by Elizabeth Stein

High stakes testing season is upon us. One purpose of testing, we’re told, is to assess what students know and to guide them to be ready for their future.

Students with disabilities are provided support through individualized testing accommodations that ensure that their disability does not interfere with their ability to access the information and to express what they know. The idea is to make the general education curriculum and assessment procedures accessible to all students.

Makes sense, right? But it’s not that simple. Accommodations are only truly supportive if the curriculum and instruction that came before the assessment was accessible to these students in the first place. That means high quality teaching that guides students with disabilities to build their knowledge base and readiness skills.

The Partnership for the Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) has released a draft accommodations manual that provides the types of accommodations that may be applied to support students with disabilities and English-language learners to express their knowledge and skills during the administration of the high stakes tests now being developed around the Common Core standards.

To begin development on the Manual, PARCC carefully analyzed the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and the claims on the PARCC Performance-Based and End-of-Year assessment components in both mathematics and English language arts/literacy, conducted a policy scan on currently available accommodations across all PARCC states, and synthesized the most current research on accommodations for SWD and ELs. – from the PARCC Frequently Asked Questions document.

PARCC seeks public feedback by providing a forum for people to review the documents and comment. (All comments must be submitted by May 13, 2013.) A final draft will be created in June.

Some acceptable accommodations highlighted in the draft

PARCC identifies five categories related to “equitable access”:

1. Presentation. Any changes in the formatting of the test or the test questions. For example, the use of Braille or sign language.

2. Response. Any changes in the method that the student responds to the questions.  This may include use of a scribe.

3. Timing and Scheduling. Includes allowing students to have more time to complete the test, allowing breaks.

4. Setting. Includes taking the test in a location with minimal distractions, a separate location, and/or smaller group size.

5. Expanded access. Includes additional accommodations for a small number of students who meet certain criteria to require additional support in the areas of reading, writing, and calculating.

The PARCC draft also includes a number of universal design for learning features that expand accessibility for all students either by a student’s choice or at the discretion of school personnel. For example, computerized pop-up glossaries, spell-checkers, or magnification of text will be available. Check out the draft manual to see the full extent of accommodations.

As long as the accommodations do not interfere with the skills being assessed, then the accommodations will be allowed. But I can’t stop thinking about my original question: What are we really accommodating? If the goal is to assess how well students are mastering the Common Core, then let’s take a look at what this means for instruction.

No meaningful accommodation without meaningful instruction

Remember, test accommodations are only supportive if the instruction that leads up to the assessment is also accessible. Otherwise, what happens is this…

• Students never really read the passages because they do not have the strategies, the decoding skills, fluency skills, comprehension skills, or the stamina to get through the reading meaningfully.

• Students just answer the questions to answer the questions. Frequently they do this haphazardly, randomly, and as quickly as they can because they just want to be done.

• Students get discouraged during the test because they do not know how to apply their background knowledge base — and often times, this base is too limited to apply independently.

So in these cases, I ask you…what do the extra time or separate setting provisions really accommodate? In some cases it just gives students extra time to struggle. Extra time to feel frustrated. Extra time to feel anxious, tense, and eventually apathetic.

Basically, no matter how much we accommodate to make these tests accessible, classroom instruction must be clear, consistent, and accommodating each day. The Common Core curriculum must be accessible to students with disabilities and English language learners daily in order for the testing accommodations to serve their true purpose during annual testing season.

What is “High Quality Instruction”?

For starters, watch this four minute video, UDL At a Glance, to give you the basis for what Universal Design for Learning is all about. Next, you should explore The Center for Applied Special Technology (CAST). It is a nonprofit educational research and development organization that works to make learning accessible for all students through Universal Design for Learning.

CAST has clearly defined the principles and practices of UDL, which support instruction and assessments. Adopting a UDL mindset within our inclusion classrooms can definitely provide some answers to pressing questions about how all teachers can make daily instruction accessible. Why wait for the test?! It’s all about three things: providing (1) multiple means of representation, (2) multiple means of engagement, and (3) multiple means of expression to expand learning opportunities for all students.

I’m on a mission to bring this UDL mindset to the teams of teachers I work with — and to help create a district-wide framework to make daily instruction accessible for all students in inclusive settings. I’ve taken some small steps this year, and I’m excited for the steps ahead!  More on that another time…

PARCC still seeks feedback

So when we think about the testing accommodations, clearly we must consider daily instruction. How are these students gaining access to Common Core-related instruction each day so that the testing accommodations are meaningful for them?

There’s still a little time on our side. PARCC is inviting the public’s feedback on their accommodations draft. CAST has already responded and their valued opinion can be seen here for writing accommodations and here for their response to reading accommodations.

Remember — you have until May 13, 2013 to add your voice–just click here.

And when you think about how to kick up instruction to help students with disabilities and English language learners access the Common Core through high quality daily instruction–comment on this blog and keep our discussion going. We have so much to learn from  each other!

by Laurie Wasserman

In my  previous post, I shared ideas about coping with the organizational challenges that build up for some students by the middle of the school year. This week it’s is all about assessment.

The assessment piece can be daunting for kids and for teachers as we try to determine how best to measure if they are mastering the concepts we’ve been teaching. Students who receive special education services as well as those ‘shades-of-gray’ kids who struggle with mastering concepts but aren’t identified as having learning disabilities (or speak another language at home) frequently do poorly on paper and pencil tests and quizzes.

So, what can we do both to prepare them for these types of assessments and to create ‘alternate assessments’ (a term found on many IEPs) when needed?

Preparing kids before the actual test

Many students struggle with working memory (your brain’s post-it notes, one expert calls it) which deeply impacts their ability to take information and apply it. This is very evident on tasks such as unit tests, which require students to demonstrate what they have learned over a period of 2-3 weeks. In addition, solving multi-step problems in math utilizing algorithms can be difficult. So, what can we do as both general education and special education teachers to prepare our students for these challenges?

My math partner, Aileen, breaks down all the various tasks students will need to perform on a test, step-by-step. She types this out on the top of a quiz/test review with problems similar to those they will need to solve on the test. She does this over a period of two nights prior to the test/quiz. In addition, Aileen gives each student a large index card, which they create into a “cheat sheet.” This is part of their test/quiz review  homework assignment, and she allows students to use their custom-made card during the assessment.

What is so beneficial for students — particularly those on IEPs — is that during our state’s standardized math test in the spring, students are allowed to use “math reference sheets” as long as they are approved prior to the test. In addition, during my academic support class, we discuss the best use of this “prime real estate” so kids utilize the space on their cards efficiently. We then do practice problems referring back to their cards for help.

I also write the steps on the board when they come to my room during the test with samples to refer to if needed. Example: changing a fraction into a decimal and then a percent.

Round and round

For science, my co-teaching partner Suzanna does a variety of practice activities to prepare the kids. Here are two examples.

“Find your partner”– In this review activity, kids have either a vocabulary term or the matching definition. They love moving around searching for their partner, then stand side by side as they read aloud to the class in a semi-circle of pairings. She also gives the kids a practice test, similar to the one they’ll be taking, then uses it as a study guide once they self-correct.

Station to station — Students are grouped at tables of 4-5. They rotate through a variety of science review activities which change every 10 minutes or so.

In ELA, my teaching partner Paul also uses rotating stations. He will have one group complete a crossword puzzle based on the characters, vocabulary, setting, etc. from a novel they’ve read. Another group may draw a picture of a character with something they’ve said, the clothes they might have worn, a description of their physical characteristics, etc.

Paul’s third station is a “Stump the Experts” activity in which kids must come up with questions from their study guides and novels and try to stump the two of us. If we can’t answer the question they receive extra points on their test. They are very engaged!

Assessments that aren’t traditional

Then there are the day-to-day, weekly, or semester “alternate assessments” my team utilizes for kids who struggle on traditional tests and quizzes. We do quite a few — in this post I’ll share some strategies used by my history partner Pauline, who’s been honing her teaching craft for 54 years.

In Ancient History, Pauline has the kids create weekly trivia questions (and answers) using material she has previously taught. As the year goes on, the number of questions she requires increases: 5 during term 1, 10 during term 2 and so on. She gives extra points if they have exceeded the minimum number and kind of questions required. Pauline does this each Friday with a student scorer who keeps a running tally of the # of questions written. (This year’s group is highly competitive, and they often try to beat one another with extra questions.) We have a Final Trivia Match before the winter break and at the end of the year, with trophies and plaques for the top three winners.

Pauline’s well-developed strategy is a wonderful and motivating way to engage right-brain learners who are strong in auditory processing, as well as providing weekly reviews for upcoming traditional assessments. In addition, she uses maps that they complete in groups, and 3D models or “projects” that they make related to units of study. During Project Day, they share their project, explain how they made it and relate five interesting facts about it.

Above is a picture of Pauline and one of her students’ 3D Projects, “The Trojan Horse.” The list behind her on the board reveals some of the different ways she assesses our students, which will become part of their portfolio for the term.

So, do all kids succeed on these assessments? No, but we have provided numerous opportunities to have them demonstrate their knowledge and understanding. We also allow retakes on tests and quizzes, provide after-school help to reteach concepts, and post their names on our IOU boards when assignments aren’t passed in on time. Nagging also works!