Post by Jackie on Mar 10, 2008 6:53:58 GMT -5
This was the lead article this morning in the newspaper locally. There has been a request for years from parents for some sort of testing of kids in special ed for accountability of the student's IEPs being met. Something to show progress or lack of it. I am not sure this is the best test...but then I am not a parent of school age kids anymore. And...I think it's interesting this is being introduced at a time that there is a movement to get rid of the actual TAKS test.
What do your districts use for testing of your kids with DS?
Jackie
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This year, all students must take some form of the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills test, even those with significant cognitive disabilities.
The Texas Education Agency implemented a new series of TAKS exams for special education students to comply with federal standards. The same grade-level standards apply to students in special education as those in the standard education program.
The additional TAKS exams have a different format or can be administered in a different manner than standard TAKS exams based on student needs, said Ann Wilder, a director of special education for Amarillo Independent School District.
TAKS-Alternate exams are given to students with significant cognitive disabilities which might result from autism, mental retardation or critical medical needs. The exams are given on an individual basis with a teacher directing a student to perform a task that correlates to what students in the same grade-level learn in regular education classes, according to the Texas Education Agency.
Mindy Green teaches three eighth-grade students at Stephen F. Austin Middle School with critical medical needs. Green spends lots of time working with them on communication skills and developing their gross and fine motor skills. At the same time, the new TAKS test puts a greater emphasis on academics.
"My students don't communicate verbally," Green said.
Green adapts eighth-grade material to an appropriate level for her students.
Eighth-graders study the universe in science. Green found a simple book on planets with photos and information on each planet. She simplified the text for her students by taking key facts about each planet, such as "Mercury is the smallest planet," and wrote those facts on small squares of paper that she taped into the book to read to her students.
The book allowed her students to study the planets on an appropriate level. Green also used the study of planets to discuss sensory concepts, such as the difference between hot and cold, she said.
At the same time that they work on important life skills, Green's students also learn about key historical figures eighth-graders study, such as Martin Luther King Jr., Anne Frank and Stephen F. Austin.
"With these guys, you need a lot of extra time," Green said.
She has to tailor the instruction and testing to each student's individual needs.
"It's been fun and stressful," Green said.
Green learned of the new testing format in August 2006 and had a semester to learn how to give the test, she said. She had to give her students a TAKS-Alternate field test last spring. This is the first year that the test counts toward the campus's academic performance.
TAKS-Alternate is not given on a set day with a bubble-in answer sheet, said Joy Webb, a special education teacher at Randall High School. The process actually began in October with Webb writing activities for each student, she said. This year, she has six students who each must complete six objectives. Results are due to the state in April.
Some of Webb's students communicate verbally, others communicate through picture symbols or other tools. Some of them cannot write, and others have physical challenges.
The objectives are not intended to be something they already know, but something they have to learn, Webb said. The goal is for the student to complete the activity independently.
And testing is sometimes a matter of observation.
"You challenge them," Webb said. "It's something you work on all year."
Activities also correlate with what their peers do, such as studying solids, liquids and gases in chemistry, Webb said.
Webb might cover the difference between a liquid and a gas by boiling water during a cooking demonstration.
Such a lesson combines academics with the functional living skills that also are important for her students to learn.
TAKS exams help determine whether a campus meets state and federal accountability standards.
Only 1 percent of students who take the TAKS-Alternate exam count toward showing that a campus or school district is proficient under the federal accountability system, Wilder said.
What do your districts use for testing of your kids with DS?
Jackie
********************************************
This year, all students must take some form of the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills test, even those with significant cognitive disabilities.
The Texas Education Agency implemented a new series of TAKS exams for special education students to comply with federal standards. The same grade-level standards apply to students in special education as those in the standard education program.
The additional TAKS exams have a different format or can be administered in a different manner than standard TAKS exams based on student needs, said Ann Wilder, a director of special education for Amarillo Independent School District.
TAKS-Alternate exams are given to students with significant cognitive disabilities which might result from autism, mental retardation or critical medical needs. The exams are given on an individual basis with a teacher directing a student to perform a task that correlates to what students in the same grade-level learn in regular education classes, according to the Texas Education Agency.
Mindy Green teaches three eighth-grade students at Stephen F. Austin Middle School with critical medical needs. Green spends lots of time working with them on communication skills and developing their gross and fine motor skills. At the same time, the new TAKS test puts a greater emphasis on academics.
"My students don't communicate verbally," Green said.
Green adapts eighth-grade material to an appropriate level for her students.
Eighth-graders study the universe in science. Green found a simple book on planets with photos and information on each planet. She simplified the text for her students by taking key facts about each planet, such as "Mercury is the smallest planet," and wrote those facts on small squares of paper that she taped into the book to read to her students.
The book allowed her students to study the planets on an appropriate level. Green also used the study of planets to discuss sensory concepts, such as the difference between hot and cold, she said.
At the same time that they work on important life skills, Green's students also learn about key historical figures eighth-graders study, such as Martin Luther King Jr., Anne Frank and Stephen F. Austin.
"With these guys, you need a lot of extra time," Green said.
She has to tailor the instruction and testing to each student's individual needs.
"It's been fun and stressful," Green said.
Green learned of the new testing format in August 2006 and had a semester to learn how to give the test, she said. She had to give her students a TAKS-Alternate field test last spring. This is the first year that the test counts toward the campus's academic performance.
TAKS-Alternate is not given on a set day with a bubble-in answer sheet, said Joy Webb, a special education teacher at Randall High School. The process actually began in October with Webb writing activities for each student, she said. This year, she has six students who each must complete six objectives. Results are due to the state in April.
Some of Webb's students communicate verbally, others communicate through picture symbols or other tools. Some of them cannot write, and others have physical challenges.
The objectives are not intended to be something they already know, but something they have to learn, Webb said. The goal is for the student to complete the activity independently.
And testing is sometimes a matter of observation.
"You challenge them," Webb said. "It's something you work on all year."
Activities also correlate with what their peers do, such as studying solids, liquids and gases in chemistry, Webb said.
Webb might cover the difference between a liquid and a gas by boiling water during a cooking demonstration.
Such a lesson combines academics with the functional living skills that also are important for her students to learn.
TAKS exams help determine whether a campus meets state and federal accountability standards.
Only 1 percent of students who take the TAKS-Alternate exam count toward showing that a campus or school district is proficient under the federal accountability system, Wilder said.