it.
Our state has just changed the name of the Test from PACT to PASS, and eliminated a lot of the accommodations that were formerly allowed. If a kid cannot take the test with the allowed list of accommodations (if Schuyler wasn't allowed an AAC device, and she probably wouldn't be, she'd be one of these,) they're given the SC-alt. This is nothing like what you've said the TAKS alternative is; she'd be insulted by the activities. The testing is not only inaccessible to special needs students, even physically disabled kids (without any learning issues) aren't always able to complete it. The combination of the two, I imagine, makes the endeavor a worthless anxiety for the student.
Then again, maybe I'm just bitter than my school district didn't "do 504 plans." When you only have protection under the Rehabilitation Act and ADA, you have way less rights than with IDEA . . .
I just wanted to say I think you are being a little hard on yourself(ves) Rob (and Julie).
Oh gee where do i start????? It is SAT's week in the UK for children in yr2 & yr 6. If a child in yr6 is at level 3+ then they get entered for them (which is what my daughter school told me). So today my 11 year old who attends a specialist school for speech and language, communication difficulties sat her science papers.
She was allowed an extra 10 minutes!!
The only thing that worries me is the level of terminology that they may use in the papers.
My middle one has her AR on Wednesday (IEP meeting) and at the meeting there is going to be someone from the local education authority. The same person who told me over the phone that they wouldn't even consider the school that i want for my 11 year old as it was above and beyond their resources. Who is now fully aware that i am taking them to tribunal
over it.
Who also knows that i am angry at them for not giving my 5 year old a statement, they used a very crappy excuse for turning him down.
Part of me is shitting myself and the other half is cackling away and thinking Oh this is gonna be so much fun!!!
Col
I detest State tests... When the school has after school learning sessions, and "cram" classes and specifically sets the kids up to study in the morning and take "the test" in the afternoon...
This mean NOTHING to educational value, it's cramming, nothing more... Just assuring the schools get there money for a pizz pore job of teaching the 6 months before "the test".
Rob said:
I just think that not only are the tests a bad indicator of how the schools are actually doing, but I also think that the shift in focus actually damages school performance.
I've thought this for a LONG time! I graduated from a Texas public school in 2006 and had to take the TAAS/TAKS (it was TAAS before TAKS) for nine years (third grade through 11th).
Teachers are forced to set aside actual learning time to focus on TAKS curriculum for most of the school year. (Forgive my lack of eloquence here...) It sucks all the way back to 3rd grade.
Contrary to what my cumulative high school GPA might lead you to believe, I'm a very intelligent person. You know, the kind who thinks for herself and enjoys learning ::GASP:: outside of the classroom. (I really believe that the only reason I made it through the toilet that is the public school system with so much in tact is that my education wasn't entirely the responsibility of the schools; I and my parents supplemented it a great deal.) That said, I had to take the TAKS test year after year, wherein the sample question for the science section (even on the exit-level 11th grade test!) was--not even kidding here--"Which of the following is alive: a) a star; b) a pencil; c) a fish; d) a rock?" Really?! I'm in advanced placement classes and I'm being asked if I think that perhaps a pencil is a living creature? Could that be more insulting? Not only is it insulting, but what does it say about our education system that they're asking 17-year-old students questions like this? It's considered grade-level-appropriate, eh? Wow, thanks guys!
High school TAKS was a complete joke. They do a lot of this: "We're breaking our backs to prepare you for college and the REAL WORLD! Now, open your TAKS workbooks." Umm... Okay, then.
Anyway, I digress... I recently read your book and when I read about the school Schuyler is attending in Plano and their awesome special education program, I was floored. I'm more than a little disillusioned with the Texas public school system (for a while I thought it was just the crappy, low-performing schools I went to, but nope--it's all over Texas apparently), so to hear that something so great is happening here thrilled me. But the fact that the law requires even special ed students to take the TAKS test is really disappointing. If it's so crappy at determining just what exactly neurotypical students are learning, I can only imagine what a wonderful indicator it is for the special ed students.
An anonymous commenter said:
And, then, the kids get to college, and want to be taught the test, and struggle mightily with critical thinking tasks. These are good, hardworking kids, who have not been taught how to think.
I could not agree more. I didn't work as hard as I maybe should have in high school (I was bored!) but I worked hard enough to graduate with decent standing. I was considered the "smart kid"--the one whose answers everyone wanted to copy on test days. After high school I enrolled at a tiny, private Christian university here in town and was blindsided. What happened to them preparing me for college? I kinda figured it was a joke, but not THAT big a joke! I absolutely FLOUNDERED in college. My biggest problem wasn't that I couldn't keep up with the curriculum, it was that I had never been taught effective study skills. I spent 3.5 years in college (including dual-enrollment during my senior year of high school) and have basically nothing to show for it because I never did get the hang of actual education. Thirteen years of public school punishment--err, I mean education--kinda does that to you.
No Child Left Behind is doing a fine job at making sure that EVERY child gets left behind.
Post a Comment