common core & Special Education
The full implementation of the Common Core State Standards has arrived. However, the true impact of these standards will have on schools and education as a whole will not be known for several years. One thing that is for sure is this shift to a national set of standards is revolutionary and highly debated. As the media continues to evaluate the significance of the Common Core, you can bet the debate will rage on. High Stakes State Achievement Tests are often administered in the spring.
When the No Child Left Behind, the educational reform law passed in 2002, it required testing by states in order to provide for accountability. The law provided some flexibility for the states in terms of testing, but was clear about outcomes. First, a state would have to forego some federal funding if they chose not to participate. The legislation also expects school districts and schools to improve performance. The standard was “adequate yearly progress,” (AYP.)
All students (95%) are expected to participate in this testing. When initially written, NCLB only permitted 1% to take an alternate test. Two years ago that standard was changed to 3%, but it still means that at least 75% of special education students will be taking the same state test as their typical peers.
The Common Core Standards will require younger students to learn more at a quicker pace than they ever have before. With the increased rigor and higher level thinking skills, early childhood programs will become more rigid. Pre-Kindergarten will be more important, and skills students used to learn in second grade will need to be taught in Kindergarten.
The Common Core Standards currently only have skills associated with English-Language Arts (ELA) and Mathematics. There are currently no science or social studies Common Core Standards. This leaves it up to individual states to have to develop their own set of standards and assessments for these topics.
So, how do we help our student do their best? How do we create testing situations that don’t stress them out? The question of how we improve NCLB the mean time we are forced to live with this law.
Many districts have model tests and provide test preparation materials. For their disabled students it is helpful to find test prep materials at or near their reading level. The real tests will be stressful because the items will be longer, and the vocabulary harder, but familiarity with the format of answering multiple choice questions and filling in bubbles will be helpful.
Test taking strategies can also be helpful. Using the easier test prep materials can be really helpful to teach these strategies, as the students become more comfortable with the content and the demands of the materials, their anxiety levels lower.
Accommodations for testing are found in the Specially Designed Instruction section of the Individual Education Plan (IEP.) These can include extended time, frequent breaks, scribing and many other changes in the testing situation.
Creative teachers have some new ideas which are gathering support to help special need children to improve test scores. How about, besides testing accommodations there are other ways that teachers can help students relax and do their best. It may be to relax the dress code, or even create days to wear your pajamas. It may be to provide snacks or other activities that will increase attention and improve performance. Of course, that may require some cooperation from the school district and principal.