Re: PSSA test scores-poor/UPDATE

[Guest guest]

>

> The policy now in our district is to teach the Spec. ed. students at grade

level...so if they are in 10th grade they will learn geometry and not 5th grade

math. 

Jan, are you sure it has to be like this? I know in our state they have 3

versions of the state exams: the regular one, which most kids take; the

" alternate " one and the " modified " one. So, they have one for kids who need

physical accommodations (fewer questions, same content, etc.) and one for kids

who are developmentally delayed, etc. (different content). Some kids are

actually even excluded from having to take the state exams.

This is not publicized at all. I would not know about it except I am on a Texas

list for the entire autism spectrum, and many of the kids on the lower end of

the spectrum take these " other " tests. Point being, this might be something you

have to research a little. The down side is that the kids that take these

alternate/modified state exams don't get regular high school diplomas, from what

I understand.

Ruth

[Guest guest]

Yup...I am absolutely positive....that is why our school district is not teaching Spec. Ed. kids at grade level...they take the same exact tests....they go to smaller rooms or rooms with less kids and they can take extra time...but they take the same EXACT tests!!! The kids were doing so poorly. So, now they started teaching them at grade level. The kids did pretty good in math...they had 1/2 year of geomety and 1/2 year of algebra. Now whether they will ever use it is another story. I think it is good that they are pushing the kids and not holding them back....

And, this I know for sure as I work for the district and was with the kids in 11th grade.

Jan

Oh, yes, they can be dismissed from taking the tests but it has to be a really really ligitimate reason...medical or something. I wanted my son dismissed ....but have not been able to as of yet.

Janice Rushen

"I will try to be open to all avenues of wisdom and hope"

From: r_woman2 <me2ruth@...>Subject: ( ) Re: PSSA test scores-poor/UPDATE Date: Saturday, June 27, 2009, 10:21 AM

>> The policy now in our district is to teach the Spec. ed. students at grade level...so if they are in 10th grade they will learn geometry and not 5th grade math. Jan, are you sure it has to be like this? I know in our state they have 3 versions of the state exams: the regular one, which most kids take; the "alternate" one and the "modified" one. So, they have one for kids who need physical accommodations (fewer questions, same content, etc.) and one for kids who are developmentally delayed, etc. (different content). Some kids are actually even excluded from having to take the state exams. This is not publicized at all. I would not know about it except I am on a Texas list for the entire autism spectrum, and

many of the kids on the lower end of the spectrum take these "other" tests. Point being, this might be something you have to research a little. The down side is that the kids that take these alternate/modified state exams don't get regular high school diplomas, from what I understand.Ruth

[Guest guest]

>

> Yup...I am absolutely positive....that is why our school district is not

teaching Spec. Ed. kids at grade level...they take the same exact tests....they

go to smaller rooms or rooms with less kids and they can take extra time...but

they take the same EXACT tests!!! The kids were doing so poorly. 

Well, is this bad as long as the tests are just used for comparison? This would

never work in our state because kids have to pass the tests to graduate from

both 8th grade and 12th grade. And I think our school district would probably

recommend holding them back at any grade if they didn't pass.

I don't know if all state exams are the same. Ours are pretty much simply a

reflection of the minimum grade-level curriculum. If a child doesn't pass them,

they probably didn't pass their classes either. Teaching to the test would mean

one was teaching the minimum grade-level curriculum. This would be bad--but for

different reasons than most people think. " Good " schools are teaching above

this level anyway, and it is reflected in high state exam score averages. I

don't know if it is like this everywhere, but in our area, you can really tell a

school's curriculum by how well the school's students do on the state exams.

You only get low averages in schools where they are teaching the minimum

curriculum--usually low income areas. In areas where they are teaching well

above the minimum curriculum, you get averages well above the state average.

Doesn't mean they have great teachers though! You can have a horrible teacher

with a great curriculum, and if she just goes through the motions, the kids will

learn, at least in the elementary grades. Parents will pull up the slack at

home. That was one hard lesson I learned. OK, I'm kind of rambling LOL...

Ruth