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US Dept. of Education disallows four non-testing codes under "NCLB"

The United States Department of Education has notified the State of Kansas that four assessment situations allowed in Kansas in the past will no longer be permitted. The situations help children with special needs or who have Individual Education Plans (IEP) to take the required assessments under No Child Left Behind. The changes will be in effect for the 2006-2007 school year. 

These changes will impact special education students in particular and likely result in more schools  being tagged as failing either for low participation of special education students or lowered test results for special education students.

The changes are listed below. 

1. Being out-of-town, out-of-state, or out-of-country is the same as being chronically absent.  It counts against the school for participation. Previously Kansas did not count children who were not in attendance under such conditions as enrolled for that period of time. If a child was gone for an extended period of time, then it would have been possible for the child to be exempt from counting on the assessments under the rules that governed "continuous enrollment."

2. Neither teacher-generated nor student-generated journals are allowed for ANY student, not even for a student with an IEP (Individual Education Plan).  If any student uses these journals, the assessment is rendered invalid, and the student counts as not tested.

3. Using a calculator on a non-calculator portion of the assessment is not allowed for ANY student, not even for a student with an IEP.  If any student uses a calculator on a non-calculator portion of the assessment, the assessment is rendered invalid, and the student counts as not tested. Kansas has used the calculator accommodation for students with IEPs and 504 plans for ten years.  

4. Reading the reading passage to a student is not allowed for ANY student, not even for a student with an IEP.  If someone reads the reading passage to any student or allows the student to use a CD or audio tape for the reading passage, the assessment is rendered invalid, and the student counts as not tested.

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