Goal Statement

• To help alleviate the stresses of state testing on students with disabilities and to affectively increase the proportion of disabled students participating in regents examinations

Policy/Program Options

• Prior to No Child Left Behind, amendments to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act specified as of 1997 that in order for states to be eligible for funding, students with disabilities must be included in district and state-wide assessment programs.^[1]
• However, this act specifies that students must be given the tests, with appropriate accommodations if they are necessary. Now it seems to be the policy to limit accommodations for fear of bias.
• In addition, tests were not done every year in the past, so schools could still diagnose their students each year without overtesting.^[2]
• In the past the Regents board provided a clause which excused students from regents examinations based on diagnosed disabilities. The New York State Department of Education implemented a RCT safety net. This safety net allow students who received a failing exam score to take a RCT (Regents Competency Test) exam.^[3] 

• ---

More Policy Options

A.     Decreasing Anxiety

     1.     sensory integration

     2.     journals

               - allow students to have time to free write before and after the test

     3.     drawing

               - allow time to draw before and after

     4.     stress balls

                - distribute these to students during the test

     5.     meditation

                - allow during breaks or before and after

                - have designated areas for this^[4]

     6.     test in small groups or one-on-one

     7.     snacks

     8.     Talk to students about how the test is just to measure the teachers, not the

             students.^[5]

B.     Decreasing Truancy and Increasing Stamina

1. rewards and incentives for sitting through the test
   • ex.Pizza Parties
2. fun activities after testing is over
   • Let the kids relax. Ex. Watch movies
3. Test in 15 minute increments, with 5 min walks in between.
   • Have staff in place to walk students across school (no opportunity to cheat)
4. Allow second chances for students who initially refuse to take the test
5. Breaks to stretch^[6]

C.     Keeping the School Running Smoothly

1. Plan ahead for added time for certain kids.
   • Make sure teachers are already aware of this scheduling.^[7]
2. Make sure extra help is in place ahead of time. 
   • Scribes or one-on-one aids should be in place as needed ahead of time.^[8]
   • Pull all available staffing from all department areas to help administer test^[9]
3.  Ensure all teachers are trained in crisis management.
   • Train staff to deal with any crisis due to increased anxiety.
   • Make sure staff is aware of the best ways to deal with any given child during a crises
   • situation according to their behavior intervention plan.
   • Mandatory training for all staff in Therapeutic Crises Intervention. (This is offered at Cornell University)^[10]

Issue Briefs (local, state, national, global)

• Coping Strategies for Mandatory Testing for Students with Disabiltiies - New York 

Glossary of Terms

• Acadmic Intervention Services (AIS): Services which provide students who are failing or at risk of failing a New York State examination,additonal assistance in preparing for examinations.
• Individualized Education Programs: Requirement of IDEA that outlines a disabled students situation (including the standardized testing accommodations needed)
• Individuals With Disabilities Education Act: Federal law last amended in 2002 designed to insure public education standards for students with disabilities (this includes testing modifications and accommodations)
• National Assessment of Educational Progress: Nationally representative assessment of student competance
• No Child Left Behind: U.S. Federal law designed to improve educational system performance by increasing accountability and giving parents more flexibility in choosing schools for their children
• RCT-(Regents Competency Test)-A test that students take after failing a Regents examination. An RCT test material within the same subject as the regents, after passing the RCT the student is eligible for a local high school diploma.^[11] 

Footnotes