Special Education

Calif. Special Education Students Could Get Exam Break

By Linda Jacobson — September 07, 2005 3 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

California special education students who are on track to graduate next year wouldn’t have to pass the state’s high school exit exam to get their diplomas, under a settlement reached between the state and a legal-advocacy center for people with disabilities.

The agreement, reached Aug. 26, could affect about 25,000 students who have individualized education programs and have met, or are likely to meet, all other requirements for graduation.

To qualify for exemptions, students would also have to have taken the exam at least twice since sophomore year, taken it at least once during senior year, and taken remedial courses or received academic tutoring to help them do better on the two-part test in English and mathematics.

For the settlement to go into effect, however, the legislature will have to pass, and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger will have to sign, an amendment to state law, which now says that all students must pass the exam. State officials and the plaintiffs’ lawyers say they were confident they could get such legislation passed before the session adjourns at the end of this week. The settlement is valid for one year.

“The exit exam has focused our schools like never before on teaching to our world-class standards, and students across the state are working harder, proving that when challenged, they will rise to meet our high expectations,” state schools Superintendent Jack O’Connell, who helped negotiate the settlement, said in a press release. “However, we know that our standards-based education reforms take time to implement, particularly for students with disabilities.”

2001 Lawsuit

The lawsuit, a class action known as Chapman v. California Department of Education, the Superintendent of Public Instruction, and the State Board of Education, was filed in federal district court in San Francisco in 2001 by the Oakland, Calif.-based Disability Rights Association. The plaintiffs challenged the high school exit exam as invalid and as discriminatory against students with disabilities. The case was later moved to state court.

In 2004, Alameda County Superior Court Judge Ronald M. Sabraw put the case on hold and commissioned WestEd, a regional education laboratory based in San Francisco, to do a study on the impact of the exam on students with disabilities.

The study, completed earlier this year, recommended that the exit-exam graduation requirement be delayed for at least two years.

Legislation that would actually delay the test requirement until the 2007-08 school year, unless the state allowed certain accommodations for students with disabilities, has already been introduced by Sen. Gloria Romero.

Stephen Tollafield, a staff lawyer at the Disability Rights Association, said the settlement would give the state additional “breathing room” to handle critical issues, such as giving such students the extra support they need in the classroom to pass the test, or accepting alternative assessments for students with disabilities.

“It’s not fair to deny a diploma when the student was never taught the material,” Mr. Tollafield said in a press release. His group has settled similar lawsuits in Alaska and Oregon.

Mr. O’Connell, the elected state schools chief, said he has doubts that any alternative assessment would be as challenging as the exit exam. “I continue to be concerned that permanently lowering our expectations for any group of children would consign those children to a lower-quality education,” he said.

The association acknowledged that exit-exam passing rates for students with disabilities have increased, but that as a group, they perform at the lowest level.

According to the latest state data, 54 percent of such students received passing scores on the English portion of the test, and 51 percent passed the math section. Statewide, 88 percent of students passed each section.

Events

Jobs Virtual Career Fair for Teachers and K-12 Staff
Find teaching jobs and other jobs in K-12 education at the EdWeek Top School Jobs virtual career fair.
Ed-Tech Policy Webinar Artificial Intelligence in Practice: Building a Roadmap for AI Use in Schools
AI in education: game-changer or classroom chaos? Join our webinar & learn how to navigate this evolving tech responsibly.
Education Webinar Developing and Executing Impactful Research Campaigns to Fuel Your Ed Marketing Strategy 
Develop impactful research campaigns to fuel your marketing. Join the EdWeek Research Center for a webinar with actionable take-aways for companies who sell to K-12 districts.

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

Special Education What the Research Says One Group of Teachers Is Less Likely to Identify Black Students for Special Ed. Why That Matters
Researchers say their findings argue for diversifying the teacher workforce.
4 min read
Full length side view of Black female instructor in mid 40s with hand on shoulder of a Black elementary boy as they stand in corridor and talk.
E+/Getty
Special Education Video Inside an Inclusive Classroom: How Two Teachers Work Together
This model for inclusive education benefits students of all abilities, and the teachers instructing them.
1 min read
Special Education Using Technology for Students in Special Education: What the Feds Want Schools to Know
Assistive technology can improve outcomes for students in special education, according to the U.S. Department of Education.
4 min read
Black students using laptop in the lab with white female teacher- including a female student with special needs.
E+/Getty
Special Education Q&A Schools Should Boost Inclusion of Students With Disabilities, Special Olympics Leader Says
Schools have work to do to ensure students with intellectual and developmental disabilities feel a sense of belonging, Tim Shriver said.
6 min read
Special Olympics Chairman Timothy Shriver greets a child at one of the organization’s events.
Special Olympics Chairman Timothy Shriver greets a child at one of the organization’s events.
Courtesy of Special Olympics