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Topic: Special Education and State mandated assessments
Professional Perspective:  Elementary principal
Audience: Staff of the elementary school, both general education and special education
Reasoning: I chose this topic for a couple of different reasons. First, as educators, we should always be up to date on the laws regarding special education and what our students need to be successful. Second, as testing becomes more and more prevalent, we need to be aware of how it will affect our special populations.

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Students with disabilities are entitled to free appropriate public education under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (2004). Under IDEA, students must be provided with an Education Plan (IEP), and the IEP will discuss what accommodations, if any, the student will receive during classroom instruction and during state assessments. The Every Student Succeeds Act (2015) delegates accountability testing to the individual states, but does have a requirement of less than 1% of the students taking an alternative exam. This leaves the majority of special education students taking state wide accountability exams that may not be in line with their individual academic goals.

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Luke, S. D., & Schwartz, A. Publications: National Association of Special Education Teachers. Retrieved from NASET Website: https://www.naset.org/index.php?id=3646
Accommodations are what help special education learn and can help when it comes to assessments. Educators need to be mindful what accommodations will help their students be successful in the classroom and on assessments when meeting with ARD committees and writing IEPs.

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Klein, A. (2018, June 18). Advocates Worried About Special Ed. Testing Waivers Under ESSA. Retrieved from Education Week: https://www.edweek.org/policy-politics/advocates-worried-about-special-ed-testing-waivers-under-essa/2018/06
The Every Student Succeeds Act has the requirement that less than 1% of all students (or about 10% of special education students) take alternative assessments during state mandated testing. However, almost half of the states, 23, have requested and received waivers from the education department to exceed that number, with several more seemingly ignoring the law. Advocates worry that the 1% rule, and required statistical reportings, are being ignored to the detriment to special education students.

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Parsi, A. (2017, September 25). Performance Assessments and Students with Disabilities. Retrieved from Education Week: https://www.edweek.org/teaching-learning/opinion-performance-assessments-and-students-with-disabilities/2017/09
The United States has around a 60% graduation rate of special education students. Standardized test requirements for graduation might be to blame for part of that statistic. Instead, having special education students do performance assessments that are aligned with state standards, IEPs, and real world skills will help students be better prepared for life after school.

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Brown vs. Board of Education 347 U.S. 483 (1954) (Judicial law) https://www.loc.gov/item/usrep347483/
In Brown vs. Board of Education, the Supreme Court ruled that the precedent of “separate, but equal” violated the 14th Amendment of the Constitution. While this decision was directly related to race and civil rights, it also applies to special education, and guarantees that special education students receive equal education.

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Endrew F. v. Douglas County School District RE-1 580 US ____ (2017) (Judicial Law) https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/16pdf/15-827_0pm1.pdf
This case involves a student with autism, whose parents did not feel that their child was making adequate progress in school because the school was not providing an adequate Individualized Education Plan (IEP) for their child. Both the Colorado Department of Education denied the claim, and the decision was upheld by the district court and the 10th circuit Court of Appeals. However, the United States Supreme Court vacated those rulings stating that the IEP must be reasonably calculated to enable the child to make progress year to year, with respect to the child’s circumstance. This ruling, in conjunction with ESSA and IDEA, ensure that IEPs are individualized to the student’s needs and that yearly progress is monitored and obtained.

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Every Student Succeeds Act (2015) Pub. L. 114-95 (Statutory Law) https://congress.gov/114/plaws/publ95/PLAW-114publ95.pdf
This law replaces the No Child Left Behind which was passed in 2002. The 2002 law addressed special education and accountability testing by requiring students with disabilities to take yearly assessments to monitor educational progress. The 2015 law addresses testing by transferring power of accountability testing back to the states, though still requires accountability reporting on a federal level. Testing is also addressed for special education by limiting the number of students that can take alternative assessments to 1% of all students.

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Ballinger Elementary (2020). Student Handbook, Standardized Testing. Retrieved from: https://bes.ballingerisd.net/apps/pages/index.jsp?uREC_ID=1407496&type=d&pREC_ID=1581 539.
This part of the handbook details what tests are taken in each grade. It also discusses the use of STAAR Alternate 2 and that special education students may be exempt from the required passing of the math and reading tests in 5th and 8th grade if the ARD committee determines that the student has made progress on their individualize education plan.

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19 TAC §101.3013 Accommodations
https://texreg.sos.state.tx.us/public/readtac$ext.TacPage?sl=R&app=9&p_dir=&p_rloc=&p_tloc =&p_ploc=&pg=1&p_tac=&ti=19&pt=2&ch=101&rl=3013
This section of the Texas Administrative code addresses the use of accommodations on state administered assessments by special education students. It states that all accommodations must be written in the student’s IEP, approved by the ARD committee, and that allowable accommodations will be listed in test administration materials.

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19 TAC §247.2g
https://tea.texas.gov/texas-educators/investigations/educators-code-of-ethics
This part of the code of ethics relates to following all local, state and federal laws. Especially when dealing with ESSA and the 1% rule, we need to ensure that we are compliant in the number of students we recommend for alternative assessments. We must also be sure to provide students with all the accommodations that are required in their IEP to adhere to IDEA.

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1. When writing the student's individual education plan, be sure to include best practice accommodations that will allow students to be successful in the classroom and on state assessments.
2. Adhere to the student's IEP in classroom instruction and assessment.
3. Give instruction to students in multiple ways to ensure understanding.
4. Allow for extra time for processing, assignments and assessments.
5. Document student progress, what works and what doesn't, so that future IEPs can be better tailored to the student.
6. Differentiate instruction to the students so that the student can learn what they need to know and be prepared for all assessments.

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Improving your Practice. (n.d.). Retrieved from Council for Exceptional Children: https://exceptionalchildren.org/
This resource a plethora of information for all topics regarding special education. There is a resource library that has webinars, best practice blogs, and legal and ethical resources. There is also advocacy center that allows all people involved in special education to have their voices heard.