Students with an Individualized Education Program (IEP) that
requires testing accommodations that are not allowed under NAEP or who participate in an alternative state assessment program were excluded from testing.
There are two cases in which ELLs might
require testing accommodations tailored to their circumstances.
If
you require testing accommodations under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), reasonable accommodations are provided by the testing administrator.
Not exact matches
Section 504 and IDEA allow for
accommodation on
testing, but they do not
require schools to accommodate students to such a degree that they have advantages over other students.
If the school adopted that dubious approach under a results - based accountability regime, the student's current ability level would need to be assessed and the school would be
required to demonstrate that the child was making adequate yearly progress as determined by an annual assessment using the same
testing accommodations.
While these laws
require nondiscriminatory policies, including providing «reasonable
accommodations» for students with disabilities to demonstrate their knowledge on
tests, they do not
require the use of
accommodations that fundamentally alter what the
test measures.
Federal law
requires states to provide «alternate assessments» for students with disabilities who can not take regular state
tests, even with
accommodations.
Digital tools that students may use in daily classroom instruction and to take
tests, including, but not limited to, desktop computers, laptops, netbooks, tablets and assistive technologies for students
requiring accommodations.
Many students with dyslexia will
require special
accommodations in the classroom, such as extra time for reading and writing assignments or
tests, using audiobooks, having a scribe take notes for them, and having written instructions read aloud to them.
Remember many
accommodations on other assessments are embedded in the
testing procedures for this assessment, so
accommodations may not be
required.
Loss of Teaching Time: The logistics of administering high - stakes standardized
tests, with the
required proctors, makeup
tests, and special
accommodations, disrupts school routines, pulls teachers out of classrooms and reduces time for teaching and learning.
For older students, cognitive or IQ
testing is still
required for application for
accommodations on high stakes
tests such as SAT or ACT.
-- It may be a defense to a charge of discrimination under this Act that an alleged application of qualification standards,
tests, or selection criteria that screen out or tend to screen out or otherwise deny a job or benefit to an individual with a disability has been shown to be jobrelated and consistent with business necessity, and such performance can not be accomplished by reasonable
accommodation, as
required under this title.
As any individual with a disability knows, the provision of
accommodations for writing the LSAT
requires the completion of forms by medical practitioners unless the applicant falls within predetermined narrow exceptions (approved
accommodations for another standardized
test, for example).
Contrasting the ADA's requirement to provide
accommodations for
test taking, the Court said, «respondent can point to no provision of the ADA which would
require the State Bar to make
accommodations to allow respondent to practice law despite the substantial threat of harm to clients and the public as a result.»
The consent decree had
required the LSAC to stop flagging
test scores of disabled
test takers who requested extra time, and changed how the LSAC handled requests for
accommodations.
The Federal Court rejected the BC «serious interference»
test and has outlined a broader interpretation of the duty to accommodate family status, which opens the door to
requiring accommodation of employee lifestyle choices [3].