More N.Y. Special Education Students Passing State Tests

By Bess Keller

New York education officials pointed last week to the results for special education students on new state tests as early evidence that higher standards are pushing almost all students—including those with disabilities—to higher levels of achievement.

"Many people said special education students could not reach higher standards," Commissioner of Education Richard P. Mills said in releasing the state's annual report on special education. "But we are finding more and more of them are succeeding."

New York state's approach reflects a 1997 federal law that mandates the participation of special education students in statewide assessments, under the assumption that such testing improves the students' learning opportunities. But the state has gone further than many others by compelling special education students—except for a small number with severe handicaps—to take new, more challenging tests, known as regents' exams, that are required...