Assessment

Mass. Board Poised to Back Dual Appeals Process for Tests

By Lisa Goldstein — January 28, 2004 3 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

The Massachusetts board of education is expected this week to back a new state policy that will set up separate state-exam appeals processes for students with disabilities and regular education students.

Legislation signed into law in late November relaxed the appeals process for students with disabilities. That action set off a debate over whether separate rules for appealing test scores could be adopted for students with and without disabilities.

The state board, which has been reviewing the law, planned to discuss and approve rules for implementing it at its Jan. 27 meeting, state school board President James A. Peyser said.

“Students with disabilities should have some options not available to regular education students,” Mr. Peyser said last week. “One question was whether that was OK in this case.”

Massachusetts students must pass 10th grade Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System tests in English and mathematics to graduate. Previously, students who scored 216 out of a possible 280—just under the passing mark of 220—could appeal their scores. The appeal allows them to demonstrate in other ways that their math or English skills meet the standards evaluated by the tests.

Under the new law, students with disabilities are no longer required to attain a score of 216 to appeal. Now, regardless of their score, they can appeal and try to meet the state standard through classroom work.

In another policy shift, the new law requires district superintendents to file an appeal on behalf of an eligible student with a disability if the parent—or the student himself if age 18 or older—requests it. In the past, the decision to appeal belonged to the superintendent.

Mr. Peyser said that the state board has been deliberate in studying its next step because “we were concerned that [the legislature] may create a system that did not have consistent standards.”

He believes that current policies don’t pose unfair barriers to regular education students: “The doors are so wide open [that] anybody with a reasonable shot has a chance of getting a positive outcome.”

Mr. Peyser added that, in the case of appeals by students in special education, the board might want to revise language in the regulations to make sure the burden of proof rests with the superintendent and the student, rather than with the state commissioner of education, who makes the final decision.

Legal vs. Political Muster

Martha Thurlow, the director of the National Center on Educational Outcomes, located at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, said handling the test-appeals process for students with and without disabilities is a hot issue. About 15 states have different appeals policies for students with disabilities, she said.

“It’s something to watch closely right now,” Ms. Thurlow said.

National education policy experts say that having a different testing-appeals track for students with disabilities does not pose a problem in passing legal scrutiny.

“Consider for a minute how different the rights are of disabled students,” said Jay Heubert, an associate professor of education at Teachers College, Columbia University. “They have tons of rights that others do not have.”

But passing political muster is a different matter.

Parents might score a win politically if they build enough of a sense that the new regulations are unfair, Mr. Heubert said.

No one has protested yet in Massachusetts, but the board has anticipated such a reaction, Mr. Peyser said.

He said the board was expected to pass the regulations at its meeting, which will go into effect immediately because they are considered “emergency.” The regulations will then be sent out for public comment and the board will cast a final vote in March.

One advocate for fairness in standardized testing argues that the MCAS appeals process should have been relaxed for all students, but especially for students with disabilities.

“It was an interesting debate over whether opening up the process to special-needs students would open the floodgates [for all],” said Monty Neill, the executive director of the National Center for Fair & Open Testing, based in Cambridge, Mass. “We are hoping it will.”

Mr. Peyser acknowledged that the appeals process for students with disabilities is a politically sensitive issue. “From a policy perspective, it’s delicate,” he said. “You don’t want to create pathways that go so far as to create a lower standard for some students than others.”

A version of this article appeared in the January 28, 2004 edition of Education Week as Mass. Board Poised to Back Dual Appeals Process for Tests

Events

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.
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Privacy & Security Webinar
Navigating Cybersecurity: Securing District Documents and Data
Learn how K-12 districts are addressing the challenges of maintaining a secure tech environment, managing documents and data, automating critical processes, and doing it all with limited resources.
Content provided by Softdocs

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

This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Assessment Whitepaper
Understanding 'Through-Year' Assessment: What Everyone Should Know
This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to reconsider our assessment systems. Discover a fresh approach with Through-Year Assessment.
Content provided by New Meridian
Assessment Opinion To Replace Skill Mastery for Seat Time, There Are 3 Requirements
Time for learning and student support take on a whole new meaning in the mastery-based learning model.
4 min read
Image shows a multi-tailed arrow hitting the bullseye of a target.
DigitalVision Vectors/Getty
Assessment More States Could Drop Their High School Exit Exams
There's movement afoot in nearly half the states that still mandate high school exit exams to end the requirement.
4 min read
A student looks at questions during a college test preparation class at Holton Arms School in Bethesda, Md., on Jan. 17, 2016. The SAT exam will move from paper and pencil to a digital format, administrators announced Tuesday, Jan. 25, 2022, saying the shift will boost its relevancy as more colleges make standardized tests optional for admission.
A student looks at questions during a college test preparation class at Holton Arms School in Bethesda, Md., on Jan. 17, 2016. More states are looking to abandon high school exit exams as support for standardized testing cools.
Alex Brandon/AP
Assessment Cardona Says Standardized Tests Haven't Always Met the Mark, Offers New Flexibility
The U.S. Department of Education is seeking to reinvigorate a little-used pilot program to create new types of assessments.
7 min read
Education Secretary Miguel Cardona speaks during an interview with The Associated Press in his office at the Department of Education on Sept. 20, 2023 in Washington.
Education Secretary Miguel Cardona speaks during an interview with The Associated Press in his office at the Department of Education on Sept. 20, 2023 in Washington.
Mark Schiefelbein/AP