"High Stakes Testing"

March 22, 2009

“HIGH STAKES TESTING”

This week’s blog is to help parents and educators understand the term “high stakes testing” and what it means for individuals with disabilities. High stakes testing refers to tests that hold significance for a student to be promoted to the next grade level or to graduate from high school. It is a test each student is required to take to be able to move forward in most states. These types of exams often place a great deal of pressure on students as a whole and most definitely for students with learning disabilities. High stake testing for student with learning disabilities make it very hard for the student and for the educator. More than often a student with a learning disability is going to need more attention in a certain subject matter and is more than likely not going to be on the same pace or level as a student without a disability. Not all the information in each subject is going to be addressed as if it was a regular student due to the time allowed each school year. How does a State decide whether or not a child with disabilities should be given the test. IDEA highly stresses that each child should be given the same education as the next, should it be different in this case? Is it truly right to make a child with disabilities take a test that holds so much power? The links below are to several articles that address high stakes testing for students with disabilities. Enjoy!



1. Implications of High-Stakes Testing for Students With Learning Disabilities
By Candace Cortiella
http://www.greatschools.net/cgi-bin/showarticle/2846

2. Low Performance on High-Stakes Test Drives Special Education Referrals: A Texas Survey
By Cheryl Fielding
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa4013/is_200401/ai_n9389283

3. High Stakes Testing
http://www.wrightslaw.com/info/highstak.index.htm

4. Helping Your Students Understand Their Classmates with Special Needs
http://www.naset.org/2224.0.html