Testing presents challenge for special education

CTA officers made time to listen to member concerns at the Region 1 Leadership Conference in Santa Clara. United Educators of San Francisco members Kenneth Scott (left) and Sara Falls (right) talk with CTA President Barbara E. Kerr about ways to strengthen their chapter.

"Those kids" and "that class" are all that stand in the way of some schools achieving top status in rankings based on standardized tests. At least, that's how some administrators view special education, according to teachers attending the Region 1 Leadership Conference in San Jose.

Down the road, predicts CTA chapter services consultant Susan Midori Jones, such attitudes could result in difficulty finding places to mainstream special education students. Some teachers and students could be penalized or ostracized for holding the rest of the school back, and entire schools could end up being sacrificed as more and more special ed students are concentrated there.

Monica Robertson from Travis Unified Teachers Association and Patrick Riggs from Eureka Teachers Association discuss upcoming school board races with Secretary-Treasurer Dean E. Vogel (left).

It's already a problem in many places, said teachers attending one of two sessions on special education issues.

Some regular ed teachers who have a reputation for welcoming special ed students despite the
pitfalls say they are being overwhelmed with requests to take "just one more" student for mainstreaming. In addition, parents, who are now being informed of which teachers are successful with special ed students, are lobbying to have their children moved to those classrooms.

The answer nationwide could be to allow the use of multiple measures of achievement so special ed students have a better chance to demonstrate progress they're making. In addition, more effort could be expended in accommodating special ed students in testing situations, in keeping with their individualized education plans (IEPs).

Vice President David A. Sanchez (right) meets with CTA Board members Bob Nichols (center) and Dayton Crummey.

"Have they forgotten what the I stands for in IEP?" asked one teacher.

Another possible solution is that once a student has been identified as part of the special education subgroup, his or her test results could be calculated based on the original subgroup designation, even if the student is no longer receiving special education services.

These are some of the ideas CTA special education teachers and their colleagues are lobbying state and federal legislators to consider as they try to work out some of the problems created by mandated testing programs.

Patti Smith from Milpitas TA makes a point in the session on special education.

Congress is looking at placing all students in "research-based reading instruction" when they first come to school, and then testing them with a nationally normed test, says Jones. If the students don't do well on the test, they will qualify for special services for learning problems. Congress sees this as a way to stop relying on IQ tests to identify learning problems and to reduce the number of students who qualify for special ed services.

Instead, says Jones, it could open the floodgates. "You can't guarantee good quality instruction in the reading program. What if you have a substitute for the first few weeks of school." Nor would it adjust for the fact that not everyone comes to school on the same level. "Just because you have access to the reading program and you do poorly on the test doesn't mean you need special education."

Special ed could end up being "another Title 1 program - but without the funding."

Diana Messamer from Evergreen TA discusses the state budget fallout with Greg Bonaccorsi from Fremont Unified District TA.		Gail Mendes from United Teachers of Richmond writes postcards to voters in the Political Cafe.