Quote:
Originally Posted by ASUADPi
Even worse is that if high school seniors DO NOT PASS AIMS they DO NOT GET TO GRADUATE!!!! There are tons of lawsuits right not against the Department of Education because of this rule. Especially from the parents of Sped students.
Some kids don't Standardize test well, whether they are sped or not, and it is completely unfair to say to a child "yes, you have a 4.0 but because you didn't pass AIMS you can't graduate". That is complete and utter BS!
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I'm sympathetic to your frustration because I'm sure that it's hard to work hard with special education kids all day knowing that no matter what, they are going to fail. But have you ever thought about how it's might be a mistake to pretend that the kids have mastered skills they haven't? Even if the tests are above their level, why should they get credit for having done third grade work, if they only read at a 1st grade level? You're just lying to them and their parents about what their abilities are if you pretend this. It's not really picking on them or you to acknowledge that they aren't on level: they're disabled: most of us don't expect them to be on level.
But if we didn't test them, do you know how much money would dry up for you programs? Do you recognize that the money, even at the district level, is going to follow what's being measured when the school gets graded?
On a separate and maybe harsher note:
Should everyone who attends and gets good grades with any modifications that it takes to get them be allowed to get a regular diploma? What does earning a diploma mean? Attendance? A willingness to try to do the work with help?
I agree that sometimes the tests are bad tests, but really shouldn't a high school diploma mean that even a disabled kid has a certain level of independent mastery?
And this maybe harshest of all, but I don't buy the idea of a kid with a 4.0 who merely tests so poorly, despite knowing the material, that she can't pass a graduation test. If your school allowed you to get straight As without taking tests, there's something wrong right there. If you took those tests, you should get over some of your anxiety. Anxiety is not a good enough reason to say that a kid doesn't have to prove to the outside world what she knows.